4 ms·

It may sound a little unfair, but the MyBook has been on my personal Ban List for 14 years now. (has it been that long?) I don't know if they still do this, bu

It may sound a little unfair, but the MyBook has been on my personal Ban List for 14 years now. (has it been that long?) I don't know if they still do this, but there was a time their NAS would refuse to allow access to MP3 files over a network. To fight piracy. https://www.theregister.com/2007/12/07/western_digital_drm_crippled_harddrive/ https://www.theregister.com/2007/12/07/western_digital_drm_c... (Was www.wired.com/2007/12/western-digital)

tyingq 5y ago
Ironically, story is posted on a paywall site :)
- function_seven 5y ago
  That is ironic. I visit Wired so rarely now I guess I got my one free article. Better link? https://www.theregister.com/2007/12/07/western_digital_drm_crippled_harddrive/ https://www.theregister.com/2007/12/07/western_digital_drm_c...
  - anonymousisme 5y ago
    Works fine with JS turned off (via NoScript).
- thaumasiotes 5y ago
  I don't see anything. The site isn't DRMed either; I'll demonstrate by pasting the text of the article: > It doesn't matter what the files are: If you try to share these formats over a network, Western Digital assumes not just that you're a criminal, but that it is its job to police users. You see, MP3, DivX, AVI, WMV and Quicktime files are copy-protected formats. > The list of banned filetypes includes more than thirty extensions. Some of them are bizarre: .IT files are banned — these are Amiga-style music modules composed with Impulse Tracker, a particularly well-loved tracking sequencer that hasn't been updated in almost a decade. I composed with IT myself, back in the day, and still have all my shitty compositions, none of which Western Digital would have me share. (Try MOD vs. Speak&Spell masterpiece Eddie Dreams of Women, if you dare: IT, MP3) > Isn't it cute how the only data it views as worthy of policing are music and movies? These are the only copyrights that matter under corporate monkey law. > It's the most astonishing example of crippled equipment I've ever seen. A DRM'd hard drive! Whatever next? Dreaming meat? > *UPDATE: The manual's appendix and online support site provide setup instructions for SAMBA, allowing access over IP instead of with the DRM-infested and poorly-reviewed client app, elsewhere claimed to be "required." * > *MOAR! Samba not enough? Gut the firmware and install made-to-measure Linux: An entire community of folks is here to help you hack your MyBook: mybookworld.wikidot.com. Internal formatting was stripped in the copy-and-paste process. I could add it back, but that would detract from the purity of the approach. ;D
beerandt 5y ago
Maybe the blank CD-R "tax"/ contribution-to-the-riaa didn't have to be paid if it couldn't host media files covered by that agreement? But I have no idea if they would've even had to pay that in the first place on these devices.
- kstrauser 5y ago
  I had totally forgotten about those, and the corollary “I’ve already been taxed on them so pirate away!” argument.
- pkaye 5y ago
  This lists several countries with a media tax. I wonder if its still the case. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_copying_levy#Regulations https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_copying_levy#Regulatio...

tyingq 5y ago

Ironically, story is posted on a paywall site :)

function_seven 5y ago
That is ironic. I visit Wired so rarely now I guess I got my one free article. Better link? https://www.theregister.com/2007/12/07/western_digital_drm_crippled_harddrive/ https://www.theregister.com/2007/12/07/western_digital_drm_c...
- anonymousisme 5y ago
  Works fine with JS turned off (via NoScript).
thaumasiotes 5y ago
I don't see anything. The site isn't DRMed either; I'll demonstrate by pasting the text of the article: > It doesn't matter what the files are: If you try to share these formats over a network, Western Digital assumes not just that you're a criminal, but that it is its job to police users. You see, MP3, DivX, AVI, WMV and Quicktime files are copy-protected formats. > The list of banned filetypes includes more than thirty extensions. Some of them are bizarre: .IT files are banned — these are Amiga-style music modules composed with Impulse Tracker, a particularly well-loved tracking sequencer that hasn't been updated in almost a decade. I composed with IT myself, back in the day, and still have all my shitty compositions, none of which Western Digital would have me share. (Try MOD vs. Speak&Spell masterpiece Eddie Dreams of Women, if you dare: IT, MP3) > Isn't it cute how the only data it views as worthy of policing are music and movies? These are the only copyrights that matter under corporate monkey law. > It's the most astonishing example of crippled equipment I've ever seen. A DRM'd hard drive! Whatever next? Dreaming meat? > *UPDATE: The manual's appendix and online support site provide setup instructions for SAMBA, allowing access over IP instead of with the DRM-infested and poorly-reviewed client app, elsewhere claimed to be "required." * > *MOAR! Samba not enough? Gut the firmware and install made-to-measure Linux: An entire community of folks is here to help you hack your MyBook: mybookworld.wikidot.com. Internal formatting was stripped in the copy-and-paste process. I could add it back, but that would detract from the purity of the approach. ;D

beerandt 5y ago

Maybe the blank CD-R "tax"/ contribution-to-the-riaa didn't have to be paid if it couldn't host media files covered by that agreement? But I have no idea if they would've even had to pay that in the first place on these devices.

kstrauser 5y ago
I had totally forgotten about those, and the corollary “I’ve already been taxed on them so pirate away!” argument.
pkaye 5y ago
This lists several countries with a media tax. I wonder if its still the case. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_copying_levy#Regulations https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_copying_levy#Regulatio...