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Is Sony Evil?

I've posted before about the dichotomy that is Sony. On one hand, you have the hardware side that seems to be headed in the right direction. For example, rather than continuing to force people to use its Memory Stick technology, Sony began to use, among other types, mainstream CompactFlash(r). Sony also started to support not only their Atrac3Plus(tm) audio DRM format but also MP3 and wav.

On the other hand, you have the entertainment side. I would guess that these are the people who came up with what is being called the Sony rootkit debacle. This ongoing saga illustrates, in my opinion, the worst that Sony has been and, apparently, continues to be.

I will leave it to others to document the decline and fall of the once great Sony empire. All I can do is echo what is the the safest course of action when it comes to prudent computer security: DO NOT BUY ANY SONY MUSIC. If you do, DO NOT USE A WINDOWS BASED COMPUTER TO LISTEN TO IT. To do so appears to put your PC, and all the information on it, at substantial risk.

At this point, I believe Sony's entertainment division has truly lost its way and should be spun off as a separate company. Otherwise, it could drag the rest of Sony down with it as it dies a well deserved corporate death. YMMV. Insert disclaimer here.

Aloha!

Comments (1)

sjon:

I don't think they will sink. It is a clear case of some technology chalanged board being demoed a possible DRM tool (probably one of many) and falling in love with it. I've seen it happen a few times. You set up a couple of demos. You know demo-A is what should be chosen but the board demands alternatives to choose from so you produce demo-B and demo-C that are possible but so rediculous that no sane person would choose them. But the board being completely ignorant of the methods goes and chooses demo-C.
Typically after implementing it they come back and demand ammendments to make it work.

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