Sony Blows It

A record company has once again decided to punish those that pay full price for their CDs. If you are a "music pirate" and want to "steal" the music, you'll know the simple workaround to accomplish your task. Law abiding citizens, however, will have their computer infected with a program that will allow "internet baddies" access to your computer (and limit your ability to listen to and legally copy the songs you paid for).

Seems like a bad idea, right?. For example, a few weeks ago I had heard a lot of good buzz about the new Neil Diamond CD 12 Songs. It also got a great review in Rolling Stone. So, I head out to buy it. I can't find it anywhere. I think to myself..."Wow, with such great buzz for the album, Sony really should have sent out more copies." Turns out that I should have been thinking..."Wow, the people that run Sony are idiots. If they hadn't had to recall all of those CDs, I would have dropped 16 bucks for it."

So, this buggy digital rights managemant software cost them sales, it cost them to recall the discs, cost them to reissue bug free copies, cost them the good will of their customers(and their artists), cost them to create fixes for already infected computers, etc. And, it didn't stop anyone who knew to hold down SHIFT key while they loaded the CD from doing whatever they wanted.

Neil Diamoind, with great reviews and currently on tour, must be incredibly upset about the whole thing. While I would have bought the CD that day, the delay has allowed my "Diamond Fever" to subside and also made me not that interested in buying anything from Sony for a while. (Note: I don't think that Mr. Diamond is upset about me specifically not buying his CD, but by the fact that this same scene played out time and again around the country. And, like any good artist, he's probably upset that his fans who bought the CD the minute it came out may have already had their computers compromised.)

SonyBMG made some interesting choices in what to "protect". That includes the Art Blakey CD Drum Suit and a Flatt and Scruggs CD called Foggy Mountain Jamboree. Is bluegrass piracy really a hige problem? Maybe it is...but it seems unlikely. And while it is unfortunate, there just aren't millions of college students on high speed networks trading Art Blakey sound files.

Here's a list of CD's that you shouldn't put in your computer. By the time it's over, the list will probably be much longer.The link is to a SonyBMG page. They aren't crazy about publicizing the flaw, so it could vanish at any time.
PSI & PARCELINK RETURNS ON THE WEB | Reason / Action

For a partial roundup of stories about this situation, visit this link at BoingBoing.net
Boing Boing: Sony Rootkit Roundup IV