Western Digital network drives crippled -- no serving any multimedia files

[rkr1958]

Western Digital network drives crippled -- no serving any multimedia files
Posted by Cory Doctorow, December 6, 2007 10:56 AM | permalink
Gary sez, "This is the most extreme example I've seen yet of tech companies crippling data devices in order to please Hollywood: Western Digital is disabling sharing of any avi, divx, mp3, mpeg, and many other files on its network connected devices; due to unverifiable media license authentication'. Just wondering -- who needs a 1 Terabyte network-connected hard drive that is prohibited from serving most media files? Perhaps somebody with 220 million pages of .txt files they need to share?" Link (Thanks, Gary!)

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[ron spencer]

you have to be really, really stupid to buy these products.....just get an old P3, put NASLite+ on it, and go......

[redwudz]

Just rename all your .mpeg, .avi, .divx file extensions to '.txt' and you should be good to go.

[Ai Haibara]

Don't know if the following quote is true, but...

that's only if you decide to use their "Anywhere Access" app... there are dozens of different ways of sharing your data. MyBook is only an external HD, works just like any other external HD... the only difference is the inhouse backup software they're using....

I've never used any included software with my MyBook... works great!

(from BetaNews)

I think it also filters 'older' file types like the .mod/.it/etc. tracker formats, too.

[TheFamilyMan]

Read this before jumping to conclusions. They are really shooting themselves in the foot with this: if you want to share family videos with friends and family using this, you're screwed. (Yes, I do realize you can play filename extension games, but what a pain.)

[oldandinthe way]

These restrictions apply to MyBook World Edition which is a server not a hard drive.

I, for one, require more control of my servers. This is part of a class of products which have not been successful because of limited control. The additional restrictions probably won;t hurt much because the priduct is already limited in its appeal.

[CrayonEater]

Well, this means I am permanently done doing business with or recommending Western Digital products. I was pissed when WD was installing their Backweb Lite spyware on people's computers, but I forgave them when they backed off. Well, fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.

In fairness, I do think this may actually have been intended as a security feature, though I'm not certain. It is very easy for users to unintentionally (or even intentionally) share potentially copyrighted material, thus exposing companies or individuals to legal liability. As a security consultant who has been in the biz long over a decade, I can tell you that protecting networks against malicious hackers is only half the job; the other half is protecting people from their own stupidity. A misconfigured server or inadequate permissions can easily cause as much damage to data and finances as any hacker.

With that said, I wouldn't have a problem if this were an optional feature (disabled by default). In fact, I would certainly enable it on almost all of my client's networks, as well as my own business and personal ones, excepting the few that do legitimately need access to multimedia files and have the proper external protections in place.

But this is not an optional feature: It is mandatory, at least in specific applications. I cannot do business with any manufacturer or vendor who does not allow me to decide what's best for my clients and their particular situations.

Congratulations, Western Digital, you managed to piss off one of the probably only a handful of people on this planet who are capable of seeing things from both points-of-view, and would have been willing to cut you some slack, had you implemented things better. And, moreover, who extensively used your products.

Goodbye.

[Constant Gardener]

This looks like a due-diligence issue. WD cannot be accused of promoting illegal file sharing with their web-enabled product. Hence, no nasty lawsuits from the RIAA and such.

Any reasonably savvy user can disable such software-based restrictions.

[olyteddy]

Just rename all your .mpeg, .avi, .divx file extensions to '.txt' and you should be good to go.

I tried that and now they all open in NotePad....

[johns0]

Just rename all your .mpeg, .avi, .divx file extensions to '.txt' and you should be good to go.

I tried that and now they all open in NotePad....

Errr....rename them back to their original extension after you finish with them.

[Scooter_NJ]

Can't someone simply reformat the drive..or is it buried in firmware?

[RabidDog]

Im sorry .. you want xx of my money for this POS?
just for your information WD i.m out ,, perhaps one of the other dragons believes in this *&^%?

[ron spencer]

it is just not safe to buy 1TB drive...2 500 gigs are better....if one goes you have one for backup....they shoot themselves here.

[DereX888]

it is just not safe to buy 1TB drive...2 500 gigs are better....if one goes you have one for backup....they shoot themselves here.

10 years ago I've been told the same when I was buying first 13GB drive on the market.
By this logic I should have use now hundred twenty five 4GB drives instead of one 500GB?
Plain stupid.

[oldandinthe way]

Can't someone simply reformat the drive..or is it buried in firmware?

This is NOT a drive it is a network server. Normal people will buy a drive and not have the problem.

If you want a 1TB external drive without this feature, you can buy the MyBook Essential 2.0 Edition with a USB Port and save over $100.00.

The MyBook World Edition Network Server with an Ethernet interface is the drive with limitations.

The limitations are limited to sharing with other users. You can access your own music or video's remotely, it is touted as a feature.

http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.asp?driveid=347&language=en

[dnix71]

Actually this is a good idea for unattended network servers in a corporate environment. No matter how hard you try, with Windows, you are never completely secure.

If you got hit with a zero-day flaw in Windows, or your employees use net services to do work away from home, your network data server can't be used to illegally host media files accessible over the web.

Local governements would be a likely buyer. I think I remember the Texas DMV server being hacked and used as a porn server, until their admins checked after noticing they seemed to be running out of space.

Just do an erase/reformat and don't use WD's software and you should have no trouble.

[ROBERT BLACK]

I'm reading all this and I can't help but think that this is some sort of elaborate joke? Any company that would attempt to disable file sharing of any kind on it's data storage devices would be tantamount to commiting fiscal suicide. If thi is true Western Digital should get the Darwin award for business excellence.

[DereX888]

Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if some new "DMCA II" will enforce use of only such drives on all new computers.
Who knows, it may even last longer than it took until DVD encryption was broken, until some new 'black market' add-on cards or straight software hacks appear.
Thats assuming nobody would have kept or used older hard drives without this idiocy implemented...