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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.

2 of 389 comments (clear)

  1. I wonder . . . by harley_frog · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Are the people who purchased the DRM/spyware CDs due a replacement copy without the DRM/spyware?

    --
    It's all fun and games until someone loses the key to the handcuffs.
  2. Byeee DRM? by rilister · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Wonderful to watch this going south in a big way, dragging the whole concept of DRM with it. We all owe Sony a debt of thanks, really.

    I particularly enjoyed this quote from First4Internet's website from their director of Sales & Marketing:
    "We're not denying people access to the music," Macdonald said. "We're just trying to help them manage their access."

    http://www.xcp-aurora.com/press_article.aspx?art=x cp_art10

    Please! Please, Mr. MacDonald! Help me manage my access to my media by installing a rootkit!

    --
    'This writing business. Pencils and what-not. Over-rated if you ask me. Silly stuff. Nothing in it' - Eeyore