Sure, I thought. It's been a while since I've listened to any new artists. Listening to unfamiliar music from unfamiliar genres can be a good thing. I'm all about expanding my horizons(um, yeah, that part's not really true at all.). Also, he handed over Plans, by Death Cab for Cutie, an album he liked.
I popped Z into my work PC's drive and it spun up. Then, appallingly, a Mediamax splash logo appeared and I was presented with a EULA (End User License Agreement, for the uninitiated), along with 'I Agree' and 'I Disagree' radio buttons.
A EULA for a CD? Fuck that. I clicked on 'I Disagree' and the CD drive popped open.
Then, I had a sinking feeling. What had that CD just done to my machine? With all the 'Sony Rootkit' crap in the news, I felt compelled to find out. Some googling confirmed my fears: the Mediamax DRM (Digital Rights Management) app had installed some media-restricting drivers on my machine, without my permission. Also installed: spyware that sends info back to SunnComm(the company that created Mediamax for Sony) every time you play a protected CD. Details here.
Let's recap the sequence of events, for clarity:
- Put CD in Drive.
- Decline License Agreement.
- Spyware Installed Anyway.
Addendums:
An ActiveX uninstaller for the Mediamax software can be found at SunnComm's site on this page. Apparently, some folks were unhappy about the spyware and complained. Imagine that. Also, the uninstaller doesn't quite remove everything, but comes close. Extra bonus: only works in IE.
The DRM app executed because AUTORUN was still enabled on my machine at work. It's easy, but non-trivial, to disable in Windows 2000. The procedure can be found here
How was the album? I don't think it quite "Sucks Ass."
More accurately, I'd say it "Licks Balls."
Another two word review: "Overproduced Dreck."