Beastie Boys' New Album Silently Installs DRM Code

nfsilkey writes "After more than five years, the Beastie Boys have released a new album. It seems that the retail disc is bundled with a copy protection autoinstaller which silently silently puts itself onto the listener's computer. Many listeners are up in arms and some are venting their frustrations on the band's website."

Heh

[teknokracy (660401)]

Not my version of the album....

Re:Heh

[by Anonymous Coward]

Heh. Not on my tux-wearing platform. ;)

5 bucks says the shift key circumvents this....

[anakin357 (69114)]

Two links:

New Audio CD DRM Defeated by Use of ''SHIFT'' Key [yale.edu]

Google search that found above link, good read. [google.com]

Re:Heh

[by Anonymous Coward]

"Nor on my Macintosh..."

Are you sure? According to the blurb, it "installs 'helpful' copy protection software on MacOS and Windows as soon as you insert the CD into default systems."

Looks like maybe the days of "it's okay, nothing will ever infect my machine, since nobody bothers to write things like this for macs" are coming to an end.

Here comes the death of "security-through-smugness"

Illegal?

[by Anonymous Coward]

I was under the impression that installing software on the user's computer without asking is illegal?

Re:Illegal?

[teknokracy (660401)]

When one goes in-depth into the "end user license agreement" that we all say "I agree" to, it becomes apparent that you actually do warrant them to install such an application. I'd imagine it would be part of the liner notes, interactive software related agreement, or perhaps even just a simple "look on this site to see the license agreement" blurb.

Re:Illegal?

[DarkMantle (784415)]

Two words...

Spy-Ware

That said, if it's a stardard EXE I don't see how it would run on linux. [linux.com] :D And since Linux doesn't have an autorun annoyance... I mean feature, we'd have to consciously install it.

Once again, the solution is... Don't use M$ Windows [microsoft.com]. (Sorry Mac people, I have had no recent experience with a Mac to make a comment on it.

Re:Illegal?

[aka-ed (459608)]

I'm $orry it'$ ju$t that my keyboard i$ broken.

anyway, who is Ian $ez? Tell Ian that part of the whole point i$ that it doe$n't matter how the arti$t feel$ about copy protection. The label$ have been in the court$ and in front of the pre$$, repeatedly talking about the right$ of the arti$t; how well doe$ that rhetoric $tand up when we learn that the arti$t has no right to avoid $uch protection?

Where i$ the recording indu$trie$' re$pect for arti$t$' right$ in $uch a ca$e?

Re:Illegal?

[by Anonymous Coward]

can we call them MICROS~1 ? ;)

Re:Illegal?

[Epistax (544591)]

I really do hope the courts do something about this passive signing away of your rights. I call it passive because the agreements define for themselves what agreeing to them means, so they are by nature fraudulent. So buying a product is a legal signature? So is opening a CD case, or installing software? They can put all the "Read the EULA"'s they want, but I don't see how any specific number of warnings suddenly merits compliance by law.

By reading this you acknowledge my right to use your computer to research how better to write future comments. Oh yeah you have to give me your stuff too if you break our agreement. By reading this sentence you have broken our agreement. The next bag of potato chips you open signifies your compliance to turn over all properties that can be used to drink out of.

Re:Illegal?

[deacon (40533)]

... becomes apparent that you actually do warrant them to install such an application. I'd imagine it would be part of the liner notes...

Well that seems fair.

When you read this reply to your post, you have agreed to put all your money in a paper bag, put your underwear on your head if it is not already there, slather yourself with Marmite, and run naked down the center of the street throwing your money to passers-by.

That is all.

Re:Illegal?

[xigxag (167441)]

Illegal in the US, you mean?

One of the comments in the cited links says that the copy protection is only for discs sold outside the US and UK.

My name's Mike D. and I want respect...

[by Anonymous Coward]

Your freedom and your privacy are what I expect!

Re:My name's Mike D. and I want respect...

[Mattintosh (758112)]

They did it like this [macrovision.com]...
They did it like that [ttrtech.com]...
They did it with the wiffle ball bat [wiffleball.com]...

Control

[Ms.XingTianCai (785422)]

It's hard to believe that a band that has prided itself on pushing the envelope and being controversial would do something like this. These people obviousle cared enough to buy the CD, why would the record industry need to protect themselves from them? It's just another way for them to control what we can and cannot do, thereby infringing on my rights. When I can't even listen to my music without worrying about what programs may be being installed on my computer, we've let them go too far.

Re:Control

[bersl2 (689221)]

I don't think this would be the artists' call to put copy protection on the CD.

Re:Control

[mriker (571666)]

Maybe, but the artists have a choice in who distributes their music.

They aren't the only ones.

[AltGrendel (175092)]

The new Velvet Revolver does the same thing. It has a CD driver that is silently installed whether you accept the "EULA" or not. The only way around this (for Windows users) is to turn off auto start. I'm trying to get my SCSI CDRW running on my Linux system to see if it's prodected there.

And even if you do get round the protection, the burner software may check for "Proper Licensing" anyway. I know MusicMatch does.

You could also

[autopr0n (534291)]

not run as administrator, that way they wouldn't be able to 'install' anything. Nor could any holes in IE, general spyware, etc.

Re:They aren't the only ones.

[AnyoneEB (574727)]

It's pretty well hidden in Windows XP. You have to use the group policies manager to disable it. Goto start --> run --> "gpedit.msc" (thanks to the other replier, I forget what it was called) --> Local Computer Policy --> Administrative Templates --> System (click it) --> on the right pane find "Turn off Autoplay" in the list --> right-click --> properties --> select the "enable" radio button.

Note that you can hold down shift while putting in a CD to disable autoplay for just that time.

Oh, except on music CD's

[Jadecristal (135389)]

From Microsoft's description:

Turns off the Autoplay feature.

Autoplay begins reading from a drive as soon as you insert media in the drive. As a result, the setup file of programs and the music on audio media start immediately.

By default, Autoplay is disabled on removable drives, such as the floppy disk drive (but not the CD-ROM drive), and on network drives.

If you enable this setting, you can also disable Autoplay on CD-ROM drives or disable Autoplay on all drives.

This setting disables Autoplay on additional types of drives. You cannot use this setting to enable Autoplay on drives on which it is disabled by default.

Note: This setting appears in both the Computer Configuration and User Configuration folders. If the settings conflict, the setting in Computer Configuration takes precedence over the setting in User Configuration.

Note: This setting does not prevent Autoplay for music CDs.

Silently installing DRM eh?

[chrispyman (710460)]

Technically, if your product silently installs software without the users knowledge, wouldn't that put it in the same league as spyware, as defined by some of the more recent bills passing through Congress?

DRM for what?

[Hello Spaceman (739648)]

I bought "To The 5 Boroughs" (cause I'm representin' Manhattan), and ripped all the tracks to my iPod with no problems. Just what does the DRM code do?

I'm on a Mac, is this another case where I'm missing out on the DRM fun because of platform neglect? (There IS a Mac partition on the disc, but all it seems to have on it is a Macromedia presentation with a QuickTime movie.)

Obligatory Futurama Quote:

[orkysoft (93727)]

Yo Bender wanna make some noise
Get your harddrive scratched by the Beastie Boys!

Calm yourself...

[chronicon (625367)]

I'm sure the RIAA said it was OK. Get over it. Besides, I sure if you gave the Hon. Senator Orrin Hatch a call he would help clarify the importance of the issue. You'd just have to get past the "Beastie who??" questions first...

should be a law

[ch-chuck (9622)]

it should be flat out illegal for anybody to install software on someone elses computer w/o the owners written permission - that goes for spyware, virus, marketing research firms, even Microsoft, and this. Just because you're network connected or pop in a CD doesn't give everybody and his brother the right to take over part of your machine in ANY way. It's so bizarre that govt. enforces access rights for govt business and military machines but personal home computers, pfft, it's like an open free for all.

Does the band know or care..?

[lovecult (682522)]

To quote from
http://www.boingboing.net/2004/06/11/new_beasties_ disc_ha.html

Update: Ian sez, "Hi, I'm not sure who posted re: Beastie Boys copy protection, but I just spoke with Mike D and their management and they wanted me to pass along that a) This is all territories except the US and UK -- US and UK discs do not have this protection on them; b) All EMI CDs are treated this way, theirs isn't receiving special treatment; c) They would have preferred not to have the copy protection, but weren't allowed to differ from EMI policy."

Re:Does the band know or care..?

[skinfitz (564041)]

Looks like I can add EMI to my list of labels to never buy from then. That makes Sony and EMI up to now.

Tell me again how this sort of crap is supposed to deter piracy? All they are doing is actively encouraging it.

You gotta fight...

[neonstz (79215)]

You gotta fight for your right to copy!

Re:You gotta fight...

[miracle69 (34841)]

You bought a new CD - man you don't wanna know
You go to your PC it says "no go"
Loaded DRM - your machine won't work
But the Beasties don't tell you like you're some kind of jerk.

You gotta fight for your right to copy

The Boys caught your sampling and they said "No Way"
Those hypocrites - use samples every day.
Man, del-ing this is such a drag
Now your idols tossed all their cred in the bag.

You gotta fight for your right to copy!

Don't you buy our CD if you expect to have a hear.
Cause our DRM won't let you play it through the air.
Your PC busted and you said "Where's my noise?"
Aw, man, it won't play cause it's the Beastie Boys.

Isn't this easily circumvented?

[Dimensio (311070)]

Wasn't there an article many months (years?) ago about how to circumvent this kind of thing by holding "shift" as you insert the disc? Yes, that's a Windows-only solution, but I don't see this kind of problem affecting Macs or Linux machines.

Wait, is mentioning that little workaround considered a DMCA violation?

This is Illegal in Minnesota

[Kope (11702)]

I personally hope that a CD I buy installs something on my computer. Really. 'Cuase I'm walking into the DA's office and demanding prosecution under 609.88 the next day. And as a highly paid professional, I know I can bill my time that any 10 second problem will turn into the maximum allowable penalty pretty darn quick...

609.88 Computer damage.

Subdivision 1. Acts. Whoever does any of the following is guilty of computer damage and may be sentenced as provided in subdivision 2:

(b) intentionally and without authorization or with intent to injure or defraud alters any computer, computer system, computer network, computer software, or any other property specifically defined in section 609.87, subdivision 6;

Subd. 2. Penalty. Whoever commits computer damage may be sentenced as follows:

(a) To imprisonment for not more than ten years or to payment of a fine of not more than $50,000, or both, if the damage, destruction or alteration results in a loss in excess of $2,500, to the owner, or the owner's agent, or lessee;

(b) To imprisonment for not more than five years or to payment of a fine of not more than $10,000, or both, if the damage, destruction or alteration results in a loss of more than $500, but not more than $2,500 to the owner, or the owner's agent or lessee; or

(c) In all other cases to imprisonment for not more than 90 days or to payment of a fine of not more than $700, or both.

So for all Windows users

[Sycraft-fu (314770)]

This is one of the reasons to disable autorunning of CDs. It's nice yes, but really, it's not a big deal to take the extra step to go to the CD and run setp. Since this sort of game of actually installing software without asking seems to be getting popular, it's a good rpeventitive step.

To shut it off, open your registry editor and go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\Cdrom and set the Autorun value to 0. You cal also download TweakUI from Microsoft (go to Microsoft.com and search for TweakUI) which will change the key for you, as well as altering other behaviour.

When you do this, Windows will no longer popup and do anything when you put a disk in. Instead, it will wait for you to do something. For normal data disks, this means you'll have to go run setup yourself. For evil audio disks such as this, they'll simply never install their BS and you can play as normal.

Re:So for all Windows users

[brickbat (64506)]

You can also disable AutoRun via the properties for your drive in Device Manager. Or, you can turn it off temporarily by holding down the Shift key while loading the disc.

Re:So for all Windows users

[santos_douglas (633335)]

Excellent advice, another crucial piece of software I never run windows without is Mike Lin's Startup Monitor. [mlin.net] Which will pop up a dialogue box and notify you if a program attempts to install itself to run on startup. You can then allow or disallow. This is good for stopping all kind of annoying things from happening to your PC.

Not going to check this out

[dvduval (774940)]

I don't think I'll ch-ch-ch-check...check it out! Cause DRM's what it's all about!

Shows why Linux is not ready for the desktop

[cetialphav (246516)]

This is just another example of why Linux is not ready for the desktop. I should be able to buy this CD and put it in my Linux box and NOT be able to rip it just like on Windows. Until Linux can run all of my important software (DRM controls, Kazaa, Gator, Sobig virus, and various spyware), I'll just stick with windows.

Seriously, this is just stupid. I would guess that most pirated MP3s that are being shared out there have been downloaded from someone else, not ripped from the original CD. So it really only takes a few people with either a linux box or enough sense to turn of autorun on their CD drive to be able to spread pirated MP3s all over the world. This can't possibly stop anything and will likely piss off the people that are supposed to be customers.

Autorun on Mac OS?

[Anonymous Writer (746272)]

Quotes from the story links...

"It seems that Capitol Records has some sort of new copy protection system, that automatically, silently, installs "helpful" copy protection software on MacOS and Windows as soon as you insert the CD into default systems."

"They include some sort of uninstaller buried on there for Windows, but I see no such thing for MacOS."

I've never heard of something like the "autorun" feature for Mac OS. Is there one? Or was the person who wrote this unfamiliar with Mac OS and just presumed it had one?

TweakUI

[Ryan Stortz (598060)]

Download TweakUI from the MS Power Toys section [microsoft.com], it will let you change a slew of settings. Including disabling autorun.

I'm also pretty sure that holding shift when you put the cd in will do the same thing.

Prosecute them for writing a Virus/Trojan horse

[BigDish (636009)]

Lately people have been prosecuted for writing a virus, well, whoever wrote this needs to be prosecuted the same way.
1. It is malicious (prevents you from copying the CD as you noramlly would be able to.
2. It silently installs itself, masquarading as a
standard Audio CD (I'm sorry, 5" music disc)

How is that different than any other trojan horse?

see this is what happens

[geekoid (135745)]

when boys who where rebels become middle aged...

Beastie boys my ass

Strange

[vandan (151516)]

Tripple J ( youth national radio network in Australia ) reviewed the CD recently and said that many of their songs had political statements against the bullshit greed and right-wing idiology running rampant through the current US government.

Strange that they are critical of their government yet side with the record companies on this issue. Maybe they don't mean what they say? Or purphaps the record company pulled this one of them without telling them?

I certainly won't be buying it anyway. I'll add it to the not-worth-buying-but-good-download-potential list.

Arrogance

[Esion Modnar (632431)]

Installing anything on a person's computer, without authorization, is just plain old arrogance. "But it was in the fine print of the EULA..." Fuck the EULA. There needs to be a big dialog box: "DRM to be installed. Yes/No?"

And if they say no, the goddamned thing doesn't play, they take it back to the store and get a refund.

What this evil corporation is saying, is: "Fuck you. We own you. We own your computer. You'll take it and like it, because protecting our digital rights trump fucking up your piece of shit from Dell, you fucking Joe Sixpack sheeple. If you don't like it call your Congresscritter. Oops, we own it, too."

beastieboys.com Offline

[Barryke (772876)]

The Beastie Boys [beastieboys.com] site seems to be down.. since half an hour ago actualy...

Maybe some hackers acualy buyed the cd. and got mad.

Re:DRM is worth it

[by Anonymous Coward]

They even have it in their new lyrics:

Check-ch-check-check-check-ch-check it out
What-wha-what-what-what DRM is all about
Work-wa-work-work-work-wa-work it out
Let's turn this motherfuckin' operating system out

subtle, but effective.

Re:Fuck them.

[GoofyBoy (44399)]

"Fuck them. "

Funny, I'm sure thats what someone said when they realized how much they lost by people downloading their stuff and then decided to add this DRM crap.

Re:Fuck them.

[JonTurner (178845)]

Agreed. And to show my disgust, I'm going to NOT buy their album. Twice.

We'll see who's laughing then!

Re:Beasties

[E_elven (600520)]

Record exec: We decided to give your music away for free, guys. We'll still pay you $50 million, though.
Beasties: Hell no, dude. We DEMAND you put some evil copy protection on the album!
Record exec: Isn't that horribly unfair towards the customers, guys? Come on, have a heart.
Beasties: Oh yeah? Well fuck you, fat Record Exec. We've got the right to party! *BLAWW* *BLAWW* *BLAWW*
Record exec: *Aaaargh* Oooooverrr my deaaaad boddyyyyyy... custooooemmueua *AAAARGH* cstmrrrrs muuust beee pa... pah.... pahmpppered.. *groan*
Beasties: *Urinate on the dead Record Exec and offer a sacrifice to Satan*

Heh, Naive slashdotters....

[DesScorp (410532)]

They're entertainers. Revolution was never their intent. MONEY is their intent. All rock bands want to get rich and famous once they get signed. If they can flaunt their politics and change the world along the way, hey, that's cool. But those checks had better keep coming. Anyone that thinks that this isn't the aim of almost all bands from the start are fools. And please, use John Lennon as an example. Paul McCartney has said that during songwriting, Lennon would say things like "Cool, I've got a boat, now let's write a Pool" when penning new songs.

There's no such thing as a band "selling out". That's naive bullshit. They're an entertainment act, created to make lots of money. Period. They preach the revolution, because they know you guys will pony up your cash and buy into it. It sells records.

Re:Do as I say, not as I do...

[Waffle Iron (339739)]

Would it have even been possible to make this album if the sources of those clips had been DRM restricted?

These days, the recording companies seem to have a special system in place to trade sample rights. The liner notes often say something like "sample licensed through so-and-so recording company special products division". I'm sure that if DRM was somehow preventing their sampling (although they would probably work around this by holding down the shift key like anyone else), they could arrange to get an official sample straight from the source.

The ironic thing is that the Beastie Boys' early days, before court rulings that forced people to pay up, they did massive sampling without attributing the sources. I have their "Paul's Boutique" album from 1989 (A pretty good CD, IMO). I've seen a blurb somewhere that said that an album like this couldn't be made today, given that each track contains at least 2 or 3 recognizable samples. In fact, I'd say that the samples are so prominent, they are the main "musical instrument" on the record. Many of these weren't obscure samples either; I recognized some of the main "hooks" out of several top-40 hits. There are zero credits in the liner notes mentioning any of these samples.

Compare this to The Verve, who tried to get away with only a slightly worse sample ripoff a decade later, and got their asses handed to them on a platter by the Rolling Stones' lawyers.