"I operate under a different mentality than most people do."
-- Arnold der Gropenfuhrer

We won!

Yeah, I know that this is overdue, but I've been crazy busy with schoolwork. Nein, nein, nein, nein, nein, nein, nein, nein, all down the line. We did it, it's over, we won. Herr Gropinator has been humbled. Soon he will be removed.

The Sony rootkit story not only refuses to die, it's getting worse. Now there is a California and a New York State Class Action lawsuit in the works, and the 20 CDs that Sony issued in the United States and Canada with the offending rootkit have been named. Do you have any of these Sony/BMG/RCA CDs?

• Trey Anastasio - Shine


• Celine Dion - On ne Change Pas


• Neil Diamond - 12 Songs


• Our Lady Peace - Healthy in Paranoid Times


• Chris Botti - To Love Again


• Van Zant - Get Right with the Man


• Switchfoot - Nothing is Sound


• The Coral - The Invisible Invasion


• Acceptance - Phantoms


• Susie Suh - Susie Suh


• Amerie - Touch


• Life of Agony - Broken Valley


• Horace Silver Quintet - Silver's Blue


• Gerry Mulligan - Jeru


• Dexter Gordon - Manhattan Symphonie


• The Bad Plus - Suspicious Activity


• The Dead 60s - The Dead 60s


• Dion - The Essential Dion


• Natasha Bedingfield - Unwritten


• Ricky Martin - Life

Note that these are not just new releases and not just pop music you'd hear on KIIS FM and its wretched ilk. There's a few oldies releases on this list, as are a few Jazz releases. This article on the EFF website has a field guide to how to recognize the bogus CDs. Note also that the familiar "Compact Disc Audio" logo does not appear on these CDs either...CDs like these violate the specification for CDs in the "Red Book" issued by Sony and Philips back when CDs were first introduced in the '80s.

If you got stuck with one of these turkeys and you live in either California or New York State, get in touch with the EFF and get on board the lawsuit. And even if you don't and you don't, send EFF a little something. Lastly, if you still run Windows, use these instructions to disable Autorun and prevent your CDs from leaving little presents on your hard drive.