Daily Archives: November 30, 2005

So how long has Sony known about the rootkit problem?

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Curiouser and curiouser. According to Business Week, Sony were warned about the problem with their DRM system a full month before Mark Russinovich posted the news on his Blog — and did nothing. Excerpt:

Sony BMG is in a catfight with a well-known computer-security outfit that became aware of the software problem on Sept. 30 and notified the music company on Oct. 4 — nearly a month before the issue blew up. F-Secure, a Finland-based antivirus company that prides itself on being the first to spot new malware outbreaks, says Sony BMG didn’t understand the software it was introducing to people’s computers and was slow to react.

“If [Sony] had woken up and smelled the coffee when we told them there was a problem, they could have avoided this trouble,” says Mikko H. Hypponen, F-Secure’s director of antivirus research.

That ‘special relationship’

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Nice quote from Martin Kettle’s review of Christopher Meyer’s memoir, DC Confidential…

Meyer is wisely unsentimental, too, about the so-called “special relationship”. The phrase was banned from use while he was ambassador, quite rightly, and he smartly observes that the only countries that can truly lay claim to such a status in Washington – in the sense of being able to have significant influence on US politics and policy – are Ireland, Israel, Saudi Arabia and Taiwan, and certainly not Britain, even under Blair or Thatcher.

Martin was the Guardian’s Washington bureau chief from 1997 to 2001.

H2O

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My spam filter, bless it, catches 99.9% of the usual crap, but this one got through. Who says water and snake oil don’t mix?

Did you know that there is a little-known secret about water that has
existed for thousands of years?

And it has been carefully hidden from you!
-The Japanese know about it.
-Scientists and non-traditional doctors know about it.
-A NASA lab has examined it up one side and down the other.

The powers that control the Pharmaceutical Markets know about it.
Yet, 99% of the world has never even heard of it !

What if I could show you: “The World’s Most Perfect Water”.
-A Perfect Water that energizes and Ph balances your body naturally.
-A Perfect Water that allows you to create massive wealth?
(I am dead serious; I can verify everything I am telling you.)

The code has been cracked, the Secret is out. This product has (2) US
Patents and is closely guarded with exclusive-global rights.
* You can finally learn what only the most-informed health & wealth
insiders know.
* There is nothing like this product anywhere.
* You can make money over and over every day with a hands-off system
with just a push of a button!

Learn how you can receive phone-in leads from across the USA.
The Secret Code of “The World’s Most Perfect Water” will be aired on
ABC, CBS, & FOX TV Networks on October 18, 2005.

The opportunity to become wealthy as a distributor of this new
product is enormous!
-Are you serious and not just curious?
-Are you truly seeking health & wealth?

If you answered: YES, Then You Deserve The Truth NOW.
The code for Xtreme Water (X20) has been cracked:

There then follows the usual address-confirming link. Wonder who falls for this stuff.