Rick Rubin Discloses Sony Rootkit Called Home 249
caffeinemessiah writes "Rick Rubin, the legendary music producer, recently signed on as co-head of Columbia Records, which is owned by Sony BMG. In a recent New York Times interview (on pg. 4 of the online version), he discloses, possibly accidentally: 'It was the highest debut of Neil [Diamond]'s career, off to a great start. But Columbia — it was some kind of corporate thing — had put spyware on the CD. That kept people from copying it, but it also somehow recorded information about whoever bought the record...' Seems like the rootkit might have been a little more than your vanilla invade-your-rights-DRM scheme."
A simpler solution (Score:4, Insightful)
Slashdot proves you're wrong. (Score:5, Informative)
http://games.slashdot.org/games/05/11/07/1221209.
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BTW, i just read an article about Rubin (was it linked here yesterday?) that said he had never heard of Simon Cowell from American Idol up till last year or whatever. Now...not saying that Simon Cowell is anything great, but for a top record producer to have never heard of someone that f
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Just because you *might* have doesn't mean the industry has...
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So you point that out why? Are you trying to imply that Rick Rubin is out of touch with popular culture? Surely not, because that would be totally asinine. Rick Rubin practically invented popular culture one day in 1985 when he said to Run-DMC "Hey, I think you guys should cover this old Aerosmith song...". The rest, as they say, is hist
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Re:Slashdot proves you're wrong. (Score:5, Insightful)
Rick Rubin not hearing about Simon Cowell is about the same as the chef de cuisine at a French restaurant not knowing what McDonald's is.
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He's the Rick Rubin of the UK. Seriously.
People always get all uppity with him in the auditions. They complain that he's "just a judge" and not qualified to tell good singing from bad. The fact is the guy has produced some of the UK's top-selling acts, and he's currently a producer at Sony BMG. He's also famously passed on some acts that went on to great success, so it's not like he's a God. But h
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"He's an ego-whore."
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BWAHAHAHAHA
Try [allmusic.com] again. [allmusic.com]
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Simon is a typical manufactured semi-synthetic UK celebrity. Someone suitable for OK, Hello and the like. His track as a producer is laughable. 15 or so albums out of which he got lucky with the Westlife ones.
What a laugh.
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Some people just keep getting lucky, huh?
I'm not a fan, BTW, but you can't deny the facts. You don't get where he is through blind luck.
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Re:A simpler solution (Score:5, Funny)
Re:A simpler solution (Score:5, Funny)
Re: Falling out of Richard Stallman's Beard? (Score:4, Funny)
http://www2.b3ta.com/namethatbeard/ [b3ta.com]
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How about evidence instead? Besides simply being in the music industry. When the Black Crowes (formerly Mr. Crow's Garden) were making their debut album, the oh-so-clever NYC sophisticate RR kept insisting that they change their name to the Kobb Kounty Krowes, an unsubtle jab at Cobb county and the boys' southern heritage.
Yeah, so he'd make millions from the controversy of an Suthren [sic] artist with the initials 'KKK
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My impression is that he's a bit of a life coach. He helped clean up the Peppers (though John Frusciante and the others were moving towards a cleaner lifestyle during that era al
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Believe my fake ancedotal story!
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Actualy he did. After the fluf introduction on the first 2-3 pages he gets into the meat of the scandal on pages 4-6. He speaks of the Neil Diamond album and how the DRM Rootkit affected sales and how he made no bones about calling it a disaster. Part if his influence with record distributers is that that never happen to an artists work again.
Re:Clip of text from page 4 (Score:3, Interesting)
"The CD debuted at No. 4," Rubin told me at Hugo's, still sounding upset. "It was the highes
Next sony rootkit debacle... (Score:3, Funny)
didn't we know this? (Score:5, Insightful)
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Re:didn't we know this? (Score:5, Insightful)
There is a distinct lack of prisons for "corporate people". Indeed the whole "corporations are people" meme just falls apart when it comes to criminal (as opposed to civil) law.
It also dosn't help when the concept of "limited liability", something which was only intended to be relevent to a bankrupt company, is instead treated as a shield for the activities of what amount to criminal gangs.
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Cop goes joy-riding with three girls in the car, gets in an accident, tells them to flee the scene, lies to superiors, contradicts witnesses, etc.
He *may* get fired.
If you did half of that you'd still be in prison in ten years.
oooh, data miner. (Score:3, Funny)
Re:oooh, data miner. (Score:5, Insightful)
Dup (Score:5, Informative)
Neil Diamond proposed this scheme decades ago (Score:5, Funny)
Touching me, touching you...
Everyone sing along now... (Score:2, Funny)
Touching me, touching you...
Sweeeeet Dee Arr Emm
Rootkit really got me good...
I'm too naive,
To think that Sony never would
Oh, no, no..
Won't affect anybody (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Won't affect anybody (Score:5, Informative)
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One of the best in the world.
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If that were true, than this whole rootkit discussion would be a non-issue as absolutely nobody would have even found the software at all. The technicaly smart people who listen to Neil Diamond is the ones who blew the cover of this DRM.
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And yet (Score:3, Funny)
Replace "Sony" with "Al Queda" or "North Korea" in the same story and see how it reads. Amusing, isn't it?
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Re:And yet (Score:4, Funny)
Replace "Sony" with "Al Queda" or "North Korea" in the same story and see how it reads. Amusing, isn't it?
HOLY GOD!!!!! (Score:5, Funny)
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I kid, I know Neil Diamond still has a huge following, but never let the truth get in the way of a good joke...
A brontosaurus standing on its head. (Score:5, Interesting)
The industry's refusal to get into digital sales online was criminally stupid. Everyone told them that, and they just dug in. They're a brontosaurus standing on its head.
We now know how they always worked; the truth is out there. You can feel it all over. If we ever did, we don't *need* them any more. We don't like them any more, and we don't like the homogenizing and genericizing of the sound. Artists need them for one thing only: marketing.Since they've been worse than useless for decades, they'll need a lot of re-org and a lot of giveaways and a lot of goodwill-mending to survive.
I don't think they can; I hope they can't. Good riddance. I haven't bought a new RIAA product in five years; I won't pay $20 for a record I bought 20 years ago either. Personally I'll smile every time one of them buys it. They had their chance, and they gave us the finger.
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Re:A brontosaurus standing on its head. (Score:5, Insightful)
Ask them what they think about the lawsuits being filed daily by the RIAA, and they will shrug and say "Yeah? So, i'm not getting sued, i don't care."
Ask them if they are upset that there is a rootkit in that CD they are holding, the would probably not understand the ramifications.
Face it, the American people care for their rights, up into the moment choosing between those rights and getting the newest, shiney toy.
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Walk into any music store, and all you'll see is the leftover rubes who haven't yet figured out how to operate bittorrent or itunes. Of course they'll stare at you blankly.
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I know it's trendy to bash Americans these days but this isn't the place.
Your experiment would have the same results in just about any record store.
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He i
Spyware != Rootkit (Score:3, Insightful)
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New here? (Score:2)
*/me realizes entirely too late that it was karma burnt without a cause...*
This is the second time this story was on /. ... (Score:2)
He promoted to know all even before he reads the long running comments made by consumers....
So what's being done about this? (Score:2)
music producer, or coder? (Score:3, Insightful)
Or, he's talking out of his ass.
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Possibility: (Score:2)
Perhaps someone inside Sony who actually knows about it said something to him?
Or, he's talking out his ass. But then, so are you.
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"it was some kind of corporate thing -- had put spyware on the CD. That kept people from copying it, but it also somehow recorded information about whoever bought the record. The spyware became public knowledge, and people freaked out. There were some lawsuits filed, and the CD was recalled by Columbia"
Is what he said as written in the article.
He's angry and bitter coz something was put on the CD that caused
I Used to Think that Rick Rubin "Got It" (Score:3, Insightful)
Then I read this quote: ""You would subscribe to music...You'd pay, say, $19.95 a month, and the music will come anywhere you'd like. In this new world, there will be a virtual library that will be accessible from your car, from your cellphone, from your computer, from your television. Anywhere. The iPod will be obsolete, but there would be a Walkman-like device you could plug into speakers at home.
Yes, the iPod will be obsolete. Just ask Napster...or Yahoo...or Microsoft. Sigh.
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When he says a "Walkman-like device" he really means "something made by Sony and not by Apple." He doesn't mean "something more similar to a Walkman than to an iPod."
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VERY interesting quote... (Score:2)
It seems to me that if a "legendary music producer" seems to be discussing the notion of what essentially amounts to a library "subscription service" for music, perhaps we ought to listen? It doesn't seem all that far-fetched that this could be the ultimate end-game of the RIAA after all. Strip the individual's freedom to copy and listen to music they have purchased, and what are you left with? If legislation comes about that effectively outl
I caught that as well (Score:3, Interesting)
The record companies have concluded the only way to do business is essentially through getting rid of music that you "own". All music will be streamed to you via industry approved devices and if you want it, you have to pay your $20/month. What a deal.... for the record companies.
This does two things... it guarantees them a stream of money for essentially doing nothing, and it locks small artists and labels out of the distribution channels
right to privacy? no such thing (Score:2)
Here in the US I do see that I have some rights: right to religion, right to free speech, right to establish a militia(nobody is certain if that is an individual right or a state right), right to refuse to quarter soldiers, protection from warrentless searches, right to a "fair" and speedy trial, protection from excessive punishment, right to own property, right to not be enslaved or indentured, right to petition the government, right to vote.
There seems to be on
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It's often true that a damaging, dangerous or stupid action is legal, simply because laws are nearly always implemented as a blacklist, meaning that somebody has to think to ban the specific action in question.
The United States has an assumed Right of Privacy. EU countries all have clearly legislated rights to privacy. The fact th
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Just because we singled out some rights in the previous amendments, that doesn't mean those are the only ones you have.
Rootkits on vynil (Score:2)
understanding (Score:2)
Ok. Whatever.
A maharishi that like Beastie Boys. A guru that leads a yoga session with Metallica.
Gimme a break.
What the music industry needs is something like the SEC.
Information.
At least that's what the SEC aims to provide -- in the first place. Information. A 10-K. An 8-K. Etc.
What do music fans need? Information.
Give me the name of an artist or a group and five seconds with Google and I'll have a website at my fingertips. Yet you want me to go down to the nonexistent Tower or whatever.
Re:root kit? (Score:5, Funny)
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How to Deconstruct Almost Anything--My Postmodern Adventure
Chip Morningstar, Electric Communities
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This guy isn't even creative, he's just trolling with offtopic stories.
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When the corporate apologists manage to show that that is a situation that is dangerous then I'll take note. Until then I'll only listen to corporate apologists that live in a glass house and write all of the financial transactions on the walls with their credit card numbers and PIN's too.
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Not well thought out... (Score:2)
So they targeted the people who actually buy the music? Isn't that backwards? They took the customers willing to pay for their music, and trashed their computers, and spied on their listening habits. The people who simply downloaded the tracks were treated much better, as their computers were fine, and their habits were not tracked.
This is what most people call an "idiot test".
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Quit with the PR nonsense... (Score:4, Insightful)
Home could be the next great thing from Sony or it could be utter shit. Personally, I think it's shit. Why I would want to cruise around what is essentially a Second Life clone on my PS3 simply to launch a game or view a video? The XMB does that job just fine, thank you.
Re:Misleading Title (Score:4, Insightful)
Astroturf much? I mean, seriously, which idiot modded this up? No one with more than basic English skills would have been confused by that title (which is a surprising rarity for Slashdot) in the way you describe, and all you do is promote a PS3 feature in an anti-Sony article. Sorry if this is harsh, but "Home" is neither revolutionary nor innovative (although it is unique to consoles), and it is completely irrelevant to this story (at least until next month, when we find Sony using it to disable PS3s of people they don't like).
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It -is- an easily misunderstood title, especially with the hype about the 'Home' game lately. And yes, it's hype. From what I can tell, it's Second Life, but on PS3 and completely run by Sony. You'll be able to buy brand-name gear and advertisements for your character to wear and advertis
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The irony is I found out about Home because you complained about the astroturfing and got modded up.
Re:Misleading Title (Score:4, Funny)
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That's what they want you to think...
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Did you get a free PS3 for that? Let me try!
I love Sony! They make the best video games and have for generations! Blu-Ray is clearly superior to HD-DVD in every way. I hated rumble anyway. HDCP is the way of the future. $599 is perfectly reasonable for what all you get.
(If it's all the same, can I have the cash instead? I'd like to buy a Wii if I can find one.)
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Word of mouth is slow and it's hard to quantify its effectiveness. Neither of which are a good thing in an industry dedicated to getting the next big thing out fast, and wanting complete control over the market.