I generally like SONY. I expect that when I replace my TV, it'll be a SONY. Still, their proposed settlement for their DRM computer-invading program strikes me as an "are you kidding?" proposal.
SONY had secreted some files (called rootkit) on millions of music CDs to ward off piracy that in fact, if played on a computer, rendered those computers very vulnerable to malware (and apparently it was VERY difficult to remove!) Read about that here.
They have put forward a proposal which, to my eye, at best gives those affected three free downloads of CDs to right the wrong. Here's that story.
Boy, if they had put me through the hell I read about, I'd feel that $100 cash wasn't enough!
And I wonder how those free downloads affect the artists involved? Do they get royalties from SONY on those 'free downloads' or do they just bite the bullet with no recourse themselves?
I see no good in any of this. What do you think?
More lawsuits to settle!
It's amazing when a corporation is so unthinking. Or so arrogant. This from the C-NET coverage of the story by Molly Wood (no relation!): "...the president of Sony BMG's global digital business division, Thomas Hesse, told National Public Radio that most people don't know what a rootkit is, so they shouldn't care that it had been secretly installed on their PCs. Mr. Hesse, they care. And they should start caring a whole lot more--on November 10, BitDefender uncovered the first Trojan horse (but possibly not the last) that takes advantage of the unpatched DRM technology to open a backdoor on a Windows PC."
No comments:
Post a Comment