DRM evil comes home

T

theed

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.DRM_Home is now a hidden file on the root of my HD. It sits there benignly and empty right next to a .DS_Store file. Anyone know what this is, where it came from, why it's there? I'm ridiculously opposed to DRM with its current political philosophy getting integrated into hardware, but the difference between Hardware and Software is one of engineering convenience. This file appears to be the beginnings of something Apple and DRM related.

(DRM is Digital Rights Management, and usually by Management they mean corporate management) I remember how everyone got all hot and heavy over streaming, and that's still the most incredibly wrong format for half of the content in that format. I don't want to be managed. As this file is empty, it hasn't done any harm to me yet. However, after you sell your soul is a bad time to figure out that you should've done something different. Any hints where this file is from ... and where it's going?
 
That's kinda spooky... Down with DRM!

I've got the latest iTunes, RealOne (don't laugh,) and even "Windows" Media, but I don't have any .DRM_Home files. What other players do you have that might be making this?

You could always use 'chflags schg' to set the system immutable flag on the empty file, ensuring that it doesn't get changed, but that might be a bit dangerous.
 
I don't use any other players. I like Real (the company) but I hate Real (the player) so I wouldn't dare foul my system with it or the venerable WiMP. Other than that, I am on 10.2, I play DVD's, I surf the web in a whole bunch o browsers, and I code in Project Builder.

The file is dated September 9nth ... I have no idea what i'd have been doing then. I can't imagine it's related to Palm piloty stuff. If no one else is seeing hidden files like this then it makes my think it was from something I downloaded and it's not an OS thing ... but the naming convention and the file's placement point to Apple.
 
Nope. I'm running 10.2.1 with a DVD player (though I don't think I've played any DVDs since I upgraded, now I think of it). The file is not there on mine (I know about ls -la. Trust me, it ain't there.)

I will keep an eye out for it after I run a DVD movie or open a quicktime file.

Does ANYONE out there have this file? Open a terminal and enter:

cd /
ls -la

and look for the file: .DRM_Home

If you find it, let us know. If you don't, let us know. Eventually we'll nail down who is responsible for it, and then we can ask them for info.
 
first, look at this:
http://conferences.oreilly.com/macosxcon/

Add to that the knowledge that no one else here seems to have this file, and it's starting to look like the Apple isn't going rotten. I googled for the mystery file and got a couple of folder listings from people who don't speak English, and something about a Solaris install which didn't seem to have anything to do with Rights Management.

I'm letting go of this conspiracy theory for now. I really don't want to run away to any other OS because of something so unimportant to the future of technology as Digital Rights Mangling.
 
This may sound odd... but my 8600 with 10.1.5 does have the file... who the fsck could be making this?
 
Just checked... I didnt have one either. I have the same media players as DavidBrit. I haven't watched any dvd's since doing a clean install of 10.2
 
I do have the .DRM_Home file as well, on my Cube G4/450; plus, there's a .DRM_etc file. Both have a creation date of April 30, and both have what looks to be encrypted content.

Interesting.

- Paul
 
Okay, this is definitely something being generated by a 3rd-party utility, since we are seeing very different creation dates/etc...

I would like to note that I still have the file (I haven't rm'd it yet), but the only media player I have is QT Player.

What about installers? What installers have you used about the time of the creation that have asked for root privs? What apps? What software did you install about that time?
 
I stuffed mine, just in case some future update fusses when it can't find the bundle. I will, however, only unstuff it if I have my Ethernet cable unconnected.
:p
 
That is very odd, considering I have the .DRM_Home file, but not the internet plug-in...

Curiouser, and Curiouser.

Only something with root privs could create/modify the file, but since someone has said the mod date on their file was in April...

I looked for files modified on the same date as my .DRM_Home file and came up with this one peculiar file I could not quite attach to anything I knew: /Users/krevnik/Library/Preferences/ACE2Cache

Anyone else have this file? Know what it belongs to?
 
I think it's related to the macromedia trial installers. Anyone else care to correlate this? .drm = DreamWeaver?

And I apologize for the big nasty bump to an older than dirt thread.
 
slightly off topic but I think I found out why Real Player sucks and crashes (at least on OS 9), open the system folder, then the Application Support, then the Real folder, then all the folders, you can see a .DLL invasion!! :D
 
Originally posted by symphonix
Nope. I'm running 10.2.1 with a DVD player (though I don't think I've played any DVDs since I upgraded, now I think of it). The file is not there on mine (I know about ls -la. Trust me, it ain't there.)

I will keep an eye out for it after I run a DVD movie or open a quicktime file.

Does ANYONE out there have this file? Open a terminal and enter:

cd /
ls -la

and look for the file: .DRM_Home

If you find it, let us know. If you don't, let us know. Eventually we'll nail down who is responsible for it, and then we can ask them for info.
Click to expand...

Have it on mine. 10.1.5

It was created 3-12-02.
 
Originally posted by theed
I think it's related to the macromedia trial installers. Anyone else care to correlate this? .drm = DreamWeaver?

And I apologize for the big nasty bump to an older than dirt thread.
Click to expand...

I'd say it makes sense...mine says 3-11-02 and I did install a trial of Dreamweaver MX before buying it around that time.
 
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