[IP] CD-copy protection has simple solution
Delivered-To: dfarber+@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Tue, 07 Oct 2003 22:32:44 -0400 (EDT)
From: TruChaos@xxxxxxx
Subject: CD-copy protection has simple solution
To: dave@xxxxxxxxxx
CD-copy protection system said to have simple flaw
Tuesday October 7, 2:21 pm ET
By Ben Berkowitz
LOS ANGELES, Oct 7 (Reuters) - A Princeton graduate student said on Monday
that he has figured out a way to defeat new software intended to keep music
CDs from being copied on a computer -- simply by pressing the Shift-key.
In a paper posted on his Web site late Monday, John Halderman said the
MediaMax CD3 software developed by SunnComm Technologies Inc. (OTC
BB:<http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=steh.ob&d=t>STEH.OB -
<http://biz.yahoo.com/n/s/steh.ob.html>News) could be defeated on computers
running the Windows operating system by holding down the Shift key,
disabling a Windows feature that automatically launches the encryption
software on the disc.
Halderman said the protection could also be disabled by stopping the driver
the CD installs when it is first inserted into a computer's drive.
Computers running Linux and older versions of the Mac operating system are
unable to run the software and are able to copy the disc freely, he said.
The CD in question, Anthony Hamilton's "Comin' From Where I'm From," was
released by BMG's Arista label in late September. Music retailers praised
the release, which BMG touted as a breakthrough in the industry's efforts
to prevent music piracy.
"SunnComm's claims of robust protection collapse, when subjected to
scrutiny, and their system's weaknesses are not only academic," Halderman
said in the report.
A spokesman for SunnComm was not immediately available to comment on the
report. A spokesman for BMG, a unit of Bertelsmann AG (BERT.UL), said the
company viewed the software as a "speed bump" to prevent mass piracy of the
disc.
"We were fully aware that if someone held down the Shift key the first and
every subsequent time (they played the disc) that the technology could be
circumvented," BMG spokesman Nathaniel Brown told Reuters, adding the
company "erred on the side of playability and flexibility."
Halderman, who has previously done research on CD copy-protection
techniques and their effects on consumer sentiment, called the latest
protection attempts into question.
"CD copy-prevention schemes that (depend) solely on software, as SunnComm's
does, will be trivial to disable, and alternative strategies that modify
the CD data format will invariably cause public outcry over incompatibility
with legitimate playback devices," Halderman said.
The music industry has blamed piracy and online file sharing services for a
prolonged slump in CD sales. Software like that from SunnComm has been seen
as a way to slow down the tide of CDs being ripped into digital format and
uploaded to the file sharing platforms.
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