interesting drm issue on windows

JanC wrote:
> On 11/3/05, Javier <javiermon at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
>>http://www.sysinternals.com/blog/2005/10/sony-rootkits-and-digital-rights.html
>>
>>current drm implementations are horrible & very intrusive, but luckly
>>for us it only works on windows :)
> 
> 
> But it also shows that even experienced users can get malware on their
> PC if they think it comes from a reputable source; almost nobody
> really expects a large company like Sony BMG to illegally break into
> your PC/OS and install software that a) makes Windows (more) unstable
> and b) opens a large security hole that can easily be abused by other
> malware.

The one time I tried to play a DVD on WIndows I quit when it wanted to 
install software. The fact that the Q arose suggested to me almost 
everyone allows it.

> Imagine that they would have included similar software for major linux
> distro's, how long do you think it would take people to install a
> binary kernel module & other dangerous stuff?  Remember that there
> already are instructions for several other binary programs & drivers
> on the wiki and other on-line resources...  (Sun Java, Flash, ndis
> drivers, Skype, ...)

I'm quite happy to run Java (IBM or Sun), lotsa big corps run Oracle, 
DB2 and such.

I install Flash on some machines (my laptop I think has it, nothing 
else), I have used realplayer with which there was, I think, a problem 
with earlier releases phoning home.

Even where source is available, I generally install binaries. Whose to 
say that the binaries match the source? Sometimes it doesm't - Sendmail 
had a problem a while back, and before that a mirror in .nl got 
infiltrated with altered binaries.

Closer to home, Debian also has had its problems.


On Windows, my ordinary account has no administrator privilege. That 
means I cannot use the Australian Tax Office's etax software.