Is The Recording Industry Hiding spyware In Windows Media Files?
from the so-many-questions... dept
Here's a story that raises many more questions than it answers. When the recording industry first tried to get politicians to shut down file sharing networks, they went with the "it's stealing music" line, which generated some interest, but most people didn't seem to pay attention. Then, the industry suddenly became oh-so-concerned about the fact that child porn was on these systems, and tried to convince politicians they needed to stop file sharing for the "sake of the children." Lately, it seems the industry will do whatever it takes to make file sharing systems look bad. With that in mind, it makes you wonder if they'd go so far as to specifically hide spyware on file sharing networks just to upset users. It's not entirely clear if that's what happened, but it seems like the most obvious explanation for the following story, which was found on Broadband Reports. Overpeer, a subsidiary of Loudeye, has been caught hiding adware and spyware within Windows Media files. Overpeer is the same company that the recording industry has hired in the past to dump fake versions of songs on file sharing networks. What the article doesn't answer is whether or not the industry hired Overpeer to dump spyware on the network as well, but it's likely they're pleased either way. Overpeer defends their actions by saying that everyone deserves what they get because, obviously, they were looking for unauthorized files. It's not clear that everyone would agree. Sneaking malicious files onto someone's computer because "they deserved it!" doesn't seem like a very good justification. What may be even more important to this story, however, is the revelation of just how easy it is, thanks to a huge loophole in Microsoft's copy protection technology, to include a malicious file with an audio or video file. Basically, because Windows DRM needs to look for a license, all anyone needs to do is point that license to a website that loads malicious content and off you go. Thank you Microsoft, for creating a huge loophole that will probably make sure millions of new computers are loaded with spamming, DDOSing trojans shortly. Thank goodness for that Microsoft DRM, huh? Not only does it not protect any actual property while making things more expensive, it opens up plenty more people to malicious attacks.Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
"They deserved it?!"
And what they're doing isn't?
Go figure.
RIAA, MPAA, you're getting what you deserve.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
the black hats...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
what about the Dutch?
If I were Dutch, I'd be looking for one of these files, download it, get my PC infected, and then demand a 10.000 dollar settlement from these bozos who infected my PC while I was doing no wrong (claiming, of course, to be ignorant of the integrated virus). Might be a fun game if, say, a thousand Dutchmen follow suit. :-)
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
good God
[ link to this | view in chronology ]