Sony's New Nagging Copy Protection

bort27 writes "You can put away your Sharpies, because Sony has launched a new CD copy protection scheme that is actually designed to be easily cracked: 'The copy-protection technology is...far from ironclad. Apple Macintosh users currently face no restrictions at all. What's more, if users go to a Web site to complain about the lack of iPod compatibility, Sony BMG will send them an email with a back door measure on how to work around the copy protection.'"

Re:What about Sony / BMG's existing DRM?

[futuresheep]

I think someone else posted the link, but here's a step by step on getting around MediaMaxx in order to use your fair use rights:

Source [princeton.edu]

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

  1. Click the Start button and select Control Panel from the Start Menu.
  2. Double-click on the System control panel icon.
  3. Select the Hardware tab and click the Device Manager button.
  4. Configure Device Manager by clicking "Show hidden devices" and "Devices by connection," both from the View menu.
  5. 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.

  Next, follow these additional steps to disable MediaMax:

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

  Also, I'd suggest disabling autorun.

Re:backdoor

[rizzo420]

contra!!!

disable MediaMax "sc stop SbcpHid"

[Anonymous Coward]

forget all those steps just do this.
1. cmd prompt
2. "sc stop SbcpHid"

done.