ROFL, so is the shift key going to become illegal technology

[Son Goku]

Following one scheme for "copy protected CDs" being overcome by the use of a magic marker, a new CD anti-rip technology is broken by the use of the shift key. So is the shift key going to become an illegal technology in violation of the DMCA now? It would certainly be a circus event if the RIAA tried to sue someone for using the shift key in a court of law

http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/33298.html

Shift key breaks latest CD anti-rip tech - grad student
By Tony Smith
Posted: 08/10/2003 at 15:53 GMT


[]
A Princeton PhD student has published a paper detailing the music industry's latest CD copy protection scheme - and how the technique can be bypassed by simply holding down the host computer's Shift key when a 'protected' CD is inserted.

The copy-protection mechanism in question is SunnComm's MediaMax CD3 system. Launched in September, the company claimed its technology had passed strict testing to Recording Industry Ass. of America (RIAA) copy-protection standards with "flying colours".

The "comprehensive test procedures" - SunnComm's words - were performed by "world-renowned" Professional Multimedia Test Centre (PMTC), based in Belgium. PMTC Division Manager Frans Pender is quoted by SunnComm as saying MediaMax C3 offered "an incredible level of security for the music".

However, Princeton Computer Science Department student Alex Halderman's own analysis concludes MediaMax C3 is "irreparably flawed" thanks to the "weakness of its design". It is, he reckons, "unlikely to cause any significant reduction in copying".

He adds: "In practice, many users who try to copy the disc will succeed without even noticing that it's protected, and all others can bypass the protections with as little as a single keystroke."

Halderman probed SunnComm's technology using an off-the-shelf CD from music label BMG. He found that when the disc was first inserted, it auto-installs a device driver that subsequently interferes with attempts to copying the songs on the CD. The disc contains versions of its songs in DRM-protected WMA format, to allows computer users to listen to the tracks freely and to download the songs to a Microsoft DRM-enabled portable music player.

MediaMax C3 uses Windows' Auto-run feature to install the device driver, says Halderman. By holding down the Shift key, Auto-run can be temporarily disabled, preventing the driver from being installed, and allowing the user to access the otherwise unprotected - and uninterefered with - standard AIFF tracks.

Those tracks are unprotected in order to allow the CD to be played on video game systems and DVD players. Other copy-protection mechanisms, which add errors to the music code on the CD, for example, have foundered because they proved problematic when used on these 'legitimate' playback systems. Ditto their inability to work on Macs. Halderman rightly acknowledges SunnComm's attempt to remove these restrictions, though he points out that the company's technology still leaves Linux users in the dark.

"The driver examines each CD placed in the machine, and when it recognizes the protected title, it actively interferes with read operations on the audio content," writes Halderman. The CD contains drivers for Windows 98/ME/2000/XP and Mac OS X...

 

[fbg1]

lmao! Back to the drawing board...

 

[K.I.L.E.R]

For every time you press "shift" you get a $100,000 fine and 5 years imprisonment.

My fine:
$3.0 × 10^20 assuming I pressed the shift key 3*10^15 times in my life.

My prison sentence:
1.5 × 10^16 years imprisonment. I hope Bubba has lots of Vasaline.

 

[Humus]

My fine:
$3.0 × 10^20 assuming I pressed the shift key 3*10^15 times in my life.

Damn, you're fast!
To reach that number you would have to tap the shift key 4-5 million times / second from your birth til now.

 

[K.I.L.E.R]

My fine:
$3.0 × 10^20 assuming I pressed the shift key 3*10^15 times in my life.

Damn, you're fast!
To reach that number you would have to tap the shift key 4-5 million times / second from your birth til now.

Did I mention I had a laptop when I was in the womb?

 

[Simon F]

Urk! Who'd want to have "autorun" enabled anyway?

 

[Natoma]

*cough*

The grad student has been sued for circumventing the copy protection and violating the DMCA.

http://arstechnica.com/archive/news/1065755223.html

 

[Sxotty]

I cannot believe they are suing him.

Do CD's with copy protection have labels indicating you will not be able to copy music from them into mp3's and other file formats like ogg? If not we should be suing them not vice-versa.

 

[Son Goku]

Yup, they're suing them. And in one rather confused piece of PR/damage control, they insist that both their reputation was damaged by this report resulting in their stock dropping by $10 million because of "false claims". But on the other hand, they're claiming that this violates the anti-circumvention measures of the DMCA and so they're going to go after them for copyright infringement, and also revealing how to circumvent their mechanism which could allow further copying.

So how would they like it? It was slanderous and inaccurate, or he violated the anti-circumvention measure of the DMCA? Sheesh, gotta "love" these PR people's mastery of double speak.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/33322.html

SunnComm today said the paper was "erroneous" and contains "false conclusions". On the back of said, "Halderman and Princeton University have significantly damaged SunnComm's reputation and caused the market value of SunnComm to drop by more than $10 million," the company alleges.

And then there's the DMCA angle. SunnComm claims Halderman broke the law by revealing the name of the driver the app installs.

In a statement released today, SunnComm said: "SunnComm intends to refer this possible felony to authorities having jurisdiction over these matters because: 1. The author admits that he disabled the driver in order to make an unprotected copy of the disc's contents, and 2. SunnComm believes that the author's report was 'disseminated in a manner which facilitates infringement' in violation of the DMCA or other applicable law".

SunnComm's statement is, of course, a tacit admission that Halderman's information is correct: "Once the file is found and deleted according to the instructions given in the Princeton grad student's report, the MediaMax copy management system can be bypassed resulting in the copyright protected music being converted or misappropriated for potentially unauthorized and/or illegal use," it says.

If Halderman is incorrect, then the outcome described above can't happen, and the DMCA hasn't been violated. Yet SunnComm claims the law has been broken - ergo Halderman's conclusion is correct.

In which case, SunnComm's technology is indeed flawed, and the company can't argue the student has damaged its reputation. We'd say it did that itself by relying on a technology that any user - and indeed many already do - can circumvent perfectly legally. Bypassing Autorun by holding down the Shift key is a documented feature, after all.

Oh joy, I wonder if a trial that tries to treat the keyboard as an illegal circumvention device might get publicized. I don't know how a judge, if he's the least bit knowledgeable about such matters, could even keep a straight face while such testimony is being given.

 

[L233]

And in one rather confused piece of PR/damage control, they insist that both their reputation was damaged by this report resulting in their stock dropping by $10 million because of "false claims".

I find it rather surprising that a company whose product is a copy protection which can be defeated with the stroke of a key is even worth $10 million.

I am going to start a company with one employee: myself. My product is one pile of feces per day. That's about as useful as SunnComm's copy protection. That company should be worth at least $1 Million, no?

Anyway, doesn't just disabling Window's autostart feature do the same? If yes, then SunnComm should sue Microsoft.

 

[Moffell]

I find it rather surprising that a company whose product is a copy protection which can be defeated with the stroke of a key is even worth $10 million.

I am going to start a company with one employee: myself. My product is one pile of feces per day. That's about as useful as SunnComm's copy protection. That company should be worth at least $1 Million, no?

Anyway, doesn't just disabling Window's autostart feature do the same? If yes, then SunnComm should sue Microsoft.

I'll tell you, one pile of feces on every cd would most certainly be a LOT more effective copy protection than that of SunnComm's. I think you may have to patent that idea ASAP or I'll steal it.

 

[Bambers]

Anyway, doesn't just disabling Window's autostart feature do the same? If yes, then SunnComm should sue Microsoft.

yes they should

http://em.545studios.com/shift.jpg

 

[Unit01]

Wacked and stoopid.

"It's a great protection, we've done all possible testing and noone can break it"
"Press and hold shift while inserting CD"
"You liar, we'll sue your arse off"