Bugging Sony
Bloggers discuss a series of lawsuits against Sony; they also react to Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and scrutinize comedian Penn Jillette's declaration of atheism.
Bugging Sony: Texas filed a class-action lawsuit against Sony BMG yesterday, accusing the company of affixing music CDs with XCP, a "spyware" that tracks users without their knowledge and makes PCs vulnerable to hackers. Sony, claiming the technology was intended to prevent illegal copying, has recalled the affected CDs. (4.7 million were issued.)
The outcry against Sony has been building over the last month. "Rootkits are black-hat hacker tools used to disguise the workings of their malicious software. Removing Sony's rootkit nukes your Windows installation," explains tech salon Boing-Boing's Cory Doctorow. He provides a timeline of Sony's responses and writes, "Sony lied about its rootkit. They said it didn't phone home with information about your deeds. It does. When they were caught in the lie, they said that they didn't pay attention to the information it sent back, so it's OK." Security Fix's Brian Krebs, a Washington Post blogger (Slate is owned by the Washington Post Co)., points out that California and New York lawyers, and the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit, are suing Sony too. Krebs also notes that computer security researcher Dan Kaminsky estimates that the Sony technology may pose a threat to millions of computers.
Many are convinced that these suits will hit Sony hard. "With the Holiday season looming, all this spells very bad news for Sony and I wouldn't be surprised if their Q4 profits are hit badly by all this. I would imagine that other labels planning any such DRM scheme will shelve it," writesPC Doctor, a techie. Commenting on techie haven Slashdot, Frangible mischievously suggests the death penalty for Sony: "Assuming a computer counts as tangible, movable property, and I do believe the rootkit at least counts as 'criminal mischief', and the Texas AG has a legal duty to protect people's computers (or people ask him to), the use of lethal force against Sony BMG would be authorized." And Happiness Is a Warm Gun's Jared, a software developer, exclaims, "[F]or once, I think I can be proud of being both a nerd and a Texan."
Others are trying to figure out the easiest way to help consumers. "Sony's recall of affected CDs is a sensible start in undoing the harm and ill will XCP has caused. But for the recall to make a meaningful difference -- in actually helping ordinary users, not just in improving Sony's PR standing -- Sony needs to spread the word widely," claimsBen Edelman, a Harvard economics student. Edelman suggests that the company should use the "self-updating messaging system already built into Sony's XCP player."
Harry Potter: Bloggers are weighing in on Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, which took in more than $100 million worldwide in its opening weekend.
"I thought it was extremely well done. As it's my favourite of all 6 books, I suppose I'm a little biased, but still," opinesRandy Andrade, who works in retail. "The thing that really grabs and holds the audience with these movies is that they allow - nay, even encourage - us to get emotionally attached to all of the characters in the story," claimsMental Meatloaf's Marcheline."They've kept all the main professors and other characters in the cast throughout the string of movies - something that most sequels usually don't do, whether for budget reasons or whatever."
Even Harry can't please everyone. "They cut out a helluva lot. No Ludo Bagman. No Marauder's Map. No Quidditch World Cup - aside from the intro, which was damned brief. Damn. I wanted to watch the Quidditch World Cup! Dumbledore seemed too pissed off for the movie," gripes Singapore's Halfcrazed. On I Heart Howie, a Rowling fan who hated the movie the first time (but loved it the second time) sums up a conversation with a friend: "'What??? Barty Crouch, Jr. wasn't in that scene in the book, was he?' 'Ugg. No. And why was Cedric in a tree?' 'I don't know. That's not how a portkey is supposed to work!'… 'And why is that dragon scrambling around on the tower when it could just fly?' "
Bidisha Banerjee is a master's candidate at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies.