2005-11-21

Sony's DRM Debacle, or Why You Can't Trust the Man

There's been so much written about Sony's draconian foray into hacking. (I love that word, "Draconian". Has a nice feel to it. First time I've really gotten to use it, go me.) It would be difficult for me to put into words the utter disbelief I am exhibiting at the moral misbehavior of a giant corporation. Yes, companies do this sort of thing all the time. I'm not a conspiracist by any means, but yeah they're all out to get us. Right in the pocketbook. But this was so blatantly obvious, and showed such a callous disregard of not only the consequences but if we users would even CARE what they were doing... it just boggles the mind.

Userfriendly.org has had some nice cartoons running that, as usual, hit the nail right on the head. Illiad is a genius. But I was also just reading a lengthy article posted on Datamation called "Where was Sony's Privacy Officer?" The author, Ray Everett-Church, has some interesting points and nice summaries. So, if you've been wondering what the hype is all about, and why you should even care (not just in this case, but regarding corporations in general and what they think they can get away with), go give it a read.
As this month's controversy over Sony's distribution of music CDs with flawed digital rights management (DRM) software continues to play itself out, the whole mess is already primed to become a classic case study in why corporations need competent Privacy Officers to keep them out of trouble.
And, my new favorite quote:
When interviewed on the radio, the president of Sony BMG's Global Digital Business, Thomas Hesse, said, "Most people, I think, don't even know what a rootkit is, so why should they care about it?"

Note to Mr. Hesse: "Who cares?" is seldom a good response.
Good stuff. Indeed the upper echelons most likely did not, and continue to be ignorant of, the issue at hand. They proclaim "Make it so!" and leave things in underlings hands, but then are surprised when it blows up in their faces. Does Hesse even know what a rootkit is, or the consequences of installing such on unwilling consumer's computers? Unlikely. "Unfortunately for him, the gross tonnage of what he doesn't understand about how his company screwed up only now is coming to light."


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