How to get rid of SecuRom, NOW
Lorelei:
Quote
maulware
(ROFFLE!)
I like that word.
JCSpencer:
Quote from: angelyne on 2007 October 14, 16:47:59
The Sony rootkit was designed to hide any files, registry keys and processes starting with the string $sys$,, IIRC. You can see right away the potential for any hacker to exploit this to run a virus or malware and stay hidden from detection. A fact that escaped no one. In fact it was quickly taken up by some enterprising fellows in an online game who used it to hide cheating software from the scanners installed by the game to detect this type of thing.
Not to mention all the other trojans, malware, spyware and adware, and who knows what else, that also took advantage of Sony's free umbrella.
Quote from: angelyne on 2007 October 14, 16:47:59
So, not that I want defend EA, but this is nowhere near as bad as the Sony case. The changes are not hidden, for one. But the Sony case might be why people are mumbling about security issues. It's just a guess on my part.
I wouldn't defend EA, in fact *because* of this they should be smacked silly. It's not like it was a secret, isolated little incident. It's all over the big news, music and gaming boards. Everyone knew what Sony had done, so EA was just plain stupid for getting involved (not to mention aligning yourself with a company that has been getting worse and worse PR lately, with statements such as the one declaring "copying a song from a CD you own is stealing.")
I think the real reason EA kept us in the dark about the new "copy protection" was not because they didn't feel like making a new EULA, but because they knew most informed customers would never have bought the affected games had they told us up front that SecuROM was on it - it's already got a bad track record, and there would have been warning posts put up on every major gaming and Sims-related website. Maybe that's a little conspiracy-theory-ish, but ...
morriganrant:
I think part of the damn problem with all of this having happened to begin with is how corporations promote new members of their team. They bring in people from outside the company who know about business in general but not about the specific business that they are in. One example of this is my manager and I reading a transcript from the head GameStop office. "We welcome out new VIP who comes to us after being an executive of Tacobell". Not an exact quote as my memory is horrible but you get the gist. What the fuck does Tacobell have to do with selling games? The guy must know business, but what does he know about this business?
It's horrible business practices like this, putting a person who knows nothing about the particular business, in charge of making decisions that effect the more base and supporting levels of the business. So maybe the guys who wanted the almighty dollar actually had no idea about the Sony fiasco because they are so far at the top, it didn't effect them, they never knew about it, same thing with what everyone is saying all over the gaming sites about it, what could they know about it? They probably have nothing to do with games other then raking in the cash, why would they be on a gaming site? Which just points to them doing horrible research about a company before they make a deal with it, Sony is still one of the big boys, that's what most people see, unless you look in the right places you wouldn't see how big of a deal the incidents that surround them are. How many of the average joes on the street know about this incident or the other one?
Now the Sims 2 team is having to back peddle through enough sludge and shit to make Katrina proud. Part of the reason why there is the big cry of Rootkit with all of this, other then the previous DRM scheme, is the fact that SecuRom shows up with the rootkit revealer. If you see RootKit on your computer and there is this connection to a similar situation that had a real rootkit then yeah, you are going to get a little loud about it. That's one thing I want to know, why exactly does SecuRom show as a rootkit if it isn't one, what in it screams Rootkit to the programs meant to find these things?
JCSpencer:
From what I've read, it's identified as a rootkit because it's behaviors are virtually identical to (and thus fit the definition of) rootkit. Such as the manner in which it installs itself, the manner in which it runs, the manner in which it attempts to mask both its presence and its functions, the location where it is installed, and the fact that it does provide administrative-level access (or the potential for other programs to have it) on systems (which was the original purpose of rootkits on Unix systems, I believe). The people screaming that SecuROM is malicious are not really on the right track. With the DRM fiasco, Sony's program was not malicious in and of itself; it was the fact that it allowed a nice hiding place for other malicious programs, which is what Sony got sued for. And according to FTC Chairwoman Deborah Platt Majoras: "Installations of secret software that create security risks are intrusive and unlawful." Yet this is exactly what SecuROM is doing - it is a secret program (or attempts to be) that creates a security risk. It certainly was secret in the manner in which it was distributed to us.
And still EA hasn't answered this question: If they claim and truly believe that since SecuROM is a copy protection program - meaning they didn't feel it was necessary to disclose which CP they were using - then why can't it be uninstalled with the game, especially when they claim that SecuROM is integral to Bon Voyage? If it is going to leave the software on our computers even after the game is installed, then it is not integral; instead BV is dependent on it. There's a huge difference, especially since the latter requires not only EA to inform us of the install, but to inform us that SecuROM is part of the software's operational requirements. They were allowed to say that SecuROM was included, but they broke the law by hiding everything from us and allowing the installation of software the FTC labels as illegal. And that's another important point to get across to all the naysayers on the EA BBS claiming that SecuROM isn't damaging systems: Whether or not systems have been damaged because of SecuROM is not the point - EA broke the damn law! That's all that matters, and THAT affected everyone who purchased and installed any of the SecuROM-inclusive titles.
As for what you said, morriganrant, I agree with you mostly, except the higher ups weren't the ones programming the game. You'd think at some point someone in the company would've said, "Um, sir? Is this really a good idea?" You'd think someone that actually mattered in that company would've heard about SecuROM's previous woes. PR, legal, marketing, programming... someone. I dunno. I still think EA is more to blame than Sony. Sure, they made the product, but EA made the choice to give it to us without warning, and now is unwilling to make a sincere effort to apologize and help us fix this. They must have mighty big rugs in EA headquarters, that's all I can say.
jmtmom:
Has anyone had success using these steps on a VISTA machine?
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