Sony BMG is teh suk
So there's a settlement (Slashdot article here) close to being implemented in the Sony BMG rootkit debacle. For those of you who haven't heard about this, basically Sony thinks you're a criminal, and they're using that belief to justify installing software on your machine without your knowledge should you be silly enough to, I don't know, put one of their "CDs" (I quote that because these discs don't conform to the CD standard, which Philips maintains, because of the software we're talking about) in your computer. Obviously if you're putting the CD in your computer you're going to pirate their music, so in their eyes (THEY ARE ABOVE THE LAW *hair gel noise*) they're justified in installing software without your permission on your machine to prevent that. (For further information on this situation, teh g00g has more information.)
Now folks, if I did that, whether by compromising the security of your machine, or giving you a CD with software on it that also had this "rootkit" software on it (without your knowledge), I would be guilty of computer trespass and I'd have a very good chance (were I caught) of going to pound-me-in-the-ass federal prison. For the one count of computer trespass that I'd be potentially convicted of. Sony BMG, by its own admission, has installed this software on more than 2 million music "CDs" that it has shipped, potentially making them guilty of over two million counts of attempted computer trespass. Nobody knows exactly how many of these discs ended up installing this rootkit on the buyers' machines, but let's say for sake of argument that ten percent did. That would make them guilty of 200,000 counts of computer trespass and/or vandalism. When you factor in that the software was poorly coded and created gaping security holes in the customers' systems, not to mention rendering the CD-ROM drives in those machines inoperable if the customer was sophisticated enough to remove it, the crimes become that much more egregious.
But wait, that's not all. The software also sent marketing information back to Sony BMG every time you put one of their "CDs" in your computer. AND, if that weren't all bad enough, the software gets installed on your computer whether or not you agree to the End User License Agreement (EULA) that is displayed on your screen when you put one of these discs in your computer. In other words: "Do you want to install this software?" *yes* and the software gets installed. "Do you want to install this software?" *no* and the software gets installed.
Sony justifies this by saying they have a right to protect their intellectual property. Surprise, surprise, the MPAA backs them up. Apparently Sony BMG thinks that their profits are more important than your privacy or security, and they just assume that everyone with a computer is a criminal.
The settlement? It basically (as far as I can tell, I'm not a lawyer) makes Sony BMG take actions that they've already taken voluntarily (such as recall all the "CDs" in question, and provide replacements for the customers who already have bought the discs). That's it. Two million counts of attempted computer trespass and they essentially only pay for the costs of replacing the discs. No promise to refrain from using the software in the future. No public apology to its customers. No admission of wrongdoing. And in my eyes, the worst of all, nobody is going to jail. I'm not looking for someone to go to the gas chamber here, but at the very LEAST someone needs to do time for this. Preferably the executive who signed off on the plan to put the software on the discs in the first place. (He/she will probably claim they weren't made aware of the nature of the software, or that what they were doing was potentially illegal. Too fucking bad, you should have gotten all the facts, you overpaid latte-swilling douchebag.) I'm 99.999% positive at some point someone in the bureaucracy, probably some overworked underpaid wage slave IT drone, thought to themselves "Hey, this is wrong, we could get in trouble for this," and either they spoke up and were ignored (and/or fired), or they held their tongues because the idea was the pet project of one of the previously referenced overpaid latte-swilling douchebags, and they don't like being ignored and/or fired.
People, write your congresscritter. (On paper, none of the people with any influence read email from their constituents.) Find the address here. Also, try your state attorney general. Be polite but outraged. Let them know that there have been crimes perpetrated against their constituents, and the people responsible (who have confessed to these crimes) are getting away with it. Big business has done some pretty sleazy things, but this just crossed the line from "sleazy" to "blatantly criminal".
Now folks, if I did that, whether by compromising the security of your machine, or giving you a CD with software on it that also had this "rootkit" software on it (without your knowledge), I would be guilty of computer trespass and I'd have a very good chance (were I caught) of going to pound-me-in-the-ass federal prison. For the one count of computer trespass that I'd be potentially convicted of. Sony BMG, by its own admission, has installed this software on more than 2 million music "CDs" that it has shipped, potentially making them guilty of over two million counts of attempted computer trespass. Nobody knows exactly how many of these discs ended up installing this rootkit on the buyers' machines, but let's say for sake of argument that ten percent did. That would make them guilty of 200,000 counts of computer trespass and/or vandalism. When you factor in that the software was poorly coded and created gaping security holes in the customers' systems, not to mention rendering the CD-ROM drives in those machines inoperable if the customer was sophisticated enough to remove it, the crimes become that much more egregious.
But wait, that's not all. The software also sent marketing information back to Sony BMG every time you put one of their "CDs" in your computer. AND, if that weren't all bad enough, the software gets installed on your computer whether or not you agree to the End User License Agreement (EULA) that is displayed on your screen when you put one of these discs in your computer. In other words: "Do you want to install this software?" *yes* and the software gets installed. "Do you want to install this software?" *no* and the software gets installed.
Sony justifies this by saying they have a right to protect their intellectual property. Surprise, surprise, the MPAA backs them up. Apparently Sony BMG thinks that their profits are more important than your privacy or security, and they just assume that everyone with a computer is a criminal.
The settlement? It basically (as far as I can tell, I'm not a lawyer) makes Sony BMG take actions that they've already taken voluntarily (such as recall all the "CDs" in question, and provide replacements for the customers who already have bought the discs). That's it. Two million counts of attempted computer trespass and they essentially only pay for the costs of replacing the discs. No promise to refrain from using the software in the future. No public apology to its customers. No admission of wrongdoing. And in my eyes, the worst of all, nobody is going to jail. I'm not looking for someone to go to the gas chamber here, but at the very LEAST someone needs to do time for this. Preferably the executive who signed off on the plan to put the software on the discs in the first place. (He/she will probably claim they weren't made aware of the nature of the software, or that what they were doing was potentially illegal. Too fucking bad, you should have gotten all the facts, you overpaid latte-swilling douchebag.) I'm 99.999% positive at some point someone in the bureaucracy, probably some overworked underpaid wage slave IT drone, thought to themselves "Hey, this is wrong, we could get in trouble for this," and either they spoke up and were ignored (and/or fired), or they held their tongues because the idea was the pet project of one of the previously referenced overpaid latte-swilling douchebags, and they don't like being ignored and/or fired.
People, write your congresscritter. (On paper, none of the people with any influence read email from their constituents.) Find the address here. Also, try your state attorney general. Be polite but outraged. Let them know that there have been crimes perpetrated against their constituents, and the people responsible (who have confessed to these crimes) are getting away with it. Big business has done some pretty sleazy things, but this just crossed the line from "sleazy" to "blatantly criminal".
posted by Zach Burnham at 8:54 PM (click for permalink)
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