On the part about the CD rootkit and how that may negatively impact the situation:
I, and I am sure all of us here, realize how monumentally evil it is to install something hidden on a computer and to compromise the system in order to do so. However, there are also copy protected CDs that clearly announce that they will install a copy protection code on your computer. I am not sure if there have been any incidents of hidden software in such cases (did the Sony installer ask for permission and explain what it was going to do?), but I have seen and not accepted such an agreement myself. In my case it was Coldplay X&Y through EMI.
At any rate, the problem I want to get to is: Are people, in general, qualified to understand such agreements and fully understand what is being done to their PC/OS? Sneaking it in is obviously inexcusable, but I am thinking about people who are not technically savvy or may not even be equipped to read legal jargon. Don't we all assume that such agreements are benign and expect pressing "accept" will not be harmful in any way after paying $15 for the CD it came with?
I think this larger problem, if you agree, is the more interesting because it may swing the entire market and not some unhappy incident with a small volume of CDs. Either something has to be done on a larger level to inform people about what these protection schemes are about and what rights they, as a consumer, have.
"Can I take the CD back to the store and expect a full refund because I don't agree to the terms?"
So why is this post in here and not in the DRM thread? Because I think the doom and gloom for Sony is not about DRM. They are not alone and the problem must be widespread to take such measures. Perhaps the problem doesn't, but the cure must. Nobody dares to implement CD protection alone. The market must be equally "bad" for everyone to be willing to play. I, therefore, don't see this as a problem for Sony. It is a larger problem and I am sure it will bite more companies on the bum before we've seen the end of it. The end of it, I am hoping, will at least be a proper declaration of where everyone stands and not this lopsided "we are a huge corporation protecting our ass(es)ets" while you are just the accidental and unavoidable victim in a war for greater good.
In other words, I think all "old world" music distributors will suffer immensely unless they get their strategies straightened out. It has nothing to do with rootkits. The rootkits were just an unconventional weapon in an unconventional war. Now that it has been exposed and the World has gasped in shock we can go back to the usual mayhem of getting tricked some other way. So, Sony's music division going down in flames may have very little to do with rootkits and much to do with iTunes and the like.
I, and I am sure all of us here, realize how monumentally evil it is to install something hidden on a computer and to compromise the system in order to do so. However, there are also copy protected CDs that clearly announce that they will install a copy protection code on your computer. I am not sure if there have been any incidents of hidden software in such cases (did the Sony installer ask for permission and explain what it was going to do?), but I have seen and not accepted such an agreement myself. In my case it was Coldplay X&Y through EMI.
At any rate, the problem I want to get to is: Are people, in general, qualified to understand such agreements and fully understand what is being done to their PC/OS? Sneaking it in is obviously inexcusable, but I am thinking about people who are not technically savvy or may not even be equipped to read legal jargon. Don't we all assume that such agreements are benign and expect pressing "accept" will not be harmful in any way after paying $15 for the CD it came with?
I think this larger problem, if you agree, is the more interesting because it may swing the entire market and not some unhappy incident with a small volume of CDs. Either something has to be done on a larger level to inform people about what these protection schemes are about and what rights they, as a consumer, have.
"Can I take the CD back to the store and expect a full refund because I don't agree to the terms?"
So why is this post in here and not in the DRM thread? Because I think the doom and gloom for Sony is not about DRM. They are not alone and the problem must be widespread to take such measures. Perhaps the problem doesn't, but the cure must. Nobody dares to implement CD protection alone. The market must be equally "bad" for everyone to be willing to play. I, therefore, don't see this as a problem for Sony. It is a larger problem and I am sure it will bite more companies on the bum before we've seen the end of it. The end of it, I am hoping, will at least be a proper declaration of where everyone stands and not this lopsided "we are a huge corporation protecting our ass(es)ets" while you are just the accidental and unavoidable victim in a war for greater good.
In other words, I think all "old world" music distributors will suffer immensely unless they get their strategies straightened out. It has nothing to do with rootkits. The rootkits were just an unconventional weapon in an unconventional war. Now that it has been exposed and the World has gasped in shock we can go back to the usual mayhem of getting tricked some other way. So, Sony's music division going down in flames may have very little to do with rootkits and much to do with iTunes and the like.
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