Carrying the Lantern

Dan certainly is right, Sony's actions are outrageous - in a very bad sense. By now, everyone in our society knows that installing software on a personal (vice corporate) computer - without letting the user know; without requesting permission first - is unacceptable. At my company we have a training session on business ethics once a year. Apparently Sony does not. This marks a new low in the state of business affairs in the digital millennium.

Sleazy Sony. <…>

Wired News: The Cover-Up Is the Crime. We needn't go skulking through the computer underground to find malicious action here. By deliberately corrupting the most basic functionality of their customers' computers, Sony broke the rules of fair play and crossed a bright line separating legitimate software from computer trespass. Their actions may be civilly actionable.

This story -- the hidden planting of potentially dangerous, and certainly improper, software by Sony on customers' computers -- continues to get more amazing. The behavior of the companies more outrageous.

The most incredible part of the story is not that Sony and its technology partner, a U.K. based outfit called First 4 Internet, have been hiding what they do and then pretending it's no big deal (CNET) or failing to tell the entire truth (Freedom to Tinker) about it. It's that any of this could be remotely legal; but in this society, where governments care far more about property rights than individual rights, this is what happens.
Andrew Brandt at PC World sums up with a smart way for all of us to respond:

Sony has dealt itself a serious blow, and the best thing it -- and the rest of the music publishers -- can do right now is condemn this practice, apologize to the customers that were affected, provide a method to get this junk off affected PCs, and make declarations that they will never, ever do this again.

I don't think they will. And if they don't, I simply won't buy CDs anymore. Period. From any publisher. And I recommend that you don't, either. As a fan of music who respects the need for artists to make a living, and a security-savvy PC user, I'm incensed that Sony -- any company -- would think it's OK to do this. It's not. But the only way (I can see) to send that message effectively to Sony BMG executives is to vote against CDs with my wallet.

Incidentally, the online media have been all over this story, which has only just begun to penetrate the consciousness of Big Media. Wake up, mass media folks. This is one reason why you're losing your own customers.

[Dan Gillmor's blog]

- Posted by William A. Riski - 8:00:15 PM - comment []