Sony: Case of Right vs Left Hand

Masem writes "Wired has an interesting article that explains the problem facing several of the megacorporations that have both content and technology divisions, as specifically in the case of Sony. The tech divisons want to offer the consumer all the possible options, while the media divisions are very concerned on DRM. While the two groups are trying to meet somewhere in the middle, they are still at odds about it, and also finding that that middle is becoming rapidly populated by other competitors (including Microsoft) in just how to empower consumers without sacrificing their copyrighted materials. Both divisions are trying to adopt to just changes in the landscape and hoping to find something that will work."

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I Wonder What Mr. Stringer Meant

[Snork Asaurus]

Last night, while doing something else, I flipped on the box for background noise - the channel was CNBC. I heard "muffle, entertainment mumble, corporate, CEO, the street, dividends, blah, blah" - the usual business garble.

The I heard something along the lines of "What are your plans in light of the undeniable success after Napster of peer to peer file trading software such as WinMX?" The person being queried was Howard Stringer, CEO of Sony Corp. of America.

His reply was mostly the usual babble about legal means, being proactive in providing what customers want through services such as Pressplay, etc., but the he caught my attention when he qualified the foregoing with the statement: "even though we can chase people with viruses" (and that is a verbatim quote - I wrote it down).

I asked myself:

1) Does he just not have a clue what he's talking about?

2) Have recent legislative and minor legal successes given the recording industry a greater sense of omnipotence?

3) Is he aware of some gifts that US government about to bestow on his industry

4) Did he tip his hand?

5) Is he on crack?

My guess is mostly #1, a little #2 and some #3.