Big record labels are worried about digital downloads and swaps. They claim it costs them money. It does too. But perhaps the tactics they take in fighting back hurt just as badly. Remember the subpoena and courtroom raids on moms and kids over Napster downloads? Attack the fans, we can call that. It just made fans and consumers angry, despite its short term success.

No matter what the spin merchants claim, those raids and tactics gave the industry a bad name. It didn't stop illegal downloading and it set back development of alternate business models and revenue sources for the industry.

Now a revelation from Sysinternals. This site is a repository for deep, geeky, loving, looks and reports on computer and system internals. What makes computers tick. Yesterday, they report that a Sony BMG CD, Get Right with the Man by the Van Zant brothers (purchased on Amazon) installed rootware onto a PC when the CD played the first time.

The Sony software  scanned the user PC System constantly and is part of a digital rights plan to limit the number of times (3 only) the CD can be copied.

The process of uncloaking and dealing with the secret software download was extensive and difficult, even for an experienced tech guy. He was highly disturbed by what he found. Why it was there. “Not only had Sony put software on my system that uses techniques commonly used by malware to mask its presence, the software is poorly written and provides no means for uninstall. Worse, most users that stumble across the cloaked files with a RKR scan will cripple their computer if they attempt the obvious step of deleting the cloaked files”

Intellectual Property deserves protection. Artists deserve to be paid. But the process of moving into a digital life is full of roadblocks, surprises and difficulties.

Consumers keep thinking open, free, share, reasonable, give me the music; the big companies, control, control, control. Companies care about maintaining their market and revenues. So, the tactics they use can go too far. Are heavyhanded. In this case, and others like it, many consumers will decided to not risk getting Sony's download again by not buying a CD. How does that help the music business or Sony, who if nothing else, still make technology products elsewhere?  

This entry was posted on November 1, 2005 at 6:23 pm. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Posted in Main Page by Richard McKinnon No Comments Yet