Monday, February 6, 2006

Independent Security Testing for DRM Software

It appears that SunComm has agreed to submit all future versions of its MediaMax DRM software for independent security testing in an effort to weed out any further vulnerabilities.

For those just tuning in to the story, late last year SunComm's MediaMax software was discovered covertly installing itself and leaving PCs vulnerable to attack.

SunComm hopes to reduce any future legal problems by using the independent software review model.

From the BBC article, it sounds like that testing might be headed by the EFF, which is good news. The EFF will look for security issues but will keep customer rights in mind at the same time.

But shouldn't the big record labels also have customer rights in mind? I would have said "yes" before the whole XCP/MediaMax incident. However it became very clear that security of their customers was pretty low on the DRM list of "things to do".

Will First 4 Internet, makers of the XCP DRM, make the same "good faith" move??

Should SunComm do this work in-house instead of using a non-profit group to secure their software??

Either way, this good is a positive step in protecting customer rights in the face growing DRM use.

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