I wonder how much the company got paid that devised this diabolical, iron clad security system?
From MSNBC
Shift’ key breaks CD copy locks - Princeton grad student shows how to break BMG’s system
"Well thatr was compllicated " Spelling, for me, is apparently also full of complixtifications.
Not to mention all the people like me who have autorun turned off…
wait, this was a published paper? seems to me that this “revelation” would take up what. one? two paragraphs? seems kinda weak for a Ph.D. student.
good to know, though
Scotcho
Hm. So, do we expect him to be sued under the DMCA for publishing the workaround?
Well, Halderman’s article Analysis of the MediaMax CD3 Copy-Prevention System is longer than two or three paragraphs and has a photo of the album cover, too.
At the report at ZDNet.com.au SunnCom CEO Peter Jacobs “said the technology–which will be improved in future versions–should still be attractive to record companies. Though simple, the act of holding down the Shift key in order to enable copying does let computer users know they’re doing something unauthorised, he said. That alone will dissuade many people from making copies, he added.” Uh huh. Sure.
I typically hold the Shift key down when putting a new CD in the drive, anyway (unless I don’t have any other programs running, and want the CD to auto-load, like a game). I woulda bypassed this copy-protection utterly unknowingly… but according to Peter Jacobs I woulda been committing a deliberate act of piracy.
Silly executives. That’s what happens when computer illiterate people try to control a computer-related matter.
I just turn off Auto-Run, so much easier…
I too have autorun disabled, to prevent people like them from doing things to my computer without my permission. It is a minor inconvenience sometimes, but I grew up with a Windows 3.1 machine with a CD drive I installed myself, so I can usually figure it out. 
Of course, now they’re suing him.
CNN Article
I particularly liked this quote from the above link…
Robust my ass…
They spent millions developing a security system that can be defeated by my cat’s ass being on the shift key when I put the disk in? I want to work there, that’s about my caliber of quality!
And this is from the SunnComm President himself!!!
This is right from SunnComms web site- from the CEO no less!!!
»www.sunncomm.com/asktheprez/asktheprez
Also: installing and executing software on my computer that I’m unaware of? That can be passed on to other users? Sounds like a virus to me.
Not good enough, SunnComm. At least you had the good sense to dismiss the lawsuit against the guy who revealed the “workaround.” It’s not like the guy was distributing software to disable your system. He simply showed the world a basic part of Windows.
On another board I saw a Photoshopped picture titled “The New Sunncomm Keyboard.” It showed a keyboard with the shift keys removed.
This “copy-protection software”, does it have a license, or a notification of it being installed? And does it protect just the CD it’s installed from, or all audio CD’s?
Heh. Who needs an entertainment industry to make you laugh when you’ve got an entertainment industry to laugh at?
This is freakin’ hilarious. Another link (MSNBC) about the lawsuit. I don’t see how these morons could possibly have a case. A great many people have auto-run turned off anyway; is SunnComm going to sue them all? And for that matter, if an auto-run feature messes with my operating system, I would think that would be considered malicious hacking – I don’t care what their motives are or how good their intentions!
With any luck, the case will be thrown out as frivolous. Now we need to bring a class action lawsuit against SunnComm for their malicious CD’s!!
It looks like SunnComm is backing off. They never actually sued, but just threatened to, according to this article.
Hear that loud knock at your door? That’s the DCMA police! And they want to have a look at your registry!!! :eek:
Mine, too.
By the time all this gets settled the music will be public domain.