Following Sony's recent PR nightmare over the security holes created by their CD drm, Ed Felton points out again that other Sony CDs user another drm program, SunnComm (the same SunnComm that turned the shift key on computers into an illegal circumvention device) Mediamax that is effectively spyware. Felten has a number of concerns about the spyware:
"1. MediaMax installs without meaningful consent or notification...
2. MediaMax discs include either no uninstaller or an uninstaller that fails to remove major components of the software...
3. MediaMax transmits information about you to SunnComm without notification or consent...
To summarize, MediaMax software:
Is installed onto the computer without meaningful notification or consent, and remains installed even if the license agreement is declined;
Includes either no uninstall mechanism or an uninstaller that fails to completely remove the program like it claims;
Sends information to SunnComm about the user’s activities contrary to SunnComm and Sony statements and without any option to disable the transmissions.
Does MediaMax also create security problems as serious as the Sony rootkit’s? Finding out for sure may be difficult, since the license agreement specifically prohibits disassembling the software. However, it certainly causes unnecessary risk. Playing a regular audio CD doesn’t require you to install any new software, so it involves minimal danger. Playing First4Internet or SunnComm discs means not only installing new software but trusting that software with full control of your computer. After last week’s revelations about the Sony rootkit, such trust does not seem well deserved.
Viewed together, the MediaMax and XCP copy protection schemes reveal a pattern of irresponsible behavior on the parts of Sony and its pals, SunnComm and First4Internet. Hopefully Sony’s promised re-examination of its copy protection initiatives will involve a hard look at both technologies."
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