A lot of people who haven't seen Michael Moore's new film are telling you not to see it, that it's a virus aimed at the heart of the Bush Administration.

Well, I haven't heard the Beastie Boys' latest, To The Five Boroughs, but don't buy it.

The thing has malware on it.

According to The Register, putting the disk into a PC will cause the installation of a program that keeps files from being copied from any CD onto the hard drive.

UPDATE: Boingboing has a note from the Beasties' manager, saying (in brief) that this malware is on all EMI disks distributed outside the U.S. and UK, they had no choice in having it put there, and please don't single them out. They say the software comes from Macrovision.

The Register has a long set of directions it says will prevent the virus from initiating, and keep other, similar viruses from initiating. The directions read an awful lot like those I had to follow recently in order to get rid of the Bugbear virus from my kid's computer.

Ethically, the idea of inserting a program without authorization into someone's PC with the intent of crippling it is far beyond the pale. I don't know who to blame for this, the group, their record label, or both.

This is a CD only a lawyer could love. Or Orrin Hatch. If the music industry thinks it's going to sneak a virus onto the world's PCs and stop music piracy, it is in for a surprise.

When you declare war on your market, don't be surprised if that market fights back in the most devastating way imaginable, by putting its hand in its pocket and keeping it there.

That's what I'm doing. I'm not just concerned about this disk. Who knows where else this virus exists?

Better not buy any CDs at all. Just to be safe.