RIAA/MPAA Contractor Deploys Malicious Adware Trojans 883
RichardX writes "Overpeer, the organization responsible for seeding many peer to peer networks with damaged, corrupt and fake files has now found a way of hiding spyware and adware inside Windows Media files by using a DRM loophole and is using this technique to further pollute p2p networks." Several readers sent in a PCworld article on the same subject.
So how.. (Score:5, Interesting)
Doesn't surpise me one little bit. (Score:5, Interesting)
record companies employ illegal tactics to enforce their view of the world, expecially when they think they see recognizeable dips in their revenue. Nevermind that they're not actually losing money - the perception of loss is all it takes.
right now they're saying to themselves (as justification for illegal activities) "desperate times call for desperate measures".
These are not desperate times, and those are overly-desperate measures. They're weak, and owned by the music, not the other way 'round.
Re:I Wonder... (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Virus?? (Score:5, Interesting)
For example: My son watches a lot of Disney Channel, and on that channel there is an animated show called the Proud Family. On this show, about a year or so ago, there was an episode that involved the daughter of the family downloading music. It was 100% blatant propaganda, complete with the corner record store going out of business, and people there losing their jobs, because she downloaded music. It truly made me sick to my stomach that such ridiculous propaganda was being so shamelessly peddled directly to children.
The "average user," and especially the media, is already convinced that p2p is synonymous with illegal activity, so this is unlikely to raise much of an uproar outside of the geek and college student communities.
Re:Stay away from WMA files (Score:3, Interesting)
I would bet they don't.
Illegal? When large unsuable corps are involved? (Score:5, Interesting)
If this trojan is killed by an anti-virus program, is it securing your machine or committing an illegal act? I had this very discussion w/Sophos' techs. I had just cleaned the VX/2 trojan out of a computer - and it took HOURS of work to get it fully out of there. I sent a sample to Sophos and they told me that it was legal adware.
My question was obvious: What methods are allowable for adware, and how is that any different than a virus/trojan.
VX/2 was installed on one of my workstations here through a fault of the OS (unpatched at the time). It installed itself without permission. It left no way to uninstall it. It attempted to shut down Adaware and resisted any attempts to kill it.
So.... THIS ISN'T A VIRUS? Then what the hell is?
And so, overpeer's actions come as no big surprise to me. And I have no doubt that the anti-virus people will continue to turn a blind eye because of their FEAR of a lawsuit.
Damnit, don't we PAY THEM to protect us against this sort of thing?
Re:Virus?? (Score:3, Interesting)
The one involving the market stall is a particular classic.
Re:The problem (Score:4, Interesting)
Ah yes, but the RIAA is so nicely offering the music for download. They do hold the copyright, don't they? Perfectly legal. =)
Re:If they can do it... (Score:5, Interesting)
**AA legislation and you (Score:3, Interesting)
If so, how long until that goes MIA?
Re:I Wonder... (Score:5, Interesting)
Not what you probably think (Score:5, Interesting)
Obviously no one with any know-how actually uses this format, but sometimes the file you want is in it, just be sure to play WMV/A files offline until you find a patch for Windows media player.
ROFL (Score:0, Interesting)
You mean like...piracy?
I love that people question the morality of the RIAA's actions yet don't turn that moral eye towards...the pirates they're going after! Weird, huh? How one thing gets a complete pass, but when the copyright holders try to protect themselves, suddenly they're bad guys. That's because this website has become a pirate haven.
Re:So how.. (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:The problem (Score:3, Interesting)
Alot of novice users are finding it hard to get mp3 versions of songs they own onto portable mp3 devices. A subnotebook computer without a CD-ROM drive but with USB could be the perfect platform.
Re:So how.. (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:So how.. (Score:1, Interesting)
which "amends U.S. copyright law to (1) provide legal protection for, and remedies to prevent thec ircumvention of, technological protection measures and copyright management information" am i wrong here ?
Re:This is great! (Score:1, Interesting)
If enough people become aware of this, then DRM will be lumped in the same mental category as adware and spyware. Very nice for everyone who hates DRM.
OTOH, this is meant for the mre casual windows users who won't know what caused their problems. This is realistically meant to make the computers of people who download music to work poorly. It's just messing with them. Then again, adware/spyware guys targeted the same semi-computer literates and failed to keep the stuff secret. A lot of people now know why ads keep magically popping up on their computer.
Bottom line: Hopefully these guys will become as well known for exploiting DRM as the adware/spyware people are now. As normal people start associating DRM == adware or spyware they will not be as likely to buy products 'featuring' DRM.
Can you prove I knew that? (Score:3, Interesting)
All they are admitting is that they downloaded a file and got malware installed by the RIAA. Perhaps they were not aware the music was copyrighted. There's plenty of bands I don't know about.
I can't tell by looking at a filename if I'm downloading a signed artist or a local group just trying to promote itself. And P2P isn't just used for copyright infringement, so the fact I used Kazaa to get the file doesn't implicate me.
Even the fact it's a nationally recognized band doesn't prove anything. I have an mp3 file of U2's "Beautiful Day". It is NOT stolen. It was downloaded from Interscope's website back when they were promoting All You Can't Leave Behind.
But the record industry can't deny they're ruining people's computers with their files. Is a single download mistake justify a computer being wrecked and the user perhaps loosing data?
Also, given that Microsoft's loophole is making all this possible, and the RIAA is exploiting that loophole. Since it is now a recognised error M$ either will have to fix it (putting an end to the music industry's little scheme) or they could be named as co defendants in any lawsuit that might arise from this (but then, IANAL, and there is that pesky EULA with 'at your own risk' clauses).
Dubious move...... (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:So how.. (Score:3, Interesting)
Your analogy is flawed: the tag does not just make the suit you stole unwearable it also burns down your bedroom.
It certainly falls flow of a lot of anti-computer misuse legislation.
Re:If they can do it... (Score:5, Interesting)
The law doesn't apply to them (Score:5, Interesting)
"Tauzin, when he was chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee earlier this year, negotiated to take jobs with two major lobbying groups, the Motion Picture Association of America and the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America; he just took the PhRMA job."
Source: www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6771489/
They're hiring former Congressmen and Committee chairman. lol. They can buy their way to the kind of clout it will take to get their sweetheart legislation through our Congress, which is more than happy to sell the America public if the donations are high enough. Lobbyists are expecting to spend 2 billion dollars this year.
Don't complain, you elected them. And the first thing they do is loosen up the ethics rules so they can bone the taxpayer even more blatantly than they already are.
This is what the red state mentality considers good government. Chumps.
Re:Virus?? (Score:2, Interesting)
As long as you advocate turning a blind eye to blatant theft, please park your high horse at some other address that doesn't respect IP. You are not part of the solution...you are part of the problem.
Re:So how.. (Score:2, Interesting)
A concerted effort to email all your files to them (Score:3, Interesting)
I would also like to see a concerted effort to indentify the personal email accounts and personal websites to bombard them with several hundred GB of files per day.
Re:I Wonder... (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Get legal and save yourself the trouble... (Score:3, Interesting)
(Score:2, Insightful)
Looks like more than just mpa files are becoming corrupted. Slashdot moderation is looking a little green around the gills too.
Wonder how long it would take a dedicated corporate group to work their way into the modding group to a point where they could actually begin to influence what shows up on /.?
/tinfoil hat
Re:So how.. (Score:2, Interesting)
Kind of scary that your music and movies you may download are potential exploits and security problem for your system. I'd say that's enough of a reason to avoid the Microsoft formats like the plague. But even more pertinent I suppose is to ask if other formats can be exploited in a similar way? Is it possible to break a linux system through the mplayer plugin for example?
Karma (Score:2, Interesting)
in the state of minnesota, this is a gross misdeme (Score:4, Interesting)
somebody should document their machine, and when they get hit by this kerrrrrrrrrap, file a case with the police, and drag the overpeer weasels into court.
it would be nice to see some RIAA execs sitting in the can for years and years because they play like russian script kiddies.
They're mis-using a DRM feature of WMA files... (Score:3, Interesting)
As for avoiding this- there's two answers...
1) Don't listen to their stuff in the FIRST place.
2) If you can't keep from doing that and insist on sharing the stuff, use MP3 or Ogg Vorbis, not WMA. I don't care how much "better" it sounds, like all things Microsoft, there's some nasty catch waiting for you in the end.
Microsoft/ RIAA agreement? (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:I Wonder... (Score:3, Interesting)
Better idea: everyone on the board of directors, CEO, etc. goes to jail for five years. I mean, they ARE the decision makers for the corp. If the corp. committed a crime, they should be automatically? responsible. Has the added bonus of not hurting workers. But harder to implement (as in, when monkeys fly out of my rear end....)
Re:Get legal and save yourself the trouble... (Score:2, Interesting)
What on earth makes you think that avoiding P2P clients stops you from being vulnerable to trojan wma/wmv files?
TVstationxyorzy.com gets hacked. Their promo wmv file(s) is(are) replaced by wmvs with a trojan payload. Suddenly, downloading what you thought was a safe file, isn't. And your pc is now on the zombie network.
So now, wmv/wma files are on my 'Must Avoid' list, along with DRM'd MP3 files (the only mp3 files my Sony player won't play are the ones I purchased from a legal-download provider), and anything Real. So are Windows updates. And the entertainment industry has bitten yet another hand that feeds it.