Fun with Digital Rights Management
So there have been concerns among consumers and techheads for some time that Digital Rights Management (DRM) technologies, in addition to being ineffective and vulnerable to being hacked, are likely to end up causing serious harm to those who have to live with them. Sony's new DRM software, included with its most recent CDs, is a case in point.
Apparently, the software, which makes files with the "$sys$" prefix impossible to detect, has already enabled cheating in World of Warcraft, and leaves a computer which has it installed completely vulnerable to worms, adware, spyware, or viruses which have filenames with that same prefix.
Sony, bowing to pressure, has released a patch for their DRM software that uncloaks the file addresses, but has so far refused to distribute a program that would uninstall it. In addition, the software contacts Sony's servers every time a protected CD is played on the machine, effectively making it spyware.
Oh, and did I mention that the patch destablizes Windows, and that the company that made it won't admit there's a problem?
The lesson here is that DRM software isn't just a bad idea; it'll make your computer vulnerable to viruses, Malware, and spontaneous crashes.
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