Boycott Sony!

A couple of weeks ago it was discovered that Sony had added software (XCP) to a bunch of their CD's to prevent the music from being ripped and spread through the internet, and also to prevent the music from being played on other specific devices (such as iPods). When you play the CD on your computer it installed software on your system that would transmit information to Sony without your knowledge. In addition, the software left your computer open to hacking as it uses "rootkit" technology which is a form of hacking that is very hard to detect. Sony issued a patch for the secutiry breach, but there are many reports out there that the patch leaves your computer even more vulnerable (it's actually worse than the original security issue).

Sony has now recalled the CD's that have this technology on them, and is offering to replace them with versions that do not have the software included. An interesting spin on this story is that the software that was on the CD's originally may have had portions of it taken from another source code without getting proper permissions - ironic that in an effort to protect their digital rights, they apparently violated someone else's.........

I am far from the kind of person who thinks any of the typical boycotts you hear of could work, and I am usually quite skeptical at calls for them. However, I feel that digital rights management is a huge issue, and what Sony is doing with the original software intent is violating my right to fair use. In addition, the fact that they have left many people's computers open to hacking is simply outrageous. The simple fact is that Sony used to be a leader in technology and comsumer level quality in their equipment, but over the years they have slipped. They are now more of a media company than anything, and this incident, as well as some others, have caused me to rethink any desire I might have had for another Sony product.

Not sure who on this board is aware of this, but it is quite a big story out there in the computer and other media. If you simply Google for information you can find plenty on this subject. I am personally done with Sony after this, although I was pretty much done with them already anyway as I don't use many products at their level of quality when it comes to music or video.......I will live with the few Sony products I have now, such as my digital camera and my portable CD player.

Here is a link to the Sony/BMG site where it lists all the CD's with this software on them. Regardless of your feelings on a boycott, I would encourage you to not play these on your computer if you have one of the titles, and return the CD for one that does not contain this malicious software.

http://cp.sonybmg.com/xcp/english/titles.html

Sorry for the rant - I am normally a very rational person, but this sutff sends me around the bend.........