SunnComm - Bomb or DRM Success Story?

pacopico writes "The Register has one of best tech feature stories done in a long time on SunnComm - the infamous Shift key problem DRM makers. The story charts the awesome path SunnComm took from being an Elvis impersonator company eventually to creating CD protection technology almost out of thin air. Great read!"

Re:Talk about bad timing!

[Anonymous Coward]

Perhaps their admins read slashdot.

Scheduling downtime when you're about to get slashdotted into oblivion isn't a bad idea...

Re:You gave us how much to make this?

[Mazem]

How is the parent post off-topic? First it criticises SunnComm's DRM, one topic described in TFA, with a sarcastic "letter".

Then, it makes a joke referencing Elvis that is particularly pertinent since SunnComm used to be in the business of Elvis impersonators.

Going public via a reverse merger

[Animats]

Going public via a reverse merger [entrepreneur.com] is not that uncommon. It's usually loser companies that do it.

A typical comment [pacificavc.com] on reverse mergers: "It's a perfect setup for a 'pump and dump' stock scam. Take a stock that has been trading for pennies, merge it into a business that has at least the facade of respectability and a presence in a market that is perceived as hot, hype like hell, sell off as many of your shares as possible, and make a run for the border before the price drops like a rock. There have been enough of these to give the whole approach a dubious aura."

A reverse merger, unlike an initial public offering, doesn't raise any money for the company. It costs money, and at the end, you have a publicly traded stock nobody cares about. Which you then have to hype. So they are an inherently suspicious transaction.

Here's an example of a reverse merger [stockpatrol.com] involving a company claiming to be engaged in gold mining, biotech, and casino gambling. Reverse mergers tend to be at that level of flakeyness.

Re:SunnComm have responded

[kmmatthews]

HAHA, thier reply makes for a more amusing story than the original, with classics like "The author did just what Dan Rather and CBS did when they took the bogus paperwork from Lt. Col. whathisname." and "jumping up and down with glee that finally he found his "patsy.""

Re:DRM?

[Malc]

And for those who want to disable auto run in the most effective manner, toggle the AutoRun REG_DWORD value to 0 in this key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Serv ic es\Cdrom

Then reboot.

Re:You still can't copy the cd

[Anonymous Coward]

If it used the same DRM as the Velvet Revolver cd you'll likely need to disable a driver that the cd installed - they modify the install date so it is harder to find. Google 'Velvet Revolver DRM' or 'Velvet Revolver copy protection' and you'll quickly find steps to circumvent.

Looks like Macrovision will have one soon...

[djaj]

Check out their report on Macrovision CDS-300 version 7 beta [theregister.co.uk].

Re:Holy conspiracy theories

[jyoull]

on NASDAQ there is no requirement that a trader take a position as counterparty. Pink sheets, good luck finding anyone to trade with.

Listed stocks on the NYSE do have specialists who ensure order flow and who eat unwanted shares, as you state. This is not the case in NASDAQ.

This reference will help explain things:
Investopedia definition of market makers and specialists [investopedia.com].

The line you're looking for is the 4th "role" of an NYSE specialist, acting as "Principal".

I disagree with the conclusion of the article that there is not much difference between a NASDAQ market maker and a NYSE specialist. The specialist is actually in control of the market for a stock, and in exchange for that monopoly, he is obligated to trade in the stock as necessary to keep things moving. A NASDAQ market maker is in open competition with other market makers and does not have a monopoly.

Re:Company's disclaimer vanishes in a Flash

[fdiskne1]

Here it is:

Important Notice to Sunncomm Shareholders and Prospective Shareholders

SunnComm International, Inc. is a Phoenix, AZ company whose stock is publicly traded in the Over-the-Counter (OTC) market under the symbol SCMI. Our 4-year old company is currently in the development stage of its life cycle and, to date, has only just begun earning revenues from sales of its CD copy magement products.

It is the intention of management to remain a non-reporting company listed on the "The Pink Sheets" until such time as the company reports significant sales of its technology. It is within the corporation's legal rights to elect this option. However, this means that you, the investor or interest-holder, will not be afforded public access to regular company audits and therefore you must solely rely on the company's press releases, news stories, or other publicly available information.

Not having access to audit detail or other significant reporting dynamics can put SunnComm shareholders or interest-holders, at a significant disadvantage from a risk standpoint. Due to SunnComm's current, legal, non-disclosure status, your investment in SunnComm may carry with it an even higher degree of risk than that of other publicly traded companies which are currently fully reporting.

Because of our non-reporting status, SunnComm's management feels you need to understand these very important facts prior to making a decision to invest in the company's shares, and you should also be totally aware that you run the risk of losing your entire investment should you make the decision to purchaseshares in SunnComm.

If you have additinal questions regarding this notice or anything you may read on SunnComm's website, we urge you to contact the company directly.

Thank you for giving me this moment of your time. Please click the button below to acknowledge reading the above and to access The SunnComm Website.

Thanks for stopping by,

[signed by Peter H. Jacobs]

There is an html form button below that reads "I have read the above statement, take me to SunnComm International".

In other words, you will believe what we tell you and if you buy our stock, tough noogies!

Re:DRM?

[csteinle]

What you want is TweakUI [microsoft.com]

Re:Philips & the CD tradmark?

[Anonymous Coward]

Its true and it happened. At least here in the UK, some albums come on CDs (with the proper label), and some come on silvery discs that happen to play in CD players (with a similiar package but no logo). Nowhere on the package does it say CD, so no trademarks are being infringed. The patents on the original CD format have expired BTW.

Stores can mix the two on their shelves as long as they refer to them as "albums" or "music" not "CDs" since that would imply that they all are actualy CDs. Most ppl don't notice tthe difference, maybe they think their car CD player is broken and buy a new one.

Re:Amazing story

[G-funk]

Nope. Can't say I know what that's like. Switch to firefox. Javascript can't do a damn thing to my browser, except change images. It can't even change the status bar text.