Warning! Copy Controlled Cds On The Loose

[nikita69]

Ok, if anyone knows for sure the name of the album with such protection, let me know what it is, I'll buy it today and provide u the HASH to share.

IF THERE IS ZERO THEN THERE IS 1. that simple.

btw switeck, that another method of protection being used and the Audio CD is also another.

[RealitY]

MediaMax is a second generation copy-prevention system, and SunnComm claims in the same press release [8] that it "provide[s] playability on any consumer's playback system without exceptions or limitations." Such perfect compatibility can only be achieved by leaving the standard CD audio portion of the disc unprotected, so MediaMax uses another method to block PC-based copying. Analysis of the Anthony Hamilton album shows that this method is special software loaded from the CD that interferes with copy attempts.

Windows has a feature called "autorun" that automatically starts programs from CDs when they are inserted into the computer. If a MediaMax-protected CD is placed in a PC that has autorun enabled, Windows runs a file called LaunchCD.exe located on the disc. This program provides access to the DRM-controlled encrypted content, but it also loads a special device driver into the system's memory. On Windows 2000/XP, this driver is called SbcpHid. The LaunchCD.exe program also presents an end user license agreement (EULA). If the user ever clicks Accept to agree to the terms of the license, the MediaMax driver is set to remains active even after the computer is rebooted. The driver examines each CD placed in the machine, and when it recognizes the protected title, it actively interferes with read operations on the audio content. Similar methods are used to protect the tracks on Windows 98/ME and Mac OSX systems.

This behavior can be verified by loading then disabling MediaMax according to the following instructions:

Start with a Windows 2000/XP system with empty CD drives.

Click the Start button and select Control Panel from the Start Menu.
Double-click on the System control panel icon.
Select the Hardware tab and click the Device Manager button.
Configure Device Manager by clicking "Show hidden devices" and "Devices by connection," both from the View menu.
Insert the Anthony Hamilton CD into the computer and allow the SunnComm software to start. If MediaMax has never been started before on the same computer, the SbcpHid driver should appear on the list for the first time. However, on some systems Windows needs to be rebooted before the driver becomes visible.
At this point you can attempt to copy tracks from the CD with applications like MusicMatch Jukebox or Windows Media Player. Copies made while the driver is active will sound badly garbled, as in this 9-second clip [10].

Next, follow these additional steps to disable MediaMax:

Select the SbcpHid driver from the Device Manager list and click "Properties" from the Action Menu.
Click the Driver tab and click the Stop button to disable the driver.
Set the Startup Type to "Disabled" using the dropdown list.

With the driver stopped, you can verify that the same applications copy every track successfully. Setting the Startup Type to disabled prevents MediaMax from restarting when the computer is rebooted. It will remain deactivated until LaunchCD.exe is allowed to run again.
MediaMax's protections are ineffective because the driver program can easily be disabled or, depending on the system configuration, it might never be installed to begin with. As a result, audio content is vulnerable to copying in nearly all deployed systems. SunnComm's press release may be technically correct--if their testers always ran the MediaMax application before trying to copy audio, they likely would see protection in every case. However, in practice the software often fails to start, and when it does start, users can manually suppress it. Here are some examples:

Computers running Linux or Mac OS 9 can't run the MediaMax software at all, so they can always copy the recording.
Many users disable the autorun feature [11] (autostart on Mac OS), so their systems will be able to copy the disc unless the user manually launches MediaMax.
Windows users who haven't disabled autorun can suspend it when they play a SunnComm-protected disc by holding down the shift key for a few seconds while inserting the CD. They can then copy the data normally. (This won't work if the driver is active because the user has accepted the SunnComm EULA or because MediaMax ran since the system booted. However, affected users can still copy the disc by manually disabling the driver using a procedure like the one above.)
In all these cases, the audio tracks are left unprotected.

These vulnerabilities will be difficult or impossible to repair. SunnComm's software can't take any corrective action if it isn't started, and all these flaws involve ways that it is prevented from running in the first place. To make matters worse, MediaMax, unlike earlier copy-prevention techniques, works entirely in software. This means a moderately skilled programmer could, in only a few minutes, write an application to watch for and unload the SbcpHid driver, neutralizing MediaMax's copy resistance while leaving all the disc's other features intact.

[Hobo King]

YOU DONT GET IT
The whole point is not that we can get by their protections or whatever the hell they use the whole point is that THEY ARE DOING IT AT ALL. If we dont start a montgomery bus boycott kinda thing we cant win against them, there are too many misinformed, ignorant, and afraid people (becuse of major media outlets practically lieing to people about the risks of downloading music) that even if every person that uses kazaa or kl++ (I saw estimates from 4 to 16 million) boycotts cd's the RIAA while still taking a big ass blow to the nuts still has over 250000000 customers...If we cant inform the people of the RIAA's scams against us like cd protection and regional dvd crap we are never gonna win... also i thought file sharing wasnt illegal in canada because of the writaable mediums tax...post againt me if im wrong

[Switeck]

Unfortunately, I *DO* get it, but don't have the health to go out stomping a lot of ground...

http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/54/28009.html
music industry to ALL of us: "All CDs will be protected and you are a filthy pirate"

"If you plan to continue protesting about future audio media releases with copy protection, forget it; copy protection is a reality, and within a matter of months more or less all audio media worldwide are copy protected. And this is a good thing for the music industry. In order to make this happen we will do anything within our power - whether you like it or not."

That was about 1 year ago.

Anyone still buying CDs from them is stupid IMO and slowly letting them destroy OUR future and theirs. (By the time these things are in public domain, there will be NO way to access them.)

[wormless]

Originally posted by Gre1@23 September 2003 - 07:12
But who buys cd's really? I don't unless it's Eminem

me if its rem!

[YoRu]

The only real hard copy protection would be a virus (something with bios killing skills) on the audio disc.... ups. i only hope no RIAA member will read this....

[Jackco]

listen to me all you do right is to hold down that shift key before the CD-Copy Protection autoruns.

http://classic.winamp.com/news.jhtml;&#036...articleid=10082

or get rid of it with a felt tip pen

http://www.winamp.com/news.jhtml?articleid=9242

[Jay]

Originally posted by Jackco@13 October 2003 - 00:38
listen to me all you do right is to hold down that shift key before the CD-Copy Protection autoruns.

http://classic.winamp.com/news.jhtml;&#036...articleid=10082

or get rid of it with a felt tip pen

http://www.winamp.com/news.jhtml?articleid=9242

that is so fucking easy :-)

[Monkeee]

Originally posted by Jackco@12 October 2003 - 23:38
or get rid of it with a felt tip pen

http://www.winamp.com/news.jhtml?articleid=9242

wait lol so you have to draw on it to lose the protection!?!??!

[Kevin Phoenix]

Geez! Let me just bring this boiling debate to a crashing end! It doesn't matter what types of measures those companies come up with. No matter how advanced they may be, there will always be hackers out there who will be able to defeat those measures and bring to the p2p networks the songs we enjoy and hope for. The RIAA is just digging their own grave! They say copy protected CDs are here to stay? Well guess what? So is file sharing! PERIOD!