Company and Press Reports
NPR was one of the first to report on the scandal on November 4, 2005. Thomas Hesse, Sony BMG's Global Digital Business President, told reporter Neda Ulaby, "Most people, I think, don't even know what a rootkit is, so why should they care about it?"
In November 7, 2005 article, vnunet.com summarised Russinovich's findings, and urged consumers to avoid buying Sony BMG music CDs for the time being. The following day, The Boston Globe classified the software as spyware and Computer Associates' eTrust Security Management unit VP Steve Curry confirmed that it communicates personal information from consumers' computers to Sony BMG (namely the CD being played and the user's IP address). The methods used by the software to avoid detection were likened to those used by data thieves.
The first virus which made use of Sony BMG's stealth technology to make malicious files invisible to both the user and anti-virus programs surfaced on November 10, 2005. One day later Yahoo! News announced that Sony BMG had suspended further distribution of the controversial technology.
According to ZDNet News: "The latest risk is from an uninstaller program distributed by SunnComm Technologies, a company that provides copy protection on other Sony BMG releases." The uninstall program obeys commands sent to it allowing others "to take control of PCs where the uninstaller has been used."
On November 8, 2005, Computer Associates decided to classify Sony BMG's software as "spyware" and provide tools for its removal. Speaking about Sony BMG suspending the use of XCP, independent researcher Mark Russinovich said, "This is a step they should have taken immediately."
On December 6, 2005, Sony BMG said that 5.7 million CDs spanning 27 titles were shipped with MediaMax 5 software. The company announced the availability of a new software patch to prevent a potential security breach in consumers' computers.
Sony BMG in Australia released a press release indicating that no Sony BMG titles manufactured in Australia have copy protection.
Read more about this topic: Sony BMG Copy Protection Rootkit Scandal
Famous quotes containing the words company and, company, press and/or reports:
“I have noticed that doctors who fail in the practice of medicine have a tendency to seek one another’s company and aid in consultation. A doctor who cannot take out your appendix properly will recommend you to a doctor who will be unable to remove your tonsils with success.”
—Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961)
“We’re too unseparate. And going home
From company means coming to our senses.”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)
“My advice to any diplomat who wants to have a good press is to have two or three kids and a dog.”
—Carl Rowan (b. 1925)
“He who is only a traveler learns things at second-hand and by the halves, and is poor authority. We are most interested when science reports what those men already know practically or instinctively, for that alone is a true humanity, or account of human experience.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)