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Sony Pulls Controversial Anti-Piracy Software

Posted by Zonk on from the must-have-gotten-tired-of-thrown-eggs dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Bowing to public outrage, Sony BMG has temporarily halted the use of its controversial anti-piracy software in all of its music CDs, the company said in a statement today. The move comes just a day after a top Bush administration official chided Sony and the entertainment industry for going too far: according to this story over at Washingtonpost.com, Stewart Baker, the Department of Homeland Security's policy czar warned would-be DRM makers: 'It's very important to remember that it's your intellectual property -- it's not your computer. And in the pursuit of protection of intellectual property, it's important not to defeat or undermine the security measures that people need to adopt in these days.' The Post has the full text and video of his commentary." We've reported on this story previously.

5 of 389 comments (clear)

  1. $sys$Here's the reason: by dada21 · · Score: 5, Funny







  2. I'm Sony's bitch. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny
    it's your intellectual property -- it's not your computer

    Actually, I use a Vaio, so it actually is their computer. I feel _so_ f*cking pwned right now.

  3. You know you've gone to far... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...when the creators of the USA PATRIOT Act are on your case about in violating people's rights.

  4. Re:do we forgive sony now? by Wieland · · Score: 5, Funny

    On second thought, shouldn't technology that can help prevent the further spreading of Celine Dion actually be considered a good thing?

  5. Re:They're not going to recall their CDs... by Armour+Hotdog · · Score: 5, Funny
    Thinking about that though, does it matter if they recall the CD's if the DRM rootkits are already out there installed on computers?

    Don't worry - I'm sure if it comes to that, Sony will take the opportunity to continue to spin shit into PR gold:

    Sony BMG is aware of the growing public perception that certain copyright technology used on a small number of compact discs has been the subject of great controversy over the last several weeks. While we stand by our use of this technology to protect our valuable intellectual property against the growing phenomenon of internet piracy (which cost the recording industry an estimated $12.7 billion in 2004), we recognize that many people continue to hold a deep distrust of this innocuous technology. Therefore, as a gesture of goodwill, we are offering the following replacement program:

    Any person who purchased one of the protected compact discs prior to December 31, 2005 may return the product to Sony BMG, with its original packaging and retail receipt, and choose a replacement compact disc from Sony's extensive library of bagpipe and accordian recordings. Any customers desiring to take advantage of this offer should contact customer service through this link [link to form that initiates overly long chain of correspondance eventually resulting in promise to ship "12 Classic Bagpipe Funeral Marches" in 6-8 weeks]