[opendtv] News: Pirated software used to create help content in Microsoft's Windows XP

This one just floored me. I read elsewhere that the PocketPC has the
same wav file. Oops! Time to buy some Sony stock.

--snip

http://www.tomshardware.com/hardnews/20041115_135458.html

Chicago (IL) - Members of a former software cracking group have
discovered that audio files created with one of its cracked programs are
distributed with each copy of the Windows XP operating system, possibly
exposing Microsoft to a large-scale copyright infringement lawsuit.

The content in question can be found on every computer with Windows XP
as operating system installed. Nine WAV audio files located in the
folder " "Help\Tours\WindowsMediaPlayer\Audio\Wav" in the Windows
installation directory include a signature of "Deepz0ne", a member of
former cracking group "Radium". If the files are opened not with an
audio player, but with a HEX editor or simply in Windows' own text
editor Notepad, the last line displays as "000-04-06 IENG Deepz0ne ISFT
Sound Forge 4.5".

A source confirmed to Tom's Hardware Guide, that the signature is
"authentic for the cracked version of Sound Forge 4.5" and relates to
the cracker Deepz0ne. "The Radium group has been dissolved about four
years ago, but still meets every week in a casual manner," the source
said. "One of the members circulated the information at a birthday part
last weekend and then pitched the story apparently to Germany's PC Welt
magazine," he said. PC Welt published the story the same day.

xp1 Sound Forge is a professional audio editing software popular among
audio enthusiasts. Sony recently has purchased the intellectual property
of the product from Sonic Foundry, which developed and sold version 4.5.

According to Benjamin Kern, attorney at Chicago-based law firm Gordon &
Glickson LLC, the use of a pirated version of Sound Forge can result in
a copyright infringement claim: "Other legal issues, such as patent
infringement, trade secret misappropriation and contract breach may also
be relevant, but copyright infringement is the most prominent," Kern
said. It is unclear at this time, if the current owner Sony or the
orginal developer Sound Forge have the right to bring legal action
against Microsoft.

When software is transferred from one party to another, the transfer
agreement often also includes the transfer of a right to bring an action
for infringement, according to Kern. "In this case, if Sound Forge
transferred its copyright in the software to Sony, it is not clear
whether Sound Forge or Sony owned the copyright at the time the
infringement was committed," Kern said.

At this time, liability also appears to be unclear. "Ultimate financial
responsibility depends on whether a copyrighted work was provided to
Microsoft by a third party, who may be responsible to Microsoft, by
contract or otherwise, for any liability Microsoft could face," Kern
explained.

Potential remedies for a copyright infringement include actual damages
plus profits of the infringer, or set statutory damages. Given the
profits Microsoft rakes in with Windows XP, even a small percentage of
the profits could result in an unexpected windfall for Sony.

Sony and the Business Software Alliance were contacted by Tom's Hardware
Guide but so far have not yet responded to the accusations. Microsoft
declined to comment "at this time". 


 
 
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