Sony Rootkit may Lead to Regulation

An anonymous reader writes "Computerworld has a story about DHS officials meeting with Sony to read them the riot act, following the rootkit fiasco. From the story: 'A U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) official warned today that if software distributors continue to sell products with dangerous rootkit software, as Sony BMG Music Entertainment recently did, legislation or regulation could follow.'"

Comments

Threatening Legislation

[James McGuigan]

So they have not been punished for their crime,

They are not even being told they will get punished if they do it again,

It seems to say, if you do it again, only then will make it illegal so you can't do it a third time.

(Gee, I'll have to try that one next time I get busted by the cops - its only my first offence, officer, you shouldn't lock me up until I've done it at least 3 times)

Re:Threatening Legislation

[smash]

Or, as another poster pointed out, perhaps the "legislation" will LEGALISE their behavior so that the "problem" doesn't occur again, as they're acting within the law.

smash.

Regulation?

[RedHatLinux]

Ohh, you mean legalization and decriminalization of these behaviors, so that this does not become an issue again. Anything less than a total ban, backed up by some serious time in a federal pound you in the ass facility, means that someone has been bought out.

Re:WTF?

[smash]

I don't need opensecrets.org to tell me that. :)

I was merely trying to point out how "fucked up" the system is - we live in a world that allowed the two events described above to have the outcomes they did...

smash.

Re:WTF?

[luvirini]

But the 15 year old is a terrorist for attacking national infrastructure. The company is just trying to protect it's godgiven right for profits.

not malicious?

[a.d.trick]

From TFA:

While Sony's software was distributed without malicious intent

I guess that depends on what you mean by malicious. As far as I'm concerned, anyone who distributes trojans is either malicious, or mentally insane — on the same level as the man who thinks he's a poached egg.

Could someone explain?

[Opportunist]

A 17 year old writing a stupid trojan that does little but spread receives a 2 year sentence in jail and is only safe from compensation since companies didn't want to have the public know their systems are insecure.

Read: Juvenile dick-waving without commercial interest -> 2 years prison.

A large corporation spreading a rootkit with their product to their paying customer with the intent to cripple their customer's software performance (not being able to use it as intended, by manufacturer or user) that also has the capability of spying on their behaviour (allegedly they didn't use that function, but ... yeahsure) receives... a recommendation not to do anything like this again or else we might have to think about creating laws banning this behaviour (hey, those laws exist, enact them!).

Read: Commercial malvolent infiltration of customer's computers -> Nada.

The world sure is changing. When I was still in school, adding "commercial" to a crime sure upped your sentence by some magnitude. Nowadays it seems to be your "get out of jail" card if you commit a crime with financial interest.

Al Capone simply died too early. He'd love these times.

Re:You haven't figured it out yet?

[Sique]

No. The principle of capitalism ist: Privatize profits, communalize costs. Sony BMG was just trying to profit privately from non copyable media while externalizing the costs to thousands of PC owners.

Megacorp meets with secret police

[The Mgt]

I'm sure good things will come of this. :/

Re:You haven't figured it out yet?

[Anonymous Coward]

No, that just makes it good business, according to the reprehensible predatory practices that are currently deemed as acceptable business behavior. Corporate execs and shareholders alike love nothing better than to externalize expenses, and they really don't give a damn who has to bear that burden, as long as it's not them.

Re:WTF?

[jozi]

Corporation: An organization created in order to generate individual profit without individual responsibility.

That is why no on is in jail, it goes against the very idea of corporations. :o)

Re:WTF?

[crawling_chaos]

Because its shareholders are largely voters. The Supreme Court has ruled money to be speech, and the Right of the People to assemble to petition the government for redress of grievances is in the Constitution. Like it or not, a corporation is an assembly of some of the People, just like a union, or political party.

I agree it stinks, but I'm not exactly sure how we stop it short of a constitutional amendment, and if that amendment is too broadly worded, the cure could be worse than the disease.