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Ironically, story is posted on a paywall site :)


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


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_c...


Works fine with JS turned off (via NoScript).




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