*Probably* this disc
won't cause problems on non-computer players (or on Macs, apparently),
but it can *seriously* damage your Windows-based computer even now, and
probably destroy future versions of the operating system.
While there are numerous Bad Possibilities inherent in using this
disc's proprietary player software on any existing Windows
95/98/NT/2K/ME/XP system which result in annoyances and problems that
can be worked around, i read recently that F-Secure tested it on
Windows Longhorn/Vista and discovered that it completely destroyed that
operating system.
As reported in a blog post by Mark Russinovitch of Sysinternals (which has been
cited in other reviews of copy-protected CDs), this CD requires you to
use its proprietary player software to listen to it on your computer,
in order to prevent you from making more than three copies of the
music. (The original post seems to be unavailable now; the link goes to
a page summarising it.)
That is bad enough - but there's more:
This player installs dangerous (and very poorly written, making it more
dangerous) malware called a "rootkit", which is undetectable and almost
unremovable, even by the top virus/spyware protection products, on your
system without your knowledge or permission.
The installed malware is unstable, resulting in the possibility of
system crashes or data corruption, and removing it is likely to render
your computer's CD or DVD discs completely unuseable.
And, beyond that, because of how poorly written this thing is, it
provides a handy back door for any malicious person to install
undectable worms or other malware on your computer.
Don't buy this disc or any other from SONY/BMG until they stop
packaging them with this dangerous malware.
(Actual star rating should be about Negative 1000 because of the DRM
crap, but Amazon's system won't allow that.) |
