[Web4lib] Sony and Operating System

[Thomas, Susan Elaine]

This message comes for the AUTOCAT listserv. Has anyone else encountered
this problem and if so what actions have you taken, if any?  

Susan Thomas
Head of Collection Development
Schurz Library
Indiana University South Bend
(574) 520-5500
suethoma at iusb.edu


I don't know if anyone has been following this, but for those of you who
have collections with CDs, be aware that there is a potentially fatal
problem with the new anti-piracy software that comes with new Song/BMG
titles. These CDs come bundled with their own player, which has to be
installed in order for the CD to run. This program then limits the
number of copies that can be made from the CD to three. However, in
doing this it also installs a rootkit.

Rootkits, according to Mark Russinovich, who writes a computer blog, are
"cloaking technologies that hide files, Registry keys, and other system
objects from diagnostic and security software, and they are usually
employed by malware attempting to keep their implementation hidden."
What this rootkit does is actually rewrite parts of the code on your OS.
Trying to delete these files may cripple your system, and may leave it
vulnerable to other viruses and worms that capitalize on security
weaknesses in the new code. It may also lead to the "Blue Screen of
Death" and potential loss of data.

Note that nowhere in the licensing agreement we all click without
reading does it say that using the CD will alter your OS or rewrite your
computer's code. It is also very hard to get the uninstall program from
Sony, and it doesn't seem to work very well if you do get it.

The original problem was noted in Russovich's blog:
http://www.sysinternals.com/blog/2005/10/sony-rootkits-and-digital-right
s.html

and its follow-up:
http://www.sysinternals.com/blog/2005/11/more-on-sony-dangerous-decloaki
ng.html

It has also been covered by several news outlets and on it security
websites:
http://www.enterpriseitplanet.com/security/news/article.php/3561181

http://blogs.washingtonpost.com/securityfix/2005/11/hackers_raid_so_1.ht
ml
(this has good links to other ariticles as well)

Because libraries buy and circulate CD copies to mulitple users, you may
want to take a look at the CDs in your collection and avoid these. Apart
from the spyware and privacy aspects, this is potentially a huge
security problem, and may actually cause Windows PCs to fail. Caveat
emptor.

Amanda Sprochi
Health Sciences Cataloger
J. Otto Lottes Health Sciences Library
University of Missouri-Columbia
Health Sciences Center
One Hospital Drive
Columbia, MO  65212
(573) 882-0461
sprochia at health.missouri.edu
-----Original Message-----
From: web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org
[mailto:web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org] On Behalf Of Reynolds, Bess
Sent: Wednesday, November 09, 2005 1:04 PM
To: kgs at bluehighways.com; Web4Lib
Subject: RE: [Web4lib] Google Print NYPL Event November 17

For those of you on the east coast, tickets are now on sale for an event
at the New York Public Library on November 17.
http://smarttix.com/show.aspx?showCode=BAT2

"The Battle Over Books" co-sponsored by Wired Magazine and featuring :

Allan Adler, Association of American Publishers
Chris Anderson, Wired Magazine
David Drummond, Google
Paul LeClerc & David Ferriero, The New York Public Library
Lawrence Lessig, Stanford Law School
Nick Taylor, The Authors Guild 

Bess Reynolds
Technical Services Manager
Debevoise & Plimpton LLP


-----Original Message-----
From: web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org
[mailto:web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org] On Behalf Of K.G. Schneider
Sent: Wednesday, November 09, 2005 10:52 AM
To: 'Web4Lib'
Subject: RE: [Web4lib] Google Print

>  For the digitizing project, it seems a fair question to ask if Google
> Print
> fully exploits the existing catalog records for each book out of the
> cooperating libraries. They say a library spends as much money on an
> original catalog entry as they do to buy most books. So the manual
labor
> has
> already been paid for by the libraries themselves.
>  (Hmmm, another way in which Google may be getting an incredibly good
> deal.)

If they are using the human-generated metadata, this makes me wonder if
Google has a stake in humans continuing to produce this metadata? (Put
it
another way, would Google pay for cataloging?) 

If they aren't using it, and they create a system that works well
without
it, what does that say about the future of the ILS? (That's bordering on
a
rhetorical question...)

I bet they're using it to figure out how to mimic its function through
AI.

Karen G. Schneider
kgs at bluehighways.com

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