The idiots are getting more litigious
This would make a good bedtime story, if you were interested in generating nightmares. Maybe the pessimists are right….
Hit ‘continue’ because this is definately a whole page worth…
On October 6th, John Alex Halderman, of the Department of Computer Science at Princeton University, released a research paper on his website describing the failings of SunnComm Technologies’ MediaMax CD3 digital rights management system.
Summary of DRM and MediaMax CD3Digital Rights Management, or DRM, is one of the newer concepts of the RIAA, etc., who are interested in preventing computer users from copying music CDs — even though copyright law permits this as fair use. The MediaMax CD3 strategy was to include two copies of the audio on a single disc (because, let’s face it, how many albums actually fill up the entire 74 minutes on a standard compact disc?), one unaltered plain audio copy for standard CD players, and a second, compressed and encrypted version that would only be picked up by computer CD-ROMs. To force the computer to pay attention to only the encrypted audio and to ignore the plain audio, the CD will automatically install new drivers on the computer. To do this installation, the CD uses AutoPlay, which is Windows’ method of automatically playing or running a CD/CD-ROM when it is inserted into the computer.
Alex Halderman revealed that the installation of the new DRM drivers, and therefore the presence of the MediaMax CD3 system, can be ignored by holding down the Shift Key when the disc is inserted into the computer’s CD-ROM. This is a common, well-documented, long-standing technique to disable AutoPlay on a system. And only one of about four methods I can think of right now for doing so.
After this paper was picked up by big-media (CNN, etc.), SunnComm stock fell by about $10,000,000 — by going from $0.17 a share, to $0.10 a share. This prompted SunnComm to threaten a lawsuit on Alex Halderman, under protection of the DCMA. SunnComm’s CEO stated:
To summarize: SunnComm plans on suing a student because said student revealed their cleverly devised method of DRM was flawed with an Achilles Heel, the lowly shift key. Halderman used a technique that was in existence long before the development of SunnComm’s software. And, in the process of disabling the DRM system, Halderman did not delete anything, unencrypt anything, or, really, actually do anything — he just didn’t install the DRM.
There are so many things wrong with picture! My favorite analogy on Slashdot was that SunnComm was suing the man who declared, “The Emporer Has No Clothes!” But where does it stop? Linux and MacOS9 systems don’t even have the capability of installing the software, so can you sue Linux and Mac advocates for disabling the MediaMax technology? What about Microsoft, who provided the AutoPlay disabling feature in the first place? What about standard audio cd players, which wouldn’t recognize the disc as anything other than plain audio?
But the embarrasement seems to have sunk in. SunnComm announced today that they will back off of their threat. Their CEO, Peter Jacobs, is now whistling a different tune:
Of course, this seems much less sincere when you look at the bigger picture, and realize the kinds of chilling effects he was striding for, on the concepts of fair use and privacy.
But in terms of fair use, the threat is far from over. Are you familiar with Adware and Spyware? Many times, when you install pieces of shareware or freeware that were downloaded from the internet, the software installation process also installs one or more other other applications. Some of these applications, adware, will cause ad banners to pop up on your computer at varying intervals — much like the ad banners on websites but you don’t have to have an internet connections. Spyware is worse, as it sits quietly in the background, observing your internet activities. Some spyware just collect statistics that are then sent on to marketing groups for analysis — some collect email addresses and other personal information. Both of these concepts are a real problem because internet users routinely install software that contain these applications. There is a tiny little line hidden somewhere in the End-User-Licensing-Agreement (EULA) that makes it ‘legal’, but nobody ever really reads those.
By why bring up Adware and Spyware? Well, SunnComm has plans to distribute their new MediaMax technology in the same method. If you ask me, that’s not far from being a virus. But regardless of what the courts might think, this is damaging technoloy that is being unfairly, unwillingly, and unwittingly introduced to our computers.
Moral of the story: don’t underestimate a shifty key.
