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78-462: Extended Copy Protection ( XCP ) is a software package developed by the British company First 4 Internet (which on 20 November 2006, changed its name to Fortium Technologies Ltd) and sold as a copy protection or digital rights management (DRM) scheme for Compact Discs . It was used on some CDs distributed by Sony BMG and sparked the 2005 Sony BMG CD copy protection scandal ; in that context it

156-532: A provider and accessed over the Internet . The process of developing software involves several stages. The stages include software design , programming , testing , release , and maintenance . Software quality assurance and security are critical aspects of software development, as bugs and security vulnerabilities can lead to system failures and security breaches. Additionally, legal issues such as software licenses and intellectual property rights play

234-509: A vulnerability . Software patches are often released to fix identified vulnerabilities, but those that remain unknown ( zero days ) as well as those that have not been patched are still liable for exploitation. Vulnerabilities vary in their ability to be exploited by malicious actors, and the actual risk is dependent on the nature of the vulnerability as well as the value of the surrounding system. Although some vulnerabilities can only be used for denial of service attacks that compromise

312-520: A web application —had become the primary method that companies deliver applications. Software companies aim to deliver a high-quality product on time and under budget. A challenge is that software development effort estimation is often inaccurate. Software development begins by conceiving the project, evaluating its feasibility, analyzing the business requirements, and making a software design . Most software projects speed up their development by reusing or incorporating existing software, either in

390-457: A change request. Frequently, software is released in an incomplete state when the development team runs out of time or funding. Despite testing and quality assurance , virtually all software contains bugs where the system does not work as intended. Post-release software maintenance is necessary to remediate these bugs when they are found and keep the software working as the environment changes over time. New features are often added after

468-606: A civil lawsuit and criminal investigations, which forced Sony to discontinue use of the system. While Sony eventually recalled the CDs that contained the XCP system, the web-based uninstaller was investigated by noted security researchers Ed Felten and Alex Halderman , who stated that the ActiveX component used for removing the software exposed users to far more significant security risks, including arbitrary code execution from websites on

546-486: A code's correct and efficient behavior, its reusability and portability , or the ease of modification. It is usually more cost-effective to build quality into the product from the beginning rather than try to add it later in the development process. Higher quality code will reduce lifetime cost to both suppliers and customers as it is more reliable and easier to maintain . Software failures in safety-critical systems can be very serious including death. By some estimates,

624-410: A disc is inserted, and furthermore when manually running the application, it cannot install anything on the system without consent, requiring administrative credentials from the user. There is no version of MediaMax for Linux or any other operating system. The software's propensity to permanently modify the computer's behaviour without knowledge or consent has caused controversy. MediaMax departs from

702-443: A legal regime where liability for software products is significantly curtailed compared to other products. Source code is protected by copyright law that vests the owner with the exclusive right to copy the code. The underlying ideas or algorithms are not protected by copyright law, but are often treated as a trade secret and concealed by such methods as non-disclosure agreements . Software copyright has been recognized since

780-620: A modified version from Jon Johansen 's DRMS software which allows to open Apple Computer 's FairPlay DRM is included. He found the code to be inactive, but fully functional as he could use it to insert songs into Fairplay. DRMS, mpg123 and VLC are licensed under the GNU General Public License (GPL). The other software found, like LAME, is licensed under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL), also as free software . If

858-437: A programming language is run through a compiler or interpreter to execute on the architecture's hardware. Over time, software has become complex, owing to developments in networking , operating systems , and databases . Software can generally be categorized into two main types: The rise of cloud computing has introduced the new software delivery model Software as a Service (SaaS). In SaaS, applications are hosted by

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936-460: A quick web search . Most creative professionals have switched to software-based tools such as computer-aided design , 3D modeling , digital image editing , and computer animation . Almost every complex device is controlled by software. SunnComm MediaMax is a second-generation system meant to address the problems of earlier copy-preventing schemes, where many types of playback devices had difficulty reading discs in normal use. MediaMax

1014-424: A remark clearly aimed directly at Sony and other labels, Stewart continued: "It's very important to remember that it's your intellectual property - it's not your computer. And in the pursuit of protection of intellectual property, it's important not to defeat or undermine the security measures that people need to adopt in these days." According to The New York Times , Sony BMG said "about 4.7 million CDs containing

1092-459: A rise in reports of "missing" CD-ROM drives, a symptom of unsuccessful attempts to remove XCP. Security researcher Dan Kaminsky used DNS cache analysis to determine that 568,000 networks worldwide may contain at least one XCP-infected computer. Kaminsky's technique uses the fact that DNS nameservers cache recently fetched results, and that XCP phones home to a specific hostname . By finding DNS servers that carry that hostname in cache, Kaminsky

1170-495: A significant role in the distribution of software products. The first use of the word software is credited to mathematician John Wilder Tukey in 1958. The first programmable computers, which appeared at the end of the 1940s, were programmed in machine language . Machine language is difficult to debug and not portable across different computers. Initially, hardware resources were more expensive than human resources . As programs became complex, programmer productivity became

1248-514: A specific version of the software, downloaded, and run on hardware belonging to the purchaser. The rise of the Internet and cloud computing enabled a new model, software as a service (SaaS), in which the provider hosts the software (usually built on top of rented infrastructure or platforms ) and provides the use of the software to customers, often in exchange for a subscription fee . By 2023, SaaS products—which are usually delivered via

1326-415: A system's availability, others allow the attacker to inject and run their own code (called malware ), without the user being aware of it. To thwart cyberattacks, all software in the system must be designed to withstand and recover from external attack. Despite efforts to ensure security, a significant fraction of computers are infected with malware. Programming languages are the format in which software

1404-588: A user's computer should the EULA be subsequently declined by that user. This technology update was then applied to all previously sold music CDs (whose users had internet connectivity) as well as to all MediaMax CDs sold in the future. Some artists whose albums were sold with the MediaMax software were dissatisfied that it was put on their compact discs without their consent. The rock band My Morning Jacket offered advice on their website on how to bypass MediaMax, which

1482-417: A version of id3lib's source code on its web site, but unrelated to XCP. On a National Public Radio program, Thomas Hesse , President of Sony BMG's global digital business division asked, "Most people, I think, don't even know what a rootkit is, so why should they care about it?" He explained that "The software is designed to protect our CDs from unauthorized copying and ripping ." Sony also contends that

1560-529: Is also known as the Sony rootkit . Security researchers, beginning with Mark Russinovich in October 2005, have described the program as functionally identical to a rootkit : a computer program used by computer intruders to conceal unauthorised activities on a computer system. Russinovich broke the story on his Sysinternals blog, where it gained attention from the media and other researchers. This ultimately led to

1638-526: Is designed to play on standard playback devices and an appropriately configured computer (see system requirements on back). If you have questions or concerns visit www.sunncomm.com/support/bmg A section on the back of some packages states, in part: This CD is enhanced with MediaMax software. Windows compatible instructions: Insert disc into CD-ROM drive. Software will automatically install. If it doesn't, click on "LaunchCd.exe." MacOS instructions: Insert disc into CD-ROM drive. Click on "Start." Usage of

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1716-664: Is inserted, AnyDVD blocks the PC from accessing any session but the audio, rendering data sessions unreadable and preventing the installation of malware such as XCP. There is much speculation to what extent the actions taken by this software are a violation of various laws against unauthorized tampering with computers, or laws regarding invasion of privacy by " spyware ", and how they subject Sony and First 4 Internet to legal liability. The States of California, New York, and Texas, as well as Italy, have already taken legal action against both companies and more class action lawsuits are likely. However,

1794-444: Is that "users lose... A dangerous and damaging rootkit gets introduced into the wild, and half a million computers get infected before anyone does anything." Beginning as early as August 2005, Windows users reported crashes related to a program called aries.sys , while inexplicably being unable to find the file on their computers. This file is now known to be part of XCP. Call for Help host Leo Laporte said that he had experienced

1872-453: Is written. Since the 1950s, thousands of different programming languages have been invented; some have been in use for decades, while others have fallen into disuse. Some definitions classify machine code —the exact instructions directly implemented by the hardware—and assembly language —a more human-readable alternative to machine code whose statements can be translated one-to-one into machine code—as programming languages. Programs written in

1950-524: The BitDefender antivirus company. Follow-up research by Felten and Halderman showed that the Web-based uninstaller Sony later offered for the software contained its own critical security problems. The software installs an ActiveX component which allows any Web site to run software on the user's computer without restriction. This component is used by First 4 Internet's Web site to download and run

2028-484: The PestPatrol anti-spyware software, characterize the XCP software as both a trojan horse and a rootkit : XCP.Sony.Rootkit installs a DRM executable as a Windows service , but misleadingly names this service " Plug and Play Device Manager", employing a technique commonly used by malware authors to fool everyday users into believing this is a part of Windows. Approximately every 1.5 seconds, this service queries

2106-596: The chilling effect of the anti-circumvention clause of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act . Shortly after independent researchers broke the story, security software vendors followed up, releasing detailed descriptions of the components of XCP, as well as software to remove the $ sys$ * cloaking component of it. On the other hand, no software has yet been released to remove the CD-ROM filter driver component. Computer Associates , makers of

2184-499: The execution of a computer . Software also includes design documents and specifications. The history of software is closely tied to the development of digital computers in the mid-20th century. Early programs were written in the machine language specific to the hardware. The introduction of high-level programming languages in 1958 allowed for more human-readable instructions, making software development easier and more portable across different computer architectures . Software in

2262-438: The high-level programming languages used to create software share a few main characteristics: knowledge of machine code is not necessary to write them, they can be ported to other computer systems, and they are more concise and human-readable than machine code. They must be both human-readable and capable of being translated into unambiguous instructions for computer hardware. The invention of high-level programming languages

2340-471: The "component is not malicious and does not compromise security," but "to alleviate any concerns that users may have about the program posing potential security vulnerabilities, this update has been released to enable users to remove the rootkit component from their computers." An analysis of this uninstaller has been published by Mark Russinovich - who initially uncovered XCP - titled "More on Sony: Dangerous Decloaking Patch, EULAs and Phoning Home". Obtaining

2418-662: The "legalese rootkit." One of the primary reasons for the XCP experiment lies in the issue of adding on DRM to a legacy standard. These problems are explored by Professor Randal Picker, Professor of Law for the University of Chicago Law School , in his article, "Mistrust-Based Digital Rights Management", published in Volume 5 of the Journal on Telecommunications and High Technology Law . CDs by themselves are incapable of updating legacy hardware such as stand-alone CD players, and lack

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2496-587: The CD on your computer requires your acceptance of the End User License Agreement and installation of specific software contained on the CD. The music on a MediaMax disc is contained in tracks as on a regular compact disc, while the DRM software is present in an additional data track. Therefore, such discs work with almost any CD playback device. Copy restriction is only enforced by the software on

2574-410: The CD-ROM drive(s). The installation program displays an end user license agreement (EULA) with options to accept or decline the agreement. The user is informed that they must accept the terms of this EULA to use the CD on their computer, but the DRM software is installed without notice, even if they decline, cancel, or terminate the program. In Mac OS X , applications cannot run automatically when

2652-534: The CD. (Some discs involved in the Sony scandal contained a competing technology, MediaMax from SunnComm , which attempts to install a kernel extension on Mac OS X. However, because of the permissions of Mac OS X, there were no widespread infections among Mac users.) Although Russinovich was the first to publish about the rootkit, other researchers had discovered it around the same time, but were either still analyzing it or chose not to disclose anything sooner due to

2730-446: The DRM entirely, negating the effectiveness. The third problem lies in the legal response. The EFF, as well as state attorneys general, investigated and brought suit against Sony for the XCP program. Picker does not analyze the legal merits of such suits, but the cost of litigation potentially outweighs the benefit of attempting to add-on DRM. The fourth and final problem lies in the End User License Agreement attempted to be enforced by

2808-491: The F4IRootkit malware. The somewhat slow and incomplete response of some antivirus companies has, however, been questioned by Bruce Schneier , information security expert and author of security articles and texts, including Secrets and Lies . In an article for Wired News , Mr. Schneier asks, "What happens when the creators of malware collude with the very companies we hire to protect us from that malware?" His answer

2886-413: The MediaMax software looks for a watermark inside all raw CD audio to recognize protected content. If the software detects protected audio, it distorts the audio to prevent unauthorized copying. The watermark works by setting a sequence of low order bits to 1. This makes the watermark very brittle, and it will be defeated by most transformations of the audio, including converting it to MP3 and back. When

2964-601: The Program Files\Common Files\SunnComm Shared\ directory. To determine if MediaMax is installed on a Windows PC, one may launch a command prompt, from which the Service Control Manager can be queried. The command to test this is sc query sbcphid . If installed, sc stop sbcphid will halt the service, and sc delete sbcphid will prevent it from automatically starting on subsequent reboots. Once installed,

3042-839: The Sony BMG software. This is commonly referred to as rootkit technology. Furthermore, the rootkit does not only affect XCP.Sony.Rootkit's files. This rootkit hides every file, process, or registry key beginning with $ sys$ . This represents a vulnerability, which has already been exploited to hide World of Warcraft RING0 hacks as of the time of this writing, and could potentially hide an attacker's files and processes once access to an infected system had been gained. Computer Associates announced, in November 2005, that its anti-spyware product, PestPatrol , would be able to remove Sony's software. One month later, Microsoft released an update for its Malicious Software Removal Tool which could clean

3120-541: The Windows service that MediaMax installs can be safely and easily stopped, disabled and removed. Users with administrative privileges can accomplish this via Windows' Service Controller ("sc") command line utility (using the "stop" and "delete" arguments), after which MediaMax's driver file (sbcphid.sys) can be deleted from the Windows\System32\Drivers directory and additional files can be deleted from

3198-570: The XCP CDs as defective merchandise and will offer a refund with shipping, as long as the customer specifies the request. The various adverse side-effects of XCP can rationally be viewed as defects, as they are not part of the (apparent) intended function of XCP; this view skirts the more substantive issue of whether Sony transgressed against computer owners by intentionally modifying their computer systems without consent. Computer software Software consists of computer programs that instruct

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3276-671: The XCP system: "As a precautionary measure, Sony BMG is temporarily suspending the manufacture of CDs containing XCP technology," it said in a statement. "We also intend to re-examine all aspects of our content protection initiative to be sure that it continues to meet our goals of security and ease of consumer use," Sony BMG added. This followed comments by Stewart Baker , the Department of Homeland Security 's assistant secretary for policy, in which he took DRM manufacturers to task, as reported in The Washington Post : In

3354-414: The ability to change or upgrade the firmware in order to read DRM. Thus the DRM must be added on so as not to interfere with the function of the legacy players yet still work when the same CD is placed in a computer. Picker analyzes the four main issues with add-on DRM. The first problem, as demonstrated in the XCP example, is that capable consumers can simply bypass the DRM. Turning off autorun prevented

3432-479: The add-on DRM. The ability to actually enforce these agreements on add-on DRM is limited by the mere fact that without active registration and tracking of the CDs, the company will have no one to enforce against. Therefore, the expected benefit of enforcing the EULA against violators is actually non-existent; the costs, however, of implementing the add-on DRM scheme, in the form of state and federal investigations, private lawsuits, negative publicity, consumer backlash and

3510-406: The audio section of the CD, the filter driver inserts seemingly random noise into the returned data, thus making the music unlistenable. XCP.Sony.Rootkit loads a system filter driver which intercepts all calls for process, directory or registry listings, even those unrelated to the Sony BMG application. This rootkit driver modifies what information is visible to the operating system in order to cloak

3588-399: The bottleneck. The introduction of high-level programming languages in 1958 hid the details of the hardware and expressed the underlying algorithms into the code . Early languages include Fortran , Lisp , and COBOL . There are two main types of software: Software can also be categorized by how it is deployed . Traditional applications are purchased with a perpetual license for

3666-403: The claims are correct, then Sony/BMG was distributing copyrighted material illegally. Jon Johansen wrote in his blog that after talking with a lawyer, he thinks that he cannot sue; however, there are opinions that the advice he was given is wrong. The LAME developers have put an open letter to Sony/BMG online. Copyright violations which Sony could be accused of include: Sony already provides

3744-469: The convention of digital rights management (DRM) software by ignoring a user's desire to decline the installation. While it displays a license agreement with options to accept or decline, the DRM is installed regardless of the user's choice. When this functionality was brought to SunnComm's attention, the Company resolved the problem by issuing an update that ensured that its DRM would never be installed on

3822-404: The correctness of code, while user acceptance testing helps to ensure that the product meets customer expectations. There are a variety of software development methodologies , which vary from completing all steps in order to concurrent and iterative models. Software development is driven by requirements taken from prospective users, as opposed to maintenance, which is driven by events such as

3900-400: The cost of poor quality software can be as high as 20 to 40 percent of sales. Despite developers' goal of delivering a product that works entirely as intended, virtually all software contains bugs. The rise of the Internet also greatly increased the need for computer security as it enabled malicious actors to conduct cyberattacks remotely. If a bug creates a security risk, it is called

3978-419: The cost of products. Unlike copyrights, patents generally only apply in the jurisdiction where they were issued. Engineer Capers Jones writes that "computers and software are making profound changes to every aspect of human life: education, work, warfare, entertainment, medicine, law, and everything else". It has become ubiquitous in everyday life in developed countries . In many cases, software augments

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4056-490: The disc: If the software is not installed, disc duplication is not inhibited. On computers running Microsoft Windows , the typical installation vector is the AutoRun feature of the operating system . When a MediaMax disc is inserted into a Windows PC with AutoRun enabled, software on the disc called LaunchCd.exe installs a device driver that inhibits the ability of other software to directly read data from audio discs in

4134-438: The form of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) or open-source software . Software quality assurance is typically a combination of manual code review by other engineers and automated software testing . Due to time constraints, testing cannot cover all aspects of the software's intended functionality, so developers often focus on the most critical functionality. Formal methods are used in some safety-critical systems to prove

4212-439: The functionality of existing technologies such as household appliances and elevators . Software also spawned entirely new technologies such as the Internet , video games , mobile phones , and GPS . New methods of communication, including email , forums , blogs , microblogging , wikis , and social media , were enabled by the Internet. Massive amounts of knowledge exceeding any paper-based library are now available with

4290-449: The installation of XCP or any DRM software relies on the CD being multi-session, the application of ink (via an ordinary felt-tip marker) to the outer edge of the disk renders the data track of the CD unreadable, thereby causing the PC to treat the disc as an ordinary single-session music CD. Slysoft 's AnyDVD program, which removes copy protection from DVDs and Blu-ray discs, also defeats DRM on audio CDs. When active and an audio CD

4368-473: The internet. The version of this software used in Sony CDs is the one marketed as “XCP-Aurora”. The first time a user attempts to play such a CD on a Windows system, the user is presented with an end-user license agreement (EULA). If they accept it, the software is installed, otherwise the disc is ejected. The EULA did not mention that it installed hidden software. The software will then remain resident in

4446-403: The manner of a rootkit and expose users to follow-on harm from viruses and trojans . XCP's cloaking technique, which makes all processes with names starting with $ sys$ invisible, can be used by other malware " piggybacking " on it to ensure that it, too, is hidden from the user's view. The first malicious trojan to hide via XCP was discovered on 10 November 2005 according to a report by

4524-532: The mere act of attempting to view or remove this software in order to determine or prevent its alteration of Windows would theoretically constitute a civil or criminal offense under certain anti-circumvention legislation such as the controversial Digital Millennium Copyright Act in the United States. The Electronic Frontier Foundation 's Fred von Lohmann also heavily criticised the XCP EULA , calling it

4602-597: The mid-1970s and is vested in the company that makes the software, not the employees or contractors who wrote it. The use of most software is governed by an agreement ( software license ) between the copyright holder and the user. Proprietary software is usually sold under a restrictive license that limits copying and reuse (often enforced with tools such as digital rights management (DRM)). Open-source licenses , in contrast, allow free use and redistribution of software with few conditions. Most open-source licenses used for software require that modifications be released under

4680-472: The operating system) can take this saved file and execute it as a process on the computer hardware. Some programming languages use an interpreter instead of a compiler. An interpreter converts the program into machine code at run time , which makes them 10 to 100 times slower than compiled programming languages. Software is often released with the knowledge that it is incomplete or contains bugs. Purchasers knowingly buy it in this state, which has led to

4758-548: The original uninstaller requires one to use a specific browser (Microsoft Internet Explorer ) and to fill out an online form with their email address, receive an email, install the patch, fill out a second online form, and then they will receive a link to the uninstaller. The link is personalized, and will not work for multiple uninstalls. Furthermore, Sony's Privacy Policy states that this address can be used for promotions, or given to affiliates or "reputable third parties who may contact you directly". It has also been reported that

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4836-555: The physical world may also be part of the requirements for a software patent to be held valid. Software patents have been historically controversial . Before the 1998 case State Street Bank & Trust Co. v. Signature Financial Group, Inc. , software patents were generally not recognized in the United States. In that case, the Supreme Court decided that business processes could be patented. Patent applications are complex and costly, and lawsuits involving patents can drive up

4914-417: The primary executables associated with all processes running on the machine, resulting in nearly continuous read attempts on the hard drive. This has been shown to shorten the drive's lifespan. Furthermore, XCP.Sony.Rootkit installs a device driver , specifically a CD-ROM filter driver, which intercepts calls to the CD-ROM drive. If any process other than the included Music Player (player.exe) attempts to read

4992-408: The release. Over time, the level of maintenance becomes increasingly restricted before being cut off entirely when the product is withdrawn from the market. As software ages , it becomes known as legacy software and can remain in use for decades, even if there is no one left who knows how to fix it. Over the lifetime of the product, software maintenance is estimated to comprise 75 percent or more of

5070-420: The rootkit installation and thus invalidated the DRM scheme. The second problem is consumer reaction. Adding DRM to a legacy product like music CDs, which traditionally had no rights management scheme, will infuriate consumers. Picker points out that in the wake of the negative publicity surrounding the Sony add-on DRM, Amazon.com began alerting customers as to which Sony CDs contained XCP. Customers could avoid

5148-424: The same license, which can create complications when open-source software is reused in proprietary projects. Patents give an inventor an exclusive, time-limited license for a novel product or process. Ideas about what software could accomplish are not protected by law and concrete implementations are instead covered by copyright law . In some countries, a requirement for the claimed invention to have an effect on

5226-425: The software from loading by holding down the shift key each time a disc is inserted. Windows PCs with MediaMax installed are identifiable by their having a Windows service installed named "sbcphid." MediaMax's stealth install provides no uninstall option, in keeping with the absence of notification that the installation happened. However, in contrast to the previous XCP copy protection components used by Sony/BMG,

5304-530: The software had been shipped, and about 2.1 million had been sold." 52 albums were distributed by Sony-BMG that contained XCP. On 14 November 2005, Sony announced it was recalling the affected CDs and plans to offer exchanges to consumers who purchased the discs. The Electronic Frontier Foundation published its original list of 19 titles on 9 November 2005. On 15 November 2005 The Register published an article saying there may be as many as 47 titles. Sony BMG says there are 52 XCP CDs. Amazon says it's treating

5382-519: The technical limitations, far outweighs the benefits. Researcher Sebastian Porst, Matti Nikki and a number of software experts have published evidence that the XCP software infringes on the copyright of the LAME mp3 encoder, mpglib , FAAC id3lib ( ID3 tag reading and writing), mpg123 and the VLC media player . Princeton researcher Alex Halderman discovered that on nearly every XCP CD, code which uses

5460-431: The total development cost. Completing a software project involves various forms of expertise, not just in software programmers but also testing, documentation writing, project management , graphic design , user experience , user support, marketing , and fundraising. Software quality is defined as meeting the stated requirements as well as customer expectations. Quality is an overarching term that can refer to

5538-604: The uninstaller might have security problems which would allow remote code execution. Sony's uninstall page would attempt to install an ActiveX control when it is displayed in Internet Explorer. This ActiveX control was marked "Safe for scripting," which means that any web page can utilize the control and its methods. Some of the methods provided by this control were dangerous, as they may have allowed an attacker to upload and execute arbitrary code. On 11 November 2005, Sony announced they would suspend manufacturing CDs using

5616-424: The uninstaller, but it remains active afterward allowing any Web site the user visits to take over the computer. Since it is specific to Microsoft Windows, XCP has no effect on all other operating systems such as Linux , BSD , OS/2 , Solaris , or Mac OS X , meaning that users of those systems do not suffer the potential harm of this software, and they also are not impeded from ripping the normal music tracks on

5694-489: The user's system, intercepting all accesses of the CD drive to prevent any media player or ripper software other than the one included with XCP-Aurora from accessing the music tracks of the Sony CD. No obvious way to uninstall the program is provided. Attempting to remove the software by deleting the associated files manually will render the CD drive inoperable due to registry settings that the program has altered. However, it

5772-551: Was able to approximate the number of networks affected. After the release of the data, Kaminsky learned that an as-yet undetermined number of "Enhanced CDs" without the rootkit also phone home to the same address that rootkit-affected discs use, so infection rates are still under active investigation. According to analyst firm Gartner , XCP suffers from the same flaw in implementing DRM as any DRM technology (current or future) that tries to apply DRM to audio CDs designed to be played on stand-alone CD players. According to Gartner, because

5850-616: Was first used on Anthony Hamilton's Comin' From Where I'm From in the United States ; the first US No. 1 CD to use it was Velvet Revolver 's Contraband . (The European release of the Velvet Revolver album used Macrovision CDS-200 and the Japanese is without copy protection.) Some BMG discs using the scheme have a label affixed to the front that states: This CD is protected against unauthorized duplication. It

5928-614: Was included on their 2005 album Z , and also offered to burn individual copies of the album for fans, free of the copy-protection software. Because of its dependence on AutoRun on Windows systems, the MediaMax restrictions can be bypassed by a conscientious user as follows. Users concerned about installing software from discs without their permission can disable the AutoRun feature on their computer. Such software includes computer viruses (rarely), spyware , and DRM software such as MediaMax. People who do not disable AutoRun can prevent

6006-401: Was simultaneous with the compilers needed to translate them automatically into machine code. Most programs do not contain all the resources needed to run them and rely on external libraries . Part of the compiler's function is to link these files in such a way that the program can be executed by the hardware. Once compiled, the program can be saved as an object file and the loader (part of

6084-415: Was soon discovered that the software could be easily defeated by merely using a permanent marker to draw a dark border along the edge of the disk. Following Mark Russinovich's publication of his findings, other security researchers were quick to publish their own analyses. Many of these findings were highly critical of Sony and First 4 Internet. Specifically, the software was found to conceal its activity in

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