Sony Music Sued Over Anti-Piracy Software
Jonah Flicker and Amy Phillips (http://www.pitchforkmedia.com report:
In the slow and perhaps inevitable movement towards microchip implantation of the entire human race, Sony BMG Music just took the lead. According to the Washington Post, a class action lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court November 1 alleges that the label's anti-piracy software, installed in several recently released CDs, is harmful to computers.
The suit claims that when a copy-protected CD is loaded onto a hard drive, it installs a hidden program known as a "rootkit," which not only keeps track of the computer's activity, but depletes the drive's resources in the process. So Sony is basically eating up your hard drive space while keeping track of all the porn you watch, just because you actually spent money on a My Morning Jacket CD.
Thanks, guys. This is even better than getting the RIAA to sue us.
The rootkit also makes the computer more susceptible to viruses. Sony falsely states that its copy-protection software can be easily removed, when in reality, getting rid of a rootkit can be damaging.
Here's the crux of the suit, straight from the legal papers: "As a result of Sony's failure to disclose the true nature of the digital rights management (‘DRM') system it uses on its CDs, thousands of computer users have unknowingly infected their computers, and the computers of others, with this surreptitious rootkit. This rootkit has been responsible for conflicts within computer systems, crashes of systems, and other damage."
The suit, which accuses Sony of "fraud, false advertising, trespass, and violation of state and federal statues prohibiting malware, and unauthorized computer tampering," claims that the suspect software has been included on certain Sony BMG Music CDs since this spring. Albums to watch out for include Amerie's Touch, My Morning Jacket's Z Kasabian's Kasabian, Neil Diamond's 12 Songs, Cassidy's I'm a Hustla, Kings of Leon's Aha Shake Heartbreak, and, appropriately, the Bad Plus' Suspicious Activity and the Coral's Invisible Invasion, among others.
In short: if you're about to load that new My Morning Jacket disc onto your hard drive, STOP. Sell the album back to the record store and buy something on Dischord.
In the slow and perhaps inevitable movement towards microchip implantation of the entire human race, Sony BMG Music just took the lead. According to the Washington Post, a class action lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court November 1 alleges that the label's anti-piracy software, installed in several recently released CDs, is harmful to computers.
The suit claims that when a copy-protected CD is loaded onto a hard drive, it installs a hidden program known as a "rootkit," which not only keeps track of the computer's activity, but depletes the drive's resources in the process. So Sony is basically eating up your hard drive space while keeping track of all the porn you watch, just because you actually spent money on a My Morning Jacket CD.
Thanks, guys. This is even better than getting the RIAA to sue us.
The rootkit also makes the computer more susceptible to viruses. Sony falsely states that its copy-protection software can be easily removed, when in reality, getting rid of a rootkit can be damaging.
Here's the crux of the suit, straight from the legal papers: "As a result of Sony's failure to disclose the true nature of the digital rights management (‘DRM') system it uses on its CDs, thousands of computer users have unknowingly infected their computers, and the computers of others, with this surreptitious rootkit. This rootkit has been responsible for conflicts within computer systems, crashes of systems, and other damage."
The suit, which accuses Sony of "fraud, false advertising, trespass, and violation of state and federal statues prohibiting malware, and unauthorized computer tampering," claims that the suspect software has been included on certain Sony BMG Music CDs since this spring. Albums to watch out for include Amerie's Touch, My Morning Jacket's Z Kasabian's Kasabian, Neil Diamond's 12 Songs, Cassidy's I'm a Hustla, Kings of Leon's Aha Shake Heartbreak, and, appropriately, the Bad Plus' Suspicious Activity and the Coral's Invisible Invasion, among others.
In short: if you're about to load that new My Morning Jacket disc onto your hard drive, STOP. Sell the album back to the record store and buy something on Dischord.
posted by James Harris at 4:14 PM
5 Comments:
Also, as you'll see in the article I posted, the Sony software also prevents Windows users from loading the songs onto iPods.
Hey retards, I bought a CD. Did you hear me? I BOUGHT it. That means that I have the right to use it as I please, and listen to it on what I please. I understand that you have the right to make something incompatible with another, but do you really think that nobody is going to figure out how to get around this??
What sucks is that Sony is a music distributor and also in direct competition with Apple's iPod. They almost have sort of a conflict of interest here. They want to distribute music that Apple can't use. Which begs the question... do you think that Sony's artists are going to be happy with the fact that their music is not able to be listened to on an iPod?? By far the most popular portable digital music player... Not the greatest strategy you've come up with.
Which brings me to my utter hatred of Big Business and Globalization and Conglomerates. They try to gain too much control over everything. Next thing you know, Steve Jobs starts Apple Records, or buys a record company, and then you have to choose your music players not only on the players themselves, but what artists you're capable of listening to.
Let's not forget how and why Sony distributes music and produced music players...
Apple is in the music distribution business as well. Files purchased on iTMS don't work on other MP3 players. So your scenario sort of already exists.
DRM is a bullshit Orwellian term. I don't see how restricting my uses qualifies as a "right."
And Apple Records already exists, or existed, remember that was the label of the Beatles.
True, Files purchased on iTunes Music Store don't work on other MP3 players, but the difference is that in order to buy songs via ITMS you have to have iTunes, and iTunes does not work on other MP3 players. So if you had a Sony MP3 player, you wouldn't buy ITMS songs anyway.
I agree with you that restricting my uses doesn't qualifiy as a right. However, Sony has the right to make something incompatible with a certain other item. Or, better said, Sony is not OBLIGATED to make their products compatible with all other related products.
Now, I do hear you on the fact that the Apple-only music already exists. However, iPod users still have the option to buy a regular old fashioned Compact Disc and listen to it. If Apple decided that the only files that would play on an iPod, were those downloaded from ITMS, then they would be no better than Sony.
Brad, I hate globalization because it... encourages big business, and helps them thrive. For example, Walmart has the resources to go to India or China and have people make (for example) hammers that Walmart ships to the US and then sells each one for like 10 times the amount of money that the worker makes in a YEAR!! However, the price of the hammer is still less than Jim Smith's Hardware Store, so good ol' Jimbo loses business. Or McDonalds can sell burgers and fries for less than Changy O'Chang's Burger Joint in Hong Kong, and basically run them out of business. This also will occur because people recognize McD's and not Changy O'Chang's (the jolly Irish Chinaman that each town has at least one of). Anyway, maybe Globalization wasn't the right term for that context, but I still hate it. Second only to Brad.
ohhhhh... that was the shiz-nittle-bam snip snap shit...
Have you had Changy O'Chang's burgers??? They're second to none; McDonald's ain't touchin that shit!
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