*HOT* Tech News And Downloads, I Would Read This Thread And Post Any Good Info

DRM cracks continue to thwart iTunes 7

9/13/2006 5:20:19 PM, by Jacqui Cheng

Apple's announcement of the newly revamped iTunes 7 during yesterday's "Showtime" event came with many new updates and features to both the software and the iTunes Store. One of those updates was an update to the FairPlay DRM encryption that Apple uses in the songs sold through iTunes 7, as it rendered DRM stripping software such as QTFairUse6 inoperable. One developer of the software said in a forum thread that while the previous version of QTFairUse6 was able to strip songs from iTunes 6.04 and 6.05, every version of iTunes comes with different offsets for the encryption routines and therefore each new release of iTunes needs to be reanalyzed before songs can be stripped once again.

Well, it didn't take developers very long—just a few hours after the announcement, actually—to compile a new working version of QTFairUse6, version 2.3, that strips songs purchased through iTunes 7 of their DRM. Although the new release is a little shaky—"Experimental iTunes 7.0 support" is one of the changes in the version history—users report that it generally seems to be working.

More kinks need to be worked out before a more stable version of QTFairUse6 is released, but this proves that no matter how many times Apple tries to outsmart developers with the DRM encryption, more dedicated hackers will eventually outsmart Apple in return. The cycle will continue to repeat itself until Apple changes the encryption process altogether (or rids us of the DRM, but how likely is that to happen?), but even in that situation, history tells us that it, too, will be cracked.
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060913-7737.html

check it out here,QTFairUse6 forum
http://hymn-project.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1553&start=300&sid=2e0b5b7222a2210acfbeca501de741ae

 

Fake hackers beat Homeland Security

If they had been real, we would have been toast

By Nick Farrell: Thursday 14 September 2006, 06:44
A REPORT into a huge Homeland Security exercise to test to see if the US is ready for a large scale cyber attack has revealed that the country can’t handle cyber terrorism.

The exercise, which was held in February, revealed huge gaps in the way that government agencies and companies handled such attacks.

The hackers managed to infiltrate computer servers, crash the Federal Aviation Administration's control system, deface newspaper Web sites and threaten power outages.

The report, made public yesterday, said that responders could not work out if the series of simulated hackings were isolated or part of a coordinated assault. Organisations involved made the mistake of treating incidents as individual and discrete events, rather than seeing a bigger picture.

Homeland security undersecretary, George Foresman, said it was clear that the department could not yet measure America's cybersecurity preparedness. Probably because it is impossible to measure zero with a conventional ruler.

Read it here : http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=34363

 

That's quite a sig Fiend...

Good morning all!!!

Hope you enjoy a nice startup coffee!!!

 

Sony BMG Canadian DRM scam


p2pnet.net News:- Sony BMG's supposed Canadian spyware plan looks more like a scam than a 'settlement'.

The company recently, and belatedly, followed through with an alleged deal for Canadians after being caught red-handed using its music CDs to weasel rootkit spyware DRM into users' computers without their knowledge or permission, in the process also endangering the health of infected systems.

It'll never live the international scandal down, its attempts to pretend it's an honest company merely trying to protect itself, notwithstanding.

"While it is good to see that the Canadian legal issues will be put to rest, the reverberations from the Sony rootkit case will last well beyond the December deadline for filing a claim," wrote Michael Geist.

Now Geist has revealed new lows of Sony BMG infamy.

The Canadian Sony rootkit class action settlement heads to court next week amid mounting questions about the deal. The EFF calls attention to a number of missing provisions, including no security reviews and no ongoing obligations to provide uninstallers for the rootkit. There is also a financial hit in Canada, with Canadian consumers receiving roughly ten percent less than U.S. consumers due to currency differences.

By far the biggest difference, however, is that the U.S. agreement is subject to injunctive relief linked to actions brought by several U.S. agencies and attorneys general. The Canadian agreement, by contrast does not include such relief. The justification for this difference is contained in Exhibit C, the only key settlement document that Sony has not provided to the public.

I have now obtained a copy of Exhibit C, which is an affidavit from Christine J. Prudham, Vice President, Legal and Business Affairs of Sony BMG Canada (Prudham is the same person who appeared today at the Copyright Board discussing how Sony BMG Canada released just 16 new Canadian records last year).

The affidavit seeks to explain why Sony BMG Canada believes it is appropriate to grant Canadian consumers fewer rights than their U.S. counterparts. While there is the suggestion that Canadians would benefit indirectly from a U.S. injunction, the heart of the argument revolves around a series of copyright-related arguments that are utterly without merit.

We've also saved a copy here and we'll try to run a full text version later.

Also See:
caught red-handed - Sony's Canadian spyware deal, August 31, 2006
Michael Geist - Sony Settles Canadian Class Actions over Rootkit, August 31, 2006
new lows - The Missing Sony Exhibit, September 14, 2006



(Thursday 14th September 2006)
http://p2pnet.net/story/9859?PHPSESSID=9ffb4429b74195a716deab78300d88a6

 

MySpace, YouTube targeted by Universal Music Group

9/14/2006 11:31:36 AM, by Eric Bangeman

YouTube and MySpace may be next on the music industry's hit list, according to Universal Music Group CEO Doug Morris. Labelling them "copyright infringers," Morris said that the label has plans to deal with the popular web sites and their hosting of infringing videos.

MySpace is the trendiest social networking site around, while YouTube has come from nowhere to become one of the most popular destinations on the Internet. While copyrighted material is peripheral to the success of MySpace, the plethora of snippets from popular TV shows like The Colbert Report and The Daily Show along with countless music videos on YouTube has made it a very high-traffic site.

YouTube "respects the rights of copyright holders," according to the Copyright and Inappropriate Content section of its Help Center. However, it puts the onus on its users to ensure that the material they post is not infringing. Given the type of content available on the site, it's clear that users aren't too concerned about who owns the rights to the material they are uploading. That said, YouTube readily takes down copyrighted material once it is notified of the infringement, as fans of a Saturday Night Live sketch found out earlier this year.

YouTube's policy is apparently not enough to appease UMG, as Morris says that the label believes "these new businesses are copyright infringers and owe us tens of millions of dollars."

YouTube is aiming to legally host music videos, as cofounder Steve Chen has said that the site wants to host "every music video ever created." The site has been in negotiations with the record labels, but nothing concrete has emerged as of yet. Morris' comments may be intended as a negotiating tactic, or they could be a shot across the bow to warn of imminent legal action.

The law does provide some protection for both YouTube and MySpace. Since they merely host material, they fall into the category of online service providers under US law, which gives them some basic protections under the DMCA. Once presented with the infamous DMCA Takedown Notice, YouTube and MySpace can avoid further trouble by immediately removing the infringing material.

Questions of profitability muddy the water. If YouTube and MySpace are shown to be profiting from hosting infringing materials, then the liability question may have a different answer. If the labels can demonstrate a financial loss from the infringement, then the sites' defense becomes a trickier proposition.

Perhaps the most troubling aspect of the situation is that YouTube represents a huge opportunity for the record labels. The massive amounts of older and obscure music videos available on the site—as well as newer stuff—demonstrates that there is an underserved market here. The question becomes whether the interested parties will be able to come up with a way to profit from the demand or whether the goose that lays the golden eggs will be served for dinner instead.
Further reading

* Reuters: Universal Music pressuring YouTube, MySpace
* YouTube policy on copyright infringement
* YouTube, Google videos latest targets of RIAA's wrath
* YouTube caps video lengths to reduce infringement
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060914-7744.html

 

Take the 2007 Microsoft Office release out for a test drive!

You are just a few clicks away from a free online test drive of the latest version of Microsoft Office programs. Take them out for a spin in this quick, easy-to-use, browser-based trial experience.

The real-time test drive does not require product installation or download of the beta—it's the fastest way to try out 2007 Microsoft Office system programs. In just minutes you can start exploring Microsoft Office through your Web browser on your own, or follow the step-by-step tutorials to experience all of its useful features.
Test Drive Microsoft Office



Experience how the 2007 Microsoft Office system can help you better manage documents, organize your workload, and collaborate with coworkers—not just from your desk, but from almost anywhere. With the test drive you can try out the latest improvements to familiar Microsoft Office applications and use sample data that you can edit, send by e-mail, and post to Microsoft SharePoint Products and Technologies sites in real time.
Included in the test drive:

* Microsoft Office Access 2007
* Microsoft Office Excel 2007
* Microsoft Office InfoPath 2007
* Microsoft Office OneNote 2007
* Microsoft Office Outlook 2007
* Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 with Business Contact Manager
* Microsoft Office Outlook Web Access
* Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007
* Microsoft Office Project Professional 2007



* Microsoft Office Publisher 2007
* Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer 2007
* Microsoft Office Visio 2007
* Microsoft Office Word 2007
* Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services (coming soon)
* Microsoft Office Project Server 2007 (coming soon)
* Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 (coming soon)


It's time to evolve the way you work. Test drive the 2007 Microsoft Office system programs today!
Important notices

* The test drive is intended for evaluation purposes only.
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* For additional information, read the 2007 Microsoft Office system frequently asked questions (FAQ).
* The test drive requires Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 or later, a browser plug-in, and a broadband Internet connection. A minimum 1024 x 768 screen resolution is recommended.
* The trial versions hosted in the test drive contain most of the functionality of the regular versions, but saving and printing documents is not enabled.



HERE
http://www.microsoft.com/office/preview/beta/testdrive.mspx?showIntro=n

MAIN PAGE
http://www.microsoft.com/office/preview/beta/getthebeta.mspx

 

New iTune is lemon

Bug in the Apple
http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=34386
By Steve Nosejob: Thursday 14 September 2006, 15:18
THE LATEST version of Apple’s iTunes is proving buggy with punters complaining about poor sound quality and skipping tracks.

Version 7 was launched by Apple as the "the most significant enhancement since it debuted in 2001".

Apple customers, not one for complaining until every thing is officially confirmed, have been writing to various message boards to have a moan.

We do not think that getting comments like "ITUNES 7 RUINED MY LIFE", "I recommend walking away from Version Seven" are the sort of significant enhancements Apple had in mind.

Initial reports were dismissed as being "only a few Windows owners" but then a few Mac people started to have the same problem. Some users complained that tracks they had previously bought from the music store had vanished after the upgrade.

Only a small number of users who have posted say they are not having any trouble, and threads that convert users back to 6.0.5 are getting a lot of attention.

Apple has made no comment about the problem yet. More here. µ

http://www.smh.com.au/news/digital-music/new-itunes-version-a-lemon/2006/09/14/1157827068657.html

 

Sony DRM woes continue

AOL and PestPatrol users computers damaged
http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=34389
By Nick Farrell: Thursday 14 September 2006, 15:14
ALTHOUGH SONY killed off its controversial CD DRM root kit system, investigators have discovered that it could have caused more problems than anyone first thought.

A glitch in the XCP DRM technology meant that anti-spyware features in AOL's Safety and Security Centre software and PestPatrol software could have tried to disable the CD-ROM's configuration.

The bug has been found by Texas attorney general's office who have been testing the XCP copy-protection technology as part of the state's lawsuit against Sony.

Attorney General Greg Abbott’s mouthpiece said that it was possible that there are many consumers out there who might have had this happen to them.

However they would not have made the connection between running certain versions of AOL or the stand-alone software and having ever entered CDs with XCP files into that same PC.

CA and AOL have made a software patch available that fixes it.
More here. µ
http://www.smh.com.au/news/Technolo...r-for-AOL-Users/2006/09/14/1157827050877.html

List of XCP CDs released by Sony BMG:
http://cp.sonybmg.com/xcp/english/titles.html

 

Free classical downloads

p2pnet.net News:- Starting today, everyone who visits the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum site will be able to download, and share, free classical music via The Concert, the museum’s new classical music podcast series.

go here
http://www.gardnermuseum.org/

It features unreleased live performances by master musicians and talented young artists recorded from the museum’s Sunday Concert Series, America's longest-running museum music series.

The 45-minute podcasts will include music by Beethoven, Mozart, Schubert, and Chopin for solo piano, orchestra, string quartet, and voice, and a new podcast will be posted on the 1st and 15th of every month. Listeners will be able to subscribe to receive free, automatic updates delivered directly to their computers or mp3 players.

The Museum says it's breaking new ground as the first art museum to encourage sharing and free distribution of its online programming by using a “some rights reserved” copyright license from Creative Commons.

The Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School has worked with the museum to address legal issues relating to podcasting music and using Creative Commons licenses for podcasts.

Artists in “The Concert” range from young chamber musicians to established solo pianists. The artists whose performances are featured in “The Concert” include: the Borromeo String Quartet, the Claremont Trio, violinist Corey Cerovsek, the Gardner Chamber Orchestra with conductor Douglas Boyd, harpsichordist John Gibbons, violist Kim Kashkashian, Musicians from Marlboro, flutist Paula Robison, baritone Randall Scarlata, and pianists Jeremy Denk, Paavali Jumppanen, Cecile Licad, and Seymour Lipkin. Artist and composer bios are available on the website.

It's also a first step towards building a free online classical music library on the museum site.



(Thursday 14th September 2006)
http://p2pnet.net/story/9862?PHPSESSID=3930b606f76f4ae80558aa1fb6073a79

 

U.S. Backs Apple's iTunes DRM
Posted by Zonk on Thursday September 14, @04:52PM
from the support-from-the-top dept.
Media (Apple) Politics
breun writes "The U.S. has asked foreign governments to consider the effects of interfering with popular new technologies, pointing to recent scrutiny of Apple's iTunes Music Store as an example of bad judgment. The U.S. Justice Department's antitrust chief Thomas Barnett cited recent foreign proposals to impose restrictions on Apple's iTunes service as an example of strict regulation which could discourage innovation and hurt consumers." From the Washington Post article: "In prepared remarks, Barnett said the scrutiny of Apple 'provides a useful illustration of how an attack on intellectual property rights can threaten dynamic innovation.' Barnett said Apple should be applauded for creating a legal, profitable and easy-to-use system for downloading music and other entertainment via the Internet."

GO HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/13/AR2006091301578.html

 

RIAA, MPAA help bust piracy operation in New York


Posted by Quema34 on 15 September 2006 - 12:37 - Source: The Houston Chronicle

In what is a both an obviously concerted PR and legal campaign, the RIAA and MPAA took down a huge piracy operation that included music on CDs and still non-released to the public DVD movies. In an attempt to elude authorities for the longest possible time, this is how it was operated by a Abdouraitamance Diallo:


The group, which did not have a formal name, essentially acted as a wholesaler, capable of producing more than 6,000 CDs an hour and selling the discs to people who would then peddle them in flea markets. It frequently changed its production locations and distribution centers, authorities said.

Of course, the RIAA portrays this as a ‘significant blow to the nation’s piracy market’—although only ONE MAN was arrested and charged. It is obvious one person could not have purchased all the CD/DVD blanks, duplicator towers, burned all the copies, packaged them, maintained the equipment AND moved to different locations alone. So, this begs the question of how did this strike a major blow to piracy in the nation? It is assumed since the organizations could only trace financial activities back to Mr. Diallo that the distribution and sales must have been in cash. While an assumption, the article nor the MPAA/RIAA duo did not mention the ‘street value’ of the merchandise, how much was charged per unit, nor how much Diallo may have earned in this enterprise. As with any ‘major’ drug bust, police departments proudly proclaim street values in dollars of cocaine or other illegal drugs they confiscate. Yet curiously, they refuse to name concrete figures, yet continue spouting the unsubstantiated myth that piracy ‘costs them billions.’ This raises another issue: given the fact the product was bootlegged and any savvy buyer would have known this, how are we to know the bootlegged product was inferior to what the music and movie industries produced? Because they say so? It is obvious Mr. Diallo’s business thrived and, while illegal, in some way further supports the fact that both music CDs and movie DVDs are seriously overpriced. If the consumers did not feel they were overpriced, they would gladly buy from retail outlets and the piracy movement would be largely eroded. Of course, this conclusion never escapes the official spokespeople’s lips! All we read is the same, tired and hackneyed line that ‘we need to convince the public (implied: that they are evil for wanting a lower cost product).’ That said, most would agree this is really the only kind of operations the RIAA/MPAA should engage in, ones that shut down large-scale operations that profit from reproducing music and movies in this way. To hear the RIAA’s recent PR video at public universities, it is ALWAYS illegal just to download one song—even if it leads the person to want to buy the album! Of course, the best way to convince the public would be to tell them the truth, not spin a fairly minor bust and distribution center with only one person’s head on a stake (‘the group’) and somehow proclaim it as a huge victory. Sadly, the RIAA/MPAA only desires to shape the public’s perception to its distorted way of thinking, one that does not accept practicality nor reality.
http://www.cdfreaks.com/news/13958

 

RIAA suit defense responses


Posted by Quema34 on 15 September 2006 - 12:37 - Source: Slashdot

Ever wanted a small compendium of indicative questions and answers regarding typical RIAA defenses and what brings the RIAA calling to sue someone? Check out this article, which among other things points out what would halt RIAA intimidation:


I think some good rulings by the judges would shut the whole thing down, so no I don't think it's necessary to revise the statutes. I do think it's important for our society to get behind the defendants financially, because if they don't there are going to be a lot of wacky rulings by judges which are going to dismember the internet as we know it.

What is disturbing from what Beckerman states (the lawyer answering questions) is that the cases he’s seen brought by the RIAA are jokes, BUT at least one judge didn’t listen to Beckerman’s arguments. We also learn the DOJ is behind the RIAA’s efforts, so while that is not encouraging, it would seem a huge public campaign—one that informs everyone of the RIAA’s “lack of evidence” tactics—might pay the biggest dividends in the form of educating THE JUDGES who might later hear such cases. As in the Oklahoma case the RIAA dropped, the RIAA appeared petrified for people even in private to know what the RIAA is truly like. What might really be the biggest uppercut to the RIAA would be some kind of grassroots campaign that took out major space in newspapers across the U.S., documenting obvious RIAA strong-arm tactics, designed to frighten and intimidate, rather than to defend against a real injustice (the assumption is large-scale music piracy). While such a campaign would cost much, and require great coordination in standardizing the documented cases and salient points highlighting obvious flaws, it might seriously curtail many frivolous lawsuits on the RIAA’s part, greatly reducing the “photocopier” lawsuit approach the organization currently embraces.

Curiously, one of the solutions to ensure the RIAA does not send you a letter is to not share files on the services listed, a solution proffered in our corresponding forum. Be sure to check it out!
http://www.cdfreaks.com/news/13957


GO HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE,its a good read
Answers From Lawyers Who Defend Against RIAA Suits
http://interviews.slashdot.org/interviews/06/09/13/1627205.shtml

 

THE END IS NEAR ON COPYING MUSIC AND MOVIE DISKS

DVD chips 'to kill illegal copying'

Embedded radio transmitter chips to track movie, music and software discs
Simon Burns in Taipei, vnunet.com 15 Sep 2006
ADVERTISEMENT

DVDs will soon be tracked with embedded radio transmitter chips to prevent copying and piracy, according to the company which makes movie discs for Warner, Disney, Fox and other major studios.

The technology, which can also be used for Blu-Ray and HD-DVD discs, will allow movie studios to remotely track individual discs as they travel from factories to retail shelves to consumers' homes.

Home DVD players will eventually be able to check on the chip embedded in a disc, and refuse to play discs which are copied or played in the 'wrong' geographical region, the companies behind the technology expect.

"This technology holds the potential to protect the intellectual property of music companies, film studios, gaming and software developers worldwide," said Gordon Yeh, chief executive of Ritek Corporation.

Ritek is the world's largest DVD maker, and its U-Tech subsidiary will make the discs.

U-Tech and IPICO, the company behind the RFID chips used in the discs, announced today that production of the 'chipped' DVDs will begin at U-Tech's main plant in Taiwan.

U-Tech's global network of factories stamps out some 500 million pre-recorded DVDs and CDs a month for major movie studios, recording studios and video games companies.

After ironing out bugs in the manufacturing process, U-Tech will work with major movie studios on a large-scale test of an RFID-based supply chain management process at its manufacturing plant and distribution centre in Australia.

RFID readers will then be built-in to home DVD players to extend the anti-copying technology into homes as part of a digital rights management system.

U-Tech described this as the "real end game" for the chip-on-disc technology, which would "eliminate optical disc piracy in the entertainment and IT sectors" .

IPICO claims that its RFID tags can be read from at least six metres away, and at a rate of thousands of tags per minute. The passive chips require no battery, as they are powered by the energy in radio waves from the RFID reader.

"I have envisioned using RFID to improve product visibility and enhance security in the optical disc industry for some time," said Yeh.

"Launching the chip-on-disc system has made this dream a reality and holds the potential to protect the intellectual property of music companies, film studios, gaming and software developers worldwide."

Gordon Westwater, president of IPICO, added: "[This is the] first step towards new international standards to safeguard optical media, and the subsequent adoption of the chip-on-disc concept as a global standard."

U-Tech Australia, where the project will undergo a large scale trial, did not reply today to vnunet.com's request for comment on the new embedded RFID chip process and the precise schedule for its rollout.

Press relations staff at U-Tech's office in Taiwan refused to provide more information about the technology.
http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2164309/embedded-dvd-chip-fights-piracy

 

As with many "Anti-Piracy" technologies, it has to have a "hole" somewhere that is exploitable. Just look at Fair4WM or whatever the software is called.

Plus, I am sure professional pirates will work really, really hard to break this once (and if) it is released. You can't stop piracy, its just a proven fact. You can slow it down but you can never totally stop it.

 

Man converts Xbox 360 to a laptop size configuration
Posted by Dan Bell on 15 September 2006 - 14:30 - Source: The Register

GristyMcFisty used our news submit to tell us about a story of a man that is truly a craftsman. Ben Heckendorm performed a very slick modification to his Xbox 360, taking the previously bulky configuration and turning into a very manageable size. Great job Ben! Any CD Freak can truly appreciate the creative ingenuity and skill it must have taken to conceive and complete such a project!

Not that you"d necessarily want to use it on your knees, mind. The modification weighs in at 6.4kg and measures a whopping 42 x 27 x 7cm. That"s not so very far off a typical notebook with a 17in display - which is what Ben"s mobile Xbox 360 sports. With a resolution of 1,280 x 720, it"s HD ready.The weight includes water, used to cool the console"s IBM- and ATI-made chippery which normally sit under a much larger, liquid and heatsink cooling system in the console"s usual casing. Ben made sure his Xbox 360 was complete with the usual optical drive, hard disk, three USB ports and the "ring of light" illuminated logo.

He actually made that keyboard and even added Wi-fi! A very nice looking job. There's a bit more information and a screenshot over at The Register, if you would like to take a look. What's your next project Ben?
http://www.cdfreaks.com/news/13960





Man makes Xbox 360 laptop
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/09/15/man_makes_xbox360_laptop/

 

More Sony BMG C.R.A.P.

p2pnet.net News:- Sony BMG's SunnComm MediaMax and First4Internet XCP spyware has been a problem not only for Sony, but for many thousands of former Sony customers, since Day One.

The company hid the DRM (digital restrictions management) C.R.A.P. (Cancellation, Restriction, and Punishment) software on its music CDs and when buyers loaded them, the spyware was automatically installed without their knowledge or permission and just as bad, it was also literally dangerous to their computers.

And it's still posing a threat to computer users running certain versions of AOL or PestPatrol anti-spyware software, says the Associated Press, going on that the "glitch" can cause a CD-ROM drive to be disabled.

Quoting the Texas attorney general's office, it said this latest Sony BMG spyware mess problem was, "discovered by officials who have been testing the XCP copy-protection technology as part of the state's lawsuit against Sony BMG.

"State investigators found that if a CD with XCP technology is loaded on a computer running AOL's 'Safety and Security Center' software, the program's antispyware feature will attempt to delete the XCP components, but often while also disabling the CD-ROM's configuration in the PC's operating system. The same glitch surfaced on computers running CA Inc.'s PestPatrol separately from AOL, the state said."

Sony BMG said it'd worked with AOL and CA "to resolve the issues with their software and noted it has made a software patch and uninstaller program for XCP available on its Web site".

Nor does it end there.

Canadian IP and Net expert professor Michael Geist unearthed what's come to be known as the Missing Sony Exhibit.

"The Canadian Sony rootkit class action settlement heads to court next week amid mounting questions about the deal," he says. "The EFF calls attention to a number of missing provisions, including no security reviews and no ongoing obligations to provide uninstallers for the rootkit. There is also a financial hit in Canada, with Canadian consumers receiving roughly ten percent less than U.S. consumers due to currency differences.

"By far the biggest difference, however, is that the U.S. agreement is subject to injunctive relief linked to actions brought by several U.S. agencies and attorneys general. The Canadian agreement, by contrast does not include such relief. The justification for this difference is contained in Exhibit C, the only key settlement document that Sony has not provided to the public."

Meanwhile, two lawsuits were filed against Sony BMG by the Texas attorney general and the EFF, blogged Princeton professor Ed Felten, last November, going on:

The Texas suit claims that Sony’s XCP technology violates the state’s spyware law. The EFF suit claims that two Sony technologies, XCP and MediaMax, both violate various state laws.

One interesting aspect of the EFF suit is its emphasis on MediaMax. Most of the other lawsuits have focused on Sony’s other copy protection technology, XCP. The EFF suit does talk about XCP, but only after getting through with MediaMax. Emphasizing MediaMax seems like a smart move - while Sony has issued an apology of sorts for XCP and has recalled XCP discs, the company is still stonewalling on MediaMax, even though MediaMax raises issues almost as serious as XCP.

As Alex wrote last week, MediaMax is spyware: it installs software without notice or consent; it phones home and sends back information without notice or consent; and it either doesn’t offer an uninstaller or makes the uninstaller difficult to get and use. MediaMax lacks the rootkit-like feature of XCP, but otherwise MediaMax shares all of the problems of XCP, including serious security problems with the uninstaller (mitigated by the difficulty of getting the uninstaller; see above).

But even if all these problems are fixed, the MediaMax software will still erode security, for reasons stemming from the basic design of the software.

For example, MediaMax requires administrator privileges in order to listen to a CD. You read that right: if you want to listen to a MediaMax CD, you must be logged in with enough privileges to manipulate any part of the system. The best practice is to log in to an ordinary (non-administrator) account, except when you need to do system maintenance. But with MediaMax, you must log in to a privileged account or you can’t listen to your CD. This is unnecessary and dangerous.

Some of the security risk of MediaMax comes from the fact that users are locked into the MediaMax music player application. The player app evades the measures designed to block access to the music; and of course the app can’t play non-MediaMax discs, so the user will have to use multiple music players. Having this extra code on the system, and having to run it, increases security risk. (And don’t tell me that music players don’t have security bugs — we saw two serious security security bugs in Sony music software last week.) Worse yet, if a security problem crops up in the MediaMax player app, the user can’t just switch to another player app. More code, plus less choice, equals more security risk.

Worse yet, one component of MediaMax, a system service called sbcphid, is loaded into memory and ready to run at all times, even when there is no disc in the CD drive and no music is being played. And it runs as a kernel process, meaning that it has access to all aspects of the system. This is another component that can only add to security risk; and again the user has no choice.

It’s important to recognize that these problems are caused not by any flaws in SunnComm and Sony’s execution of their copy protection plan, but from the nature of the plan itself. If you want to try to stop music copying on a PC, you’re going to have to resort to these kinds of methods. You’re going to have to force users to use extra software that they don’t want. You’re going to have to invoke administrator privileges more often. You’re going to have to keep more software loaded and running. You’re going to have to erode users’ ability to monitor, control, and secure their systems. Once you set off down the road of copy protection, this is where you’re going to end up.
http://p2pnet.net/story/9872?PHPSESSID=c166483959f5eaeb653f6810e9e72839

 

Why isn't pubic hair the same colour as hair on your head?


Got you by the short and curlies
By Dr Stephen Juan → More by this author
Published Friday 15th September 2006 11:02 GMT

Also in this week's column:

* Why does natural selection take so long to get results?
* Are there people with no sense of smell?

Why isn't pubic hair the same colour as hair on your head?

Asked by Hannah Swain of The Hague, The Netherlands

Just as with skin, the colour of hair is determined by the amount of melanin in the outer layer (cortex) of each hair. Melanin is a protein that has colour. Black hair has the greatest amount of melanin. White hair has no melanin. Hair gets its colour from the two types of melanin that create the variety of hair colors we see.

Eumelanin (sometimes called black/brown melanin) is the darkest melanin and the most commonly found in humans. Phaeomelanin (sometimes called red melanin) is the lighter melanin. One's hair color is the ratio of eumelanin to phaeomelanin. A high amount of eumelanin with little phaeomelanin results in black or brown hair. As the ratio of eumelanin to phaeomelanin lessens, the result is red, ginger, and blonde hair.

This ratio varies enormously among humans. This is why everyone's hair is just a little different.

Melanin is produced by a group of specialized cells called melanocytes. These cells are located near the hair bulb. They collect and form bundles of a pigment protein complex called melanosomes. The size, type, and distribution of the melanosomes will determine the type of melanin produced and in which ratio. The type of melanin of a person's hair is inherited.

Melanin also varies in the hair of different parts of the body. This is why pubic hair is sometimes a slightly different colour from hair elsewhere. The absence of melanin later in life causes white hair. White hair may appear on some parts of the body before others because there is variation in this too.
Interesting facts

* The average human hair is 91 per cent protein.
* The average human hair is composed of 45 per cent carbon, 27.9 per cent oxygen, 15.1 per cent nitrogen, 6.6 per cent hydrogen, and 5.2 per cent sulfur.

Stephen Juan, Ph.D. is an anthropologist at the University of Sydney. Email your Odd Body questions to s.juan@edfac.usyd.edu.au


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http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/09/15/the_odd_body_pubic_hair/

 

Piracy: all it takes is a garage

9/15/2006 11:11:58 AM, by Nate Anderson

Piracy—it's not just for the high seas anymore. In fact, according to the MPAA, 44 percent of their piracy losses in the US come from college students. This claim can only be made with a straight face, of course, if you believe that college students would otherwise be purchasing retail copies of every film that they download (we've discussed the problems with these numbers before).

Fortunately, the MPAA and its sibling, the RIAA, also pursue real pirates, and their actions are increasingly international. The motion picture industry, for instance, has just filed civil suits against two pirate outlets in Beijing's central business district. Though it can be more difficult to enforce intellectual property rights in China than in the US or Europe, the movie industry has a fairly good track record. In 2002-2003 (the last year for which they provide numbers), the industry filed 10 civil cases against commercial piracy operations in China, and it won all 10.

Two weeks ago in Fiji, police there raided a shop in Suva that was allegedly selling pirated DVDs and have stepped up enforcement efforts against suspected copyright violators.

And here in the US, police in Brooklyn just announced a raid on a large-scale CD and DVD copying business that will, apparently, be "a significant blow to the nation's piracy market." This claim needs to be taken with a grain of salt—this was a business operated from a garage, after all, and the only person arrested was a 19-year-old named Abdouraitamance Diallo. If owning 23 duplicator towers and a garage is all that it takes to become a major piracy operation, then the bar isn't set real high.

Police did seize more than 40,000 discs, including copies of "Snakes on a Plane." What—you thought that pirates only copied movies people want to watch?

Image courtesy NATO

The industry estimates that more than 90 percent of these bootlegs come from camcorder sources, which explains the movie business's continued crackdown on taping in the theater. The National Association of Theatre Owners even has a bounty program for theatre employees who catch or turn in the tapers.

Because it's impossible to say how many commercial piracy operations exist, it can be hard to know if progress against them is being made. The MPAA points out that its enforcement efforts are increasingly successful. 81 million optical discs were seized in 2005, an 8 percent jump from the previous year They also seized 30,000 illicit burners in 2005, up 113 percent from 2004. These numbers can be used to tell two stories. In the first story, pirates are being shut down, investigations are growing more fruitful, and, generally speaking, everything is getting better and better in every possible way.

On the other hand, the large year-to-year increases in seizures of burning equipment and discs could just as easily indicate that the piracy business is booming. Knowing how many units of anything were seized only tells us something interesting when we know what percentage this is of the whole. Without knowing that, it's difficult to say whether enforcement actions are now less, more, or just as effective as they were five years ago.

A final point to consider: piracy has moved online. By the MPAA's own stab-in-the-dark estimate, one third of all piracy in the US is done via the Internet, and this number could well grow in the coming years. If that's the case, it means that raids against DVD-stamping operations will become less important over time, and trumpeting the latest seizure of "x number of discs" will be less significant than shutting down file-swapping services.
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060915-7754.html

 

JUST A COOL READ......................

Lost in Space? Lots of Junk

Associated Press 10:00 AM Sep, 15, 2006

It's a junkyard out there in space and sometimes astronauts accidentally contribute to the litter. In 1965, the first American spacewalker, Ed White, lost a spare glove when he went outside for the first time. From that time on, astronauts have accidentally added some of the more unusual items to the 100,000 pieces of space trash that circle Earth.

Last July, spacewalker Piers Sellers sheepishly reported that he lost a spatula. Nicknamed "spatsat" by space junk watchers, it returns to Earth in a fireball early next month.

This week the Atlantis astronauts made their own contributions to the space debris in low orbit: a couple of bolts that escaped from the addition they were connecting to the international space station.

To engineers, this isn't funny. Many of those pieces of space junk can kill astronauts, puncture satellites or at the very least scratch up expensive space shuttle windows.

"It's one of these problems that is growing in seriousness," said William Ailor, director of the Center for Orbital and Re-entry Debris Studies at the Aerospace Corp. in Los Angeles. "It's really the small things that will get you."

Using radar and telescope sensors, NASA and the Air Force track objects bigger than about 4 inches. The official "box score" of that space debris as of Thursday was 9,925. But the 90,000 objects smaller than that can be as dangerous, zipping around Earth at more than 15,000 mph. They are just harder to track.

NASA has even seen debris hits of dried-up urine, toothpaste and shaving cream — all from space shuttle waste dumps — in an experiment placed outside of the Russian space station Mir, said officials at the NASA orbital debris program lab. An Indonesian satellite was struck by urine and fecal matter. Now NASA doesn't dump human waste outside much anymore.

Of all the items followed by the Air Force, the more unusual ones are those "that aren't necessarily meant to drop," said Air Force space protection officer David Ward of the First Space Control Squadron in Cheyenne Mountain. "The astronauts didn't necessarily mean to let go of the bolts the last couple days, but that happens."

So when spacewalkers venture outside, NASA makes sure everything is tethered — tools, bolts, the astronauts themselves. Think of it as wrapping a Christmas present with everything tied up to something: the scissors, the paper, the scraps of paper not used, said NASA spokesman Phil West, a former spacewalk tool engineer.

"You worry about (losing tools) all the time," said former astronaut and spacewalker Jay Apt, noting that he never lost anything.

And well they should worry.

Not only can space junk damage or kill, you can get sued, too. There are lawyers who monitor space junk because there's a complex legal treaty about who is responsible when the man-made debris cripples a satellite worth hundreds of millions of dollars, said Mark Matney, a scientist in the orbital debris program at Johnson Space Center.

In the 1960s, America launched bunches of copper needles into Earth's orbit in an ill-conceived plan for post-nuclear war communications, Matney said. Many of those needles are still up there. Other intentionally jettisoned space junk once included bags of trash thrown overboard from the Russian space station Mir and pieces of equipment pitched into orbit from spacewalkers fixing the Hubble Space Telescope.

"I guess it's a junkyard; most of the problems are little things that cause dings, like your car, I guess," Matney said. Even an object the size of a medicine tablet "will do a significant amount of damage to most spacecraft."

And there are much bigger objects to worry about, including giant rocket bodies from launches dating back to 1958. But those are often in the most hazardous area for space junk, which is about 400 miles above the space station and shuttle, Matney said.

Ask Matney what the biggest piece of space junk in orbit now is and he quickly says it is the international space station. The astronauts living aboard the orbiting lab may not think of it as junk, but to Matney "every spacecraft is destined to become debris."
http://www.wired.com/news/technology/space/0,71794-0.html?tw=rss.index

 

ireland, that laptop pic looks cool, bit like a mix between a Mac and a normal laptop.
Btw, can could you find me that thread you had about checking how well protected your computer is *think it was called "time to test ye truestealth"..?*, cause the forum search is being a real b*tch about it...