Hi, > We should keep in mind that it was Sony Music whose published cd's > contained code to check the kind of drive it was being played in, and if > the drive had a digital output such as the usual 40 pin atapi drive > cable, then it was in a computer, and they bricked the drive.
Sony et.al. have a secret alliance with LG et.al. that certain bit patterns on the medium shall render the drive firmware unusable or the damage the drive physically ? (Ok, Sony stands on both sides of this. But why should LG join ?) Can you share links to reports about this incident ? I am well willing to believe that video player software plays such tricks on its owner. But Blu-ray drives do not contain video player software. That software is part or application of an operating system running on the other side of the bus (as seen from the drive). It can cause firmware updates of the drive by sending proprietary SCSI commands. Just like the updater binaries from the manufacturers do, for which you usually need to boot MS-Windows. But if i do not run such software, then i get no inadverted firmware updates. I checked for LG's habits. They seem to pop up a message when an update is deemed necessary. The owner may then connect to a server in order to get new player software and/or drive firmware. That's their self presentation at least http://www.lg.com/us/support/answers/blu-ray-players/updating-your-firmware Note well, this is for video players (with operating system, video player software, and a drive) not for the builtin SATA attached drives themselves. Show me credible reports with some technical information that computer attached drives got manipulated by content of inserted media without help of operating system and its application software. I.e. without Microsoft, Apple, or other software from DRM supporters being involved. > Nope, read what I wrote above, the firmware in the drive is the attack > target. Well, the attack target named by T.J. Duchene was "WinDVD 8", obviously a software to run on top of MS-Windows. I am curious to learn more about the Sony-CD incident. Have a nice day :) Thomas
