Sony tried to fuck us
November 18th, 2005,http://www.boingboing.net/2005/11/14/sony_anticustomer_te.html
http://www.boingboing.net/2005/11/17/sony_rootkit_roundup.html
Since Hallowe’en, we’ve been posting the details about he revelations relating to Sony’s DRM systems, which show jaw-dropping contempt for their customers, for copyright law, for fair trading and for the public interest.
Nov 12: New Sony lockware prevents selling or loaning of games
Sony patents a piece of software that can prevent you from playing a game that’s been inserted into one console on another console; speculation is that this is destined for the PS3. Kiss game rentals, loaning and re-sale goodbye. Also, if your PS3 breaks or is stolen, you might as well toss out all your games, they’re useless without it.
Am I really the only one just finding out about this?
More highly disturbing quotes:
Sony BMG’s Global Digital Business President Thomas Hesse downplayed the recent DRM fiasco saying he objected to terms such as malware, spyware and rootkit. “Most people, I think, don’t even know what a rootkit is, so why should they care about it?” he said.
By Dan Goodin of the EFF (article): It’s time for Sony to admit what everyone else already knows. The XCP software amounts to an unseemly intrusion that gives virus writers and other digital miscreants a leg up in getting our computers to do extremely scary things, such as giving up bank account numbers and logging passwords.
Sony finally lists the 52 titles infected with the XCP rootkit. Note that Sony initially claimed that fewer than half that number were infected. (Thanks, Kurt!)
Nov 15: Sony infects more than 500k networks, including military and govt
Dan Kaminsky publishes research showing that Sony’s DRM has infected over 500,000 computer networks including networks belonging to the military and the government.
Nov 16: Sony CDs banned in the workplace
Companies, educational institutions, and government agencies are banning the use of Sony CDs on workplace computers, due to the security risks that arise from the rootkit DRM. Some orgs go so far as banning audio CDs altogether, since there are plenty of malicious bits of anti-security technology in music from many labels.