U.S publishers branching into malware?

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Unless they're talking about putting malicious programs out there with the names of popular books with the mindset of: "Have no worries about this fishy-looking executable that we want you to believe is the ebook you've been searching for! Go ahead and click it!" To which I say; "yeah... great plan."

The problem is, it actually works with many people.

There is a lot of free software (some even open source) that is "supported" by stuff such as "registry cleaners", and "toolbars" and so on. Most people who don't know too much about computers just go like *click, click, click, finish*. Most people seem to be completely disinterested and braindead when working with a computer.

Normal phone call: The internet is slow and the computer is unstable though. (...) Toolbars? No... I don't see anything strange in my browser.

Then you go take a look, and see something such as this:



OK, maybe a less extreme, but you get the point. However, many people don't see it as a problem if their computer starts up 28 icons in the taskbar tray and the browser has 5 toolbars, as long as the computer can handle it with regard to speed.

[Ankh]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

And HOW would one want to achieve this?

A program has to be running on my computer to make this happen, and I can guarantee 100% that it will be ineffective. Even if something like this is hidden in, let's say, ADE or the Kindle software, then I'll know the moment the computer locks down.

Kindle, Kobo and Sony software, I guess. Running on readers, not the apps incarnation.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

The problem is, it actually works with many people.

Sure it does. Just not with the demographic they're looking to target. It'd be like trying to lure a carnivore into a trap with broccoli florets.

[Elfwreck]

At the moment, this tactic is not legal in the US; there is no private right to punish criminals--even if you can prove they *are* criminals, which many of them aren't--and less right to take action against civil offenders, which is what most copyright infringers are.

If this were a feasible plan, the music industry would've put it in place years ago.

What are they going to do, write a program that looks like an ebook, that seizes your computer when you load it into Calibre? Somehow, I don't see that working. Most people don't double-click on ebooks to read them, even if they are working with a computer that (1) will open something that doesn't match its file extension and (2) won't ask permission to run a strange program.

All it takes is one case where a downloader can legitimately claim a fair use reason to download--or being in a country where it's legal (like visiting Canada and downloading texts that are in the public domain there but not in the US)--and they've got grounds for a whopping lawsuit against the publisher. They'd have some grounds even if they downloaded illegally; there is no clickthrough license that says "we have the right to destroy your computer if you didn't buy this book from us."

On the practical side of things... what, they're gonna make a virus that bricks people's Kindles or Nooks? They've figured out how to infect iPads?

At best, they can do things like "release a torrent ebook with the last third missing, or garbled." And convince people that torrents have low-quality products, and therefore it's okay to get stuff for free from them.

[teh603]

Originally Posted by Elfwreck

All it takes is one case where a downloader can legitimately claim a fair use reason to download--or being in a country where it's legal (like visiting Canada and downloading texts that are in the public domain there but not in the US)--and they've got grounds for a whopping lawsuit against the publisher.

Fair use is only valid if you've got the money to stand up for it in court and through multiple tiers of appeals, which 99% of Americans don't have. The other 1%... well, they have enough money to buy out Congress if they really wanted to.

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by OddCosine

I can't imagine this actually getting off the ground. Sony tried malware in their audio CDs. How'd that work out?

They got off far too lightly.

[DiapDealer]

Not a single link to the actual report the article's author is claiming to be quoting from? Or even any corroborating (even if unsubstantiated) evidence as to what is contained therein?

Allow me to quote from the official report of the Society for We Don't Frickin' Take Anybody's Claims at Face Value: "We don't frickin' take anybody's claims at face value!"

[JDK1962]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Not a single link to the actual report the article's author is claiming to be quoting from? Or even any corroborating (even if unsubstantiated) evidence as to what is contained therein?

The link to the original report is in in the summary blog post I linked to. But if you insist...

IP Commission Report: The Report of the Commission on the Theft of American Intellectual Property.

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by Ankh

Kindle, Kobo and Sony software, I guess. Running on readers, not the apps incarnation.

It can never work. A document that is on the reader can be entirely legal, such as a converted book bought in a different format. Even if a company would check (using Wifi / internet) if you bought the book you just opened with them, that doesn't mean anything; the book could still be legal.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by JDK1962

The link to the original report is in in the summary blog post I linked to. But if you insist...

IP Commission Report: The Report of the Commission on the Theft of American Intellectual Property.

Thank you for the link. But I'm still not seeing a single link in Kozlowski's summary blog post. Where am I missing it?

[JDK1962]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Thank you for the link. But I'm still not seeing a single link in Kozlowski's summary blog post. Where am I missing it?

Second para, first sentence. The word "report" is a hyperlink.

[DiapDealer]

Ah, there it is. The link becomes quite apparent in my mobile browser after I click on it. I retract my unsubstantiated jokes.

[Fat Abe]

The only industry successful at battling the pirates is the game console business.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...halo-4-pirates

Hollywood, Recording Companies and Ebook publishers have been largely unsuccessful. Unless a company monitors your content and continually updates the firmware or application software, it's does not stand a chance of thwarting pirates, or fair use advocates. ADE has not been updated in years on my machine. If the publishers want more protection, then they need to pay Adobe to robustify their software.

As far as the vector through which an infection would enter your machine, most likely the "enemy" would try to exploit a stack overflow in Calibre, either in a plugin or its reader/viewer.

[Katsunami]

The only reason why the game console industry is succesful is because games need to be linked to an account. It works on the PC too; Steam is one of the platforms that uses this kind of DRM.

The only problem is: if the manufacturer of the console decides that the old console from 2006 is junk and remove the support for it from their accounts, or in case of steam, Valve dies, then all your games become unplayable and worthless.

Mark my words. I've said it in another topic. If the ebook industry can get it done, one way or another, they'll require every e-reader to have a permanent internet connection, and they will start streaming books, page by page.

[JD Gumby]

Originally Posted by JDK1962

A publisher's virus would be no different from any other malware, which most applications have evolved to anticipate and intercept. Also, applications typically run in a "sandbox" and have certain permissions. I'd actually be rather surprised if most media software could grab the administrator-level permissions needed to start mucking around in the OS (e.g. to stop future boots and require a password).

That's fairly trivial, actually. Such sandboxing and privilige systems, especially under Windows, are barely a step above telling a toddler to "Please don't do that" and then wandering off to do other things while that toddler (the software) does whatever it pleases.