Originally published January 24 2006
Sony uninstaller program attempts to right previous errors
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
After a Princeton University researcher discovered security gaps in previous uninstaller programs released by Sony, the company has produced yet another program that promises to remove copy-protection software.
The ongoing saga of Sony BMG's sneaky, lawsuit-inducing copy-protection software opened a new chapter Monday when the music company released an uninstaller program to allow customers to remove the offending code from their PCs.
The release was Sony's second attempt at erasing its errors -- its previous push of mea-culpaware last month backfired horribly when 24-year-old Princeton University researcher John "Alex" Halderman found that the uninstaller opened up a security hole even worse than the original digital rights management program.
And while the discovery shocked outsiders, and embarrassed Sony, it was a little like d�j� vu to Halderman, one of a handful of smart researchers who seem determined to hold the recording industry's feet to the fire.
Years before Sony's rootkit scandal made DRM folly a subject of international news, Halderman was already keeping a close eye on the music industry's technological measures.
When, in 2003, DRM-maker SunnComm International introduced a new approach to copy protecting audio CDs in its MediaMax software, Halderman checked it out.
The response was way bigger than (anything I'd) expected."
So Halderman was well prepared when SysInternals security expert Mark Russinovich discovered last October that Sony BMG was using software that works much like SunnComm's MediaMax with an added cloaking technology that could be exploited by more-malicious code.
His curiosity rewetted by the affair, Halderman even took a second look at the competing SunnComm system -- still in use -- and found new problems, including the fact that MediaMax secretly installs itself even if the user refuses to click on the license agreement giving it permission to do so.
And when Sony released an uninstaller for the First 4 Internet code, it was Halderman who discovered that it came with an ActiveX control that would make users vulnerable to attack through their web browsers.
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