Microsoft Sues DRM Hackers
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So-called FairUse program breaks copy protection on Windows Media Player.
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Despite pleas from fair-use advocates, Microsoft plans to patch an application that can strip Windows Media files of potentially restrictive DRM (digital rights management) technology.
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Sony BMG is suing the company that designed its controversial CD anti-piracy software.
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As part of its fight against software piracy, Microsoft has filed lawsuits against eight resellers for allegedly buying and selling fake and used Certificate of Authenticity labels, the company says.
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A California-based software company has filed a patent infringement suit against Microsoft over two patents that enable the creation of virtual private networks.
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Certicom, a vendor of encryption tools, has filed a lawsuit claiming that Sony's use of the AACS and DTCP content protection technologies infringes on two U.S. patents.
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A crack in the digital rights management software for Windows Media has caused a British television network to suspend its movie and sports content download service while it updates the DRM on its files.
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Microsoft filed nine lawsuits against individuals and companies alleged to be involved in the distribution of spam, the company says.
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(InfoWorld) - Microsoft has won a patent for a digital-watermarking technology that could be used to protect the rights of content owners even when digital music is distributed without DRM protection.  The technology, called "stealthy audio watermarking," inserts and detects watermarks in audio signals that can identify the content producer, "providing a signature that is embedded in the audio signal and cannot be removed," according to a filing with the U.S. Patent and Trade Organization (USPTO). The application for U.S. patent 7,266,697 was filed May 3, 2004, by Darko Kirovski and Henrique Malvar, both of whom work at Microsoft Research. Malvar is a Microsoft distinguished engineer and managing director of Microsoft Research in Redmond, Washington, and Kirovski is a researcher there. Microsoft currently has DRM technology called Windows Media DRM that encrypts audio files and protects them from misuse or unauthorized redistribution. The company has traditionally been an outspoken proponent of using DRM to protect owners of digital content, though it said earlier this year it would consider selling DRM-free songs online after rival Apple struck a deal with EMI Group to do so. Forensic digital watermarking technology like the technology Microsoft has patented doesn't encrypt files the way DRM technology does or prevent people from unauthorized use. However, it can be used to prove who owns the content of the digital file by encoding a file with a unique digital signature. That means illegally traded songs could be tracked back to the original purchaser, allowing authorities to identify illegal sharers and serving as a deterrent. The technology could also be used to track files for royalty distribution. In fact, Apple has been inserting simple watermarks into digital audio files that include personal information about the purchaser on some files sold over iTunes so those files can be traced back to their purchaser in the case of unauthorized distribution. However, Microsoft's watermark is much more intrinsic to the file and cannot be stripped out easily by hackers, like Apple's can, said J. Alex Halderman, a computer science PhD candidate at Princeton University who specializes in DRM technology. "It's much harder for people to remove from the recording," he said. The trick for these watermarks to be effective for digital music files, however, is that they must be inaudible and thus undetectable by those listening to the files, which has been difficult for those who have tried to create this technology in the past, Halderman said. Indeed, in their filing, Kirovski and Malvar acknowledged that to work properly, the watermarks must not only be inaudible, but also "must be scattered throughout the file in such a way that they cannot be identified and manipulated" and "be robust enough so that it can withstand normal changes to the file, such as reductions from ... compression algorithms." Microsoft Tuesday declined to comment on how it plans to use the watermark technology it has patented. However, Microsoft Research already has licensed similar yet non-forensic watermarking technology to a company called Activated Content, which is using the technology to insert and extract non-secure data into audio files.
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Microsoft is pointing to a server error that caused a weekend snafu in which legitimate customers were accused of stealing software. Thousands of legit copies of Windows XP and Vista were identified by Microsoft&#39;s Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) validation system as pirated.
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The cat-and-mouse game continues between Microsoft and a group of hackers intent on breaking the copy protection technology on its Windows Media files. This time, an individual has cracked the latest DRM scheme employed by Microsoft.
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Microsoft is clamping down on people with pirated copies of Windows by restricting their access to security features.
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Microsoft Corp. is once again on the defensive against hackers after the launch of a new program that gives average PC users tools to unlock copy-protected digital music and movies.
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Microsoft Corp. has filed class action lawsuits against vendors of sexually explicit commercial e-mail, the Seattle Post-Intelligence said Friday.
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(InfoWorld) - Microsoft on Thursday filed lawsuits against 23 companies in California and Florida, alleging distribution of counterfeit software. The lawsuits were filed in various U.S. District Courts in the two states and seek to halt the distribution of pirated software by the companies named as defendants, Microsoft said. It did not specify whether it will seek damages from these companies. The company is not shy in using its legal department, especially to stop the manufacture and sale of what it alleges are counterfeit or pirated versions of its software. It cited 125 action it has filed against alleged pirates and merchants over the last year in an effort to stop piracy. Earlier this month,Â Microsoft sued spammersÂ that had either sent unsolicited e-mail to users of its Windows Live Hotmail service, or used Hotmail to send spam. Â
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A small Chinese high-tech firm is suing  Microsoft Corp because it says the software giant has stolen  its creation that allows Internet users to type Chinese  characters, but Microsoft countered the claim on Friday.
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MicrosoftÂ filed a civil lawsuit against two men accused of running a host of spam companies that sent out millions of spam messages that violated the federal Controlling the Assault of Non-Solictied Pornography and Marketing Act (CAN-SPAM).