Sony DRM Rant...

It's probably not a surprise that my first post is a rant about Sony's DRM "Screw You and Your Computer" DRM rootkits. Enough already! To make this short and sweet, Sony has licensed a "rootkit" technology to put on their CDs which prevents their customers from copying the CD in a computer. A "rootkit", according to Wikipedia, is a set of software tools frequently used by a third-party (usually an intruder) after gaining access to a computer system. These tools are intended to conceal running processes, files or system data, which helps an intruder maintain access to a system for purposes unbeknownst to the user. Intellectual property debates aside, this rootkit is now being used by hackers to hide their own mailicious software and has been causing Windows computers to "blue screen," causing some of them to have to be entirely rebuilt.

Please read more about this on Wikipedia's concise explanation and here's a list of the Sony CDs affected. If you've been infected by one of these CD's, there is a patch available, but it's buggy and causes its own technical problems as well as still violating privacy. I'd say hold on as this has created enough of a firestorm that Sony will eventually issue a reliable uninstall/patch eventually.

California has filed a class-action lawsuit against Sony and New York is expected to follow. I, for one, will not be purchasing any Sony CDs anytime soon, and lots of others feel the same way. Hopefully between these decreased sales and lawsuits, this DRM zealotry will lessen.