Sony Bmg Rootkit Scandal

In the early 2000s, the increasing availability of CD burner drives and software, as well as the decreasing cost of blank CDs allowed more and more users to copy CDs. In some cases this was simply to create a back-up copy in case the original was lost, while in others the CDs were illegally distributed at a cut-price rate. Additionally, the advent of MP3 sharing sites such as Napster and Kazaa allowed users to access music records for free - buyers of CDs would convert records to an MP3 format and then illegally upload the les on these sites for the masses to download. As the CDs contained copyrighted material, this was a piracy related issue, playing a large part in the reduction of CD sales. In order to combat piracy, Sony developed a system of digital rights management on its CDs. The system was designed for computers, meaning CDs would operate normally if inserted into a CD player. However, when inserted into a computer, users would be prompted to install a software from an unknown published called Enhanced CD . A lengthy End User Licence Agreement (EULA) would be displayed, which if the user agreed to would result in the installation of a Rootkit on the user s computer. Additionally, the operating system of the user s computer would be modi ed to limit the number of times the CD could be copied or converted to MP3 format. The software would also attempt to conceal its existence and was notoriously di cult to uninstall without professional assistance users risked damaging their Windows systems and CD drives in their attempts to remove it. As a result, many PC s required a full re-installment of Windows to correct the damages. The rootkit was estimated to be on 25 million CDs and a ected more than a half a million networks.