Rockin Robbins
03-02-08, 07:50 PM
I thought I was through with the urination match between Sony and Mark Russinovich. With patch 1.3 Ubi saw the light and realized that punishing the innocent was not going to protect their precious software, right? With patch 1.3, Ubi realized that getting in the middle of Sony and Mark Russinovich throwing stuff (you can insert your own smelly substance) at each other did nothing to help the sales of Silent Hunter Wolves of the Pacific.
Imagine my delight when after paying $10.00 to download the U-Boat Missions add-on, (before which there was no warning that by doing so I lost dominion over my own property to do what is lawful) I was greeted with this:
http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa293/RockinRobbins13/SecuROMpissingmatch.jpg
Now Process Explorer is a useful program, written by Mark Russinovich of Microsoft, Inc, as a slightly more capable replacement for the Windows Task Manager. In no way is it related to software piracy, any more than Windows Defrag is. This is a plain vanilla utility distributed by Microsoft.
But Mark Russinovich was the man who exposed Sony's dangerous, unethical, disrespectful of ownership rights of computer owners, music CD Windows Rootkit. This was a hidden routine on Sony music CD's which installed itself on your computer when you merely played the CD. It did so without your consent. It hid itself by modifying Windows so that no process could show this software or the hidden section of your property it lived in. It was a virus of the worst kind, converting your property into Sony's without your consent. It then disabled Windows processes for copying CD's and DVD's, just so you would be delighted. Then, because all bad guys tend to know about each other's nefarious projects, virus writers began writing viruses that hid in this inaccessible, undetectable part of your hard drive, invisible to virus scanners and impossible to remove, even if you could prove they existed.
Mr Russinovich is a true hero, who exposed this slimeball corporation for doing what it does best, screwing customers. He personally cost Sony dozens of millions of dollars. People should have gone to prison.
When Ubi removed the SecurROM protection with patch 1.3, it looked like they realized that association with criminals (even though Sony and its directors have avoided criminal prosecution so far) tainted their company as well. It's not true. SecuROM is back, hindering no pirate but trying to dictate to me whether I will use harmless, legitimate software on my machine.
This is wrong. It is rooted in a lack of respect for me and you as customers. It is converting our property for their own use against our wishes. This is a tort at least and a crime at worst. I am very disappointed that Ubi, which had done all the right things up until now, would jump back into bed with these hoodlums.
Other than that, I'm fine. I've just wasted $10.00 for something I may not be able to use. I'll take Process Explorer out of my startup folder and see if, like last time, it searches my hard drive and registry, finds it and then informs me that unless I remove Process Explorer from my machine Silent Hunter will not run.
If that happens, I'm writing Mark Russinovich at Microsoft. He's much better at raising hell than I am and Sony will recongize the return of their friend.
Shame on you Ubi! You have Sony's excrement smeared all over you.
Imagine my delight when after paying $10.00 to download the U-Boat Missions add-on, (before which there was no warning that by doing so I lost dominion over my own property to do what is lawful) I was greeted with this:
http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa293/RockinRobbins13/SecuROMpissingmatch.jpg
Now Process Explorer is a useful program, written by Mark Russinovich of Microsoft, Inc, as a slightly more capable replacement for the Windows Task Manager. In no way is it related to software piracy, any more than Windows Defrag is. This is a plain vanilla utility distributed by Microsoft.
But Mark Russinovich was the man who exposed Sony's dangerous, unethical, disrespectful of ownership rights of computer owners, music CD Windows Rootkit. This was a hidden routine on Sony music CD's which installed itself on your computer when you merely played the CD. It did so without your consent. It hid itself by modifying Windows so that no process could show this software or the hidden section of your property it lived in. It was a virus of the worst kind, converting your property into Sony's without your consent. It then disabled Windows processes for copying CD's and DVD's, just so you would be delighted. Then, because all bad guys tend to know about each other's nefarious projects, virus writers began writing viruses that hid in this inaccessible, undetectable part of your hard drive, invisible to virus scanners and impossible to remove, even if you could prove they existed.
Mr Russinovich is a true hero, who exposed this slimeball corporation for doing what it does best, screwing customers. He personally cost Sony dozens of millions of dollars. People should have gone to prison.
When Ubi removed the SecurROM protection with patch 1.3, it looked like they realized that association with criminals (even though Sony and its directors have avoided criminal prosecution so far) tainted their company as well. It's not true. SecuROM is back, hindering no pirate but trying to dictate to me whether I will use harmless, legitimate software on my machine.
This is wrong. It is rooted in a lack of respect for me and you as customers. It is converting our property for their own use against our wishes. This is a tort at least and a crime at worst. I am very disappointed that Ubi, which had done all the right things up until now, would jump back into bed with these hoodlums.
Other than that, I'm fine. I've just wasted $10.00 for something I may not be able to use. I'll take Process Explorer out of my startup folder and see if, like last time, it searches my hard drive and registry, finds it and then informs me that unless I remove Process Explorer from my machine Silent Hunter will not run.
If that happens, I'm writing Mark Russinovich at Microsoft. He's much better at raising hell than I am and Sony will recongize the return of their friend.
Shame on you Ubi! You have Sony's excrement smeared all over you.