Sony DRM using rootkit technology

Even though this isn't exactly spyware, it's so outrageous, the subject deserves more attention.  Mark Russinovich of Sysinternals blogged about finding a rootkit on his computer.  Sysinternals is the developer of Rootkit Revealer, an anti-rootkit app and Russinovich was quite shocked to find the presence of a rootkit on his own computer.  His fascinating blog post has detailed information including screenshots describing how he connected the rootkit to a CD he recently purchased and played on his computer, a CD from Sony BMG. Russinovich concluded:

The entire experience was frustrating and irritating. Not only had Sony put software on my system that uses techniques commonly used by malware to mask its presence, the software is poorly written and provides no means for uninstall. Worse, most users that stumble across the cloaked files with a RKR scan will cripple their computer if they attempt the obvious step of deleting the cloaked files.

While I believe in the media industry’s right to use copy protection mechanisms to prevent illegal copying, I don’t think that we’ve found the right balance of fair use and copy protection, yet. This is a clear case of Sony taking DRM too far.

ZDNet blogger David Berlind has an excellent breakdown of the issue and a powerful rant about DRM.  It's highly recommended reading!