Posted by Goro on 02/16/06 15:02

So it's "only Germany" right now, but oh gwad. who knows wtf this
rootkit-like self-hiding process does. Hopefully more light will be
shed on this and we'll know if having autoplay turned off is enough to
keep this crap off a person's computer,

-goro-

http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/index.php?action=expand,9780

Heise Online is reporting about yet another example of the ever-warming
relationship of copy protection and rootkit technologies. The affair
started with the digital rights management system Sony BMG was using to
protect audio CD's. Now, we can also confirm (thanks to Rüdiger from
our German office!) that at least the German DVD release of the movie
"Mr. & Mrs. Smith" contains a copy protection mechanism which uses
rootkit-like cloaking technology . The Settec Alpha-DISC copy
protection system used on the DVD contains user-mode rootkit-like
features to hide itself. The system will hide it's own process, but
does not appear to hide any files or registry entries. This makes the
feature a bit less dangerous, as anti-virus products will still be able
to scan all files on the disk. However, as we note in our article on
rootkits, it's not that uncommon for real malware to only hide their
processes."


Good grief! Just when I thought the entertainment industry couldn't
possibly do anything more to piss off their customers (I should really
learn by now, shouldn't I?), the German Mr. & Mrs. Smith DVD release
contains copyright protection that installs itself at a low level,
similar to a rootkit (the distinctions are a bit blurry at the moment).
This is insane - the people buying the DVD are very likely not the ones
ripping it and uploading it. Most people that are willing to pay for a
movie are not the types to rip one and share it with the world. I'm
already holding my breath in fear every time I put a new CD in my PC,
now I have to do the same thing with my DVDs? Not cool.

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