When Copy Protection Goes Bad

Sony BMG Music Entertainment has agreed to temporarily cease production of its controversial copy-protected CDs. The copy protection system was designed to stop CDs from being illegally copied and digitally distributed, but at the same time, it installed hidden files on the user’s system. Security experts – even those that are outspoken critics of pirating audio – criticized the technology because it uses “rootkit” techniques to render itself invisible on consumer’s hard drives, something that’s usually associated with Spyware. Even worse, experts acknowledged that hackers could piggyback malicious code onto the technology, allowing the computers of Sony BMG’s customers to be remote-controlled via Trojan horses. Sony now feels it is neccessary to withdraw the XCD copy protected discs from circulation – not an easy task as it likely affects several million CDs. Some legal experts have predicted that this failed copy protection scheme could end up costing millions – far more than the losses from illegal file trading.