Worse Than I Thought

My first experience with copyright protection was back two or three years ago when I popped a rock cd in my computer intending to listen to it since my cd player was unavailable. It popped up with a little screen telling me that in order to listen, I had to use their player they had- or else. I was outraged, money I paid to listen to music only on cd players? I'm thinking it was either Californication or Sevendust, I could be wrong. It might have been Human Clay. But regardless, with how few CDs I owned.. it tee'd me off.

I consider the draw that Sony has done to go beyond insult and injury:

Although resembling a virus, Mr Russinovich found the hidden files had come from an anti-copying system called Extended Copy Protection (XCP) developed by UK software company First 4 Internet. About 20 titles are thought to be using the XCP software and in May 2005 Sony said more than two million discs had been shipped using the technology. XCP is just one of several anti-piracy systems Sony is trying.

From here.

The Inquirer has an editorial up of Charlie Demerjian's reactions to the product:

[The CD] tells you to consult the EULA when you want to copy the disc. Which madhouse did we step into that now means a CD needs a EULA...and none of the CDs I own have a EULA on them. So, at Best Buy tonight, I tried to consult the EULA... It wasn't on the CD package, not on the shelves near by, and the blue shirted aisle trolls had no idea what I was talking about. No, they could not provide me with one, I did ask though.

Both articles deserve a good read so you can get a grasp of the heat and breadth of the issue at hand. First article from bbc.com would be your meat and go to the inquirer for your potatoes.

I hate to quote again, but this is the icing on the cake:

Say you want to remove the Sony stuff. According to no less a source than The Washington Post, the bare minimum you have to do to remove the rootkitted DRM infection is give up your privacy. If you go to the Sony page, here, you have to give Sony your email at the very least, and according to the WP story, Sony then grills you about your reasons for not liking being rootkitted.

Brilliant! Tick off people even more after you've sneakily installed 'anit-piracy' software deep in their computer and denied them being able to listen to the cd or recoup their money when they are dissatisfied. Brilliant, I say!