Sony suffering from its own foot shot

[altivo]

I think Sony execs just don't realize how counterproductive their sneaky DRM tactics have turned out to be:

Libraries stop buying Sony CDs to avoid liability for users' computer problems.

They may think this doesn't matter, since they believe libraries are at fault for lending their CDs to people who haven't bought them, but the truth is, many users do buy the CD after listening to it.

Comments

[equiphile.livejournal.com]

Sony can... *shrugs* No I won't say it openly what Sony should do with DRM... but the exact same as those who invented "Trusted Computing"

I want my good old Amiga times back when there was no such shit, just pure fun in computing!

[deffox]

When Microsoft is talking about releasing a security update to counter Sony, then you know they went too far.

Too bad Sony isn't going to be the slightest bit apologetic over it.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

I hadn't heard that yet. But since Windows Vista is supposed to include draconian DRM enforcement, Microsoft has already aligned itself with Sony and other media giants on this.

[hrrunka]

Couple of links:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/11/12/sony_suspends_rootkit_drm/

http://isc.sans.org/diary.php?storyid=845

[pioneer11.livejournal.com]

Any time you corrupt the flow of information you
introduce side effects as with any living thing,
and information...just knowledge, is a
living process.

Besides, they can chain artists to themselves
tighter with better encryption.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Sony's tardy decision to suspend but not recall the infected CDs doesn't impress me, though.

Neither does Microsoft's announcement. They are just unhappy at being scooped on something that they wanted to keep control of themselves.

Makes me glad I don't use Windows, and don't listen to popular CDs, that's for sure.

[deffox]

Microsoft is sending mixed messages regarding DRM.

They keep getting stricter with their own products. They also have a number of initiatives that made media copying harder.

Yet they are supporting HD-DVD over Blu-ray. HD-DVD allows a single copy to be made to a hard drive while Blu-ray tries every trick to prevent it.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Well, as a librarian I have strong ideas on the subject, and they do not align with those of media industry executives. More and more, it appears that many artists also disagree with the increasing restrictions on sharing and copying both printed and sound materials. All those attempts to restrict seem to serve only the profit interests of the publishers and distributors, while doing little to help the actual creators of the content.

As for Microsoft, I've cast my vote. My new PC was ordered without any OS installed. It now has Linux, FreeBSD, and FreeDOS. I will not run Windows any more, and will decline to purchase any content that requires me to run Windows.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Besides, they can chain artists to themselves
tighter with better encryption.

This is, of course, the key to all the wrangling. The media industry wants to control the distribution channels so that artists cannot sell or distribute their works unless it is done through the industry leaders. At the same time, they want to keep consumers from sharing, copying, backing up, or otherwise avoiding paying more profit into the corporate till. I say it is time to bust this cartel up and bust it up thoroughly. Neither the content creators nor the consumer are being well-served.

[hrrunka]

Yep, especially as Sony seem to have just filed for a patent on some scheme to tie a video game to a single console. The alleged Microsoft response is on a blog that seems to be used to leak information unofficially, so it's probably not worth a dime either.

[lobowolf.livejournal.com]

Wow...that's over-the-top sleazy. The copy protection isn't at issue, but having a music CD install software on your HD without your knowledge and modify the system registry is completely insane.

The thing that gets me about all this copy protection nonsense is that if you want to copy the CD bad enough, you could run the digital output of one sound card into the digital input of another one and bypass any copy protection scheme altogether.

Sony, you suck.

[calydor.livejournal.com]

This isn't entirely true. As much as I hate to say they've done something good, Homeland Security is behind this one.

The rootkit offers a severe security breach, and even HLS realize they can't prevent all government employees in all government facilities from loading a music CD with it on at some point.

They contacted the makers of the big spyware removal programs, including Microsoft, and told them to flag the rootkit as malware, and remove it if they can.

This isn't Microsoft's decision. They may even agree with Sony in the matter, but for once their hands are tied.

Also, for a bit of a laugh and headshake, http://dewinter.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=215 - it seems the rootkit is built with parts of LGPL'ed code, and they've broken that license in how it's used.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

I think you overestimate HLS' ability to push multinational corporations around. Not to mention their technical abilities, which I don't believe are up to that much.

They may have influenced Norton and McAfee, neither of whom was quite willing to do anything about the "product" of another big capitalist corporation at first, though.

Given the nature of Microsoft's own Windows Media Player setup which is spyware in its own right and is rapidly caving to the DRM demands of media corporations like Sony and AOL/WB, I simply don't believe Microsoft is going to do much other than conceal what's actually going on.