XCP uninstaller out
According to BoingBoing, Sony BMG has finally released an XCP uninstaller that appears to address the exploit issues with the previous, web based uninstaller. Given their past track record, I would wait for further analysis by Freedom to Tinker or Mark Russinovich before using this uninstaller.
December 6th, 2005 at 11:20 am
Well, at first glance, the LAME strings are still there (at offset 0×1e9090 in XCP2_Uninstaller.exe)…
Since they make such a point of intellectual property laws on the page…
December 6th, 2005 at 11:28 am
Sony’s new uninstaller didn’t work on my computer. My cd and dvd drives are still not operable. AOL spyware keeps finding Sonyrootkit is trying to access my computer. I just want everything gone and my computer operational. Is that too much to ask? Apparently it is.
December 6th, 2005 at 5:34 pm
Microsoft claims to be working on a removal and fix, via Windows Update. I’m not sure when it is available.
December 6th, 2005 at 7:10 pm
I’m having the same problem! My AOL spyware program keeps finding the rootkit as well. I understand I probably have to just reinstall my cd drive or do a system restore, but I don’t really want to do that until this program is off of my computer and nothing seems to be working. Sony is digging themselves deeper and deeper…
December 7th, 2005 at 5:15 am
EFF lifts curtain on new act of Sony DRM farce:
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/0,39020330,39240592,00.htm
December 7th, 2005 at 10:18 am
Apparently if you have “the” list you don’t actually have the “list”. Sony Canada does not always release the same material in Canada that it does in the US. Titles Released for the fall and Christmass season will be different in each Country. Sony UK’s list will quite llikely be much different that Sony US’s list. We do not know which titles in each country they chose to manufature with this scumware on it.
By the way, this is not an unusual practice in the music Industry. In Canada they comply with requirements that they release music by Canadian artists. That will be a condition of their doing business in Canada. The same will hold true for France and likelly the UK.
The reason that Russ’s DNS map is lighting up like a christmass tree (excuse the pun, but it was intended) is that Sony will have put the scumware on different CD’s in different countries. Now part of thsi is conjecture on my part. What isn’t conjecture is that Sony releaeses a different tittles in different countries according to the local market.
Cheers….
But do not rest easy …. I fear we hare more to fear from these people.
David
December 7th, 2005 at 2:47 pm
[…] Thanks to Mike for pointing out this latest development in the comments last night. There’s a pretty active discussion thread on Slashdot around it right now too. […]
December 26th, 2005 at 3:26 pm
A story worth paying close attention to is that of Giant Sony stealing Immersion’s dualshock patents. Immersion is a small American company that owns two patents covering the motor design in the PS2 controller that give it its complexity of vibrations. Sony lost the case last year, appealed, and is not releasing PS3 controller information for this very reason. This is yet another crime committed against a small U.S. company and its citizens. It deserves every amount of press the CD spyware has gotten–even more due to the massive amount of money Sony is greedily atempting to call its own. For more info. go to immersionzone.com.