“Stung by continuing criticism, the world’s second-largest music label, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, promised Friday to temporarily suspend making music CDs with antipiracy technology that can leave computers vulnerable to hackers,” Ted Bridis reports for The Associated Press. “Sony defended its right to prevent customers from illegally copying music but said it will halt manufacturing CDs with the ‘XCP’ technology as a precautionary measure. ‘We also intend to re-examine all aspects of our content protection initiative to be sure that it continues to meet our goals of security and ease of consumer use,’ the company said in a statement.”
“‘This is a step they should have taken immediately,’ said Mark Russinovich, chief software architect at Internals Software who discovered the hidden copy-protection technology Oct. 31 and posted his findings on his Web log. He said Sony did not admit any wrongdoing, nor did it promise not to use similar techniques in the future,” Bridis reports.
Full article here.
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We are not “temporarily suspending” our boycott of all Sony products. We will do so when Sony admits wrongdoing and promises to permanently stop using similar garbage in the future.
Related articles:
Enderle: Sony’s last days – anticipating bankruptcy – November 11, 2005
Boycott Sony products: Sony music CDs can install kernel extensions on Mac OS X – November 10, 2005
Computer security firm: ‘Stinx’ virus hides within Sony’s copy protection scheme – November 10, 2005
Sony sued over copy-protected CDs – November 10, 2005
SonyBMG antics may well cause public to turn on them and turn many people onto Apple Macs – November 06, 2005
Report: Sony copy-protected CDs may hide Windows rootkit vulnerability – November 01, 2005
Analyst: Sony BMG’s boycott of Apple’s iTunes Music Store Australia won’t last long – October 24, 2005
Apple launches iTunes Music Store Australia – October 24, 2005
How to beat Apple iPod-incompatible Sony BMG and EMI copy-protected CDs – October 04, 2005
Japan music labels look to impose ‘iPod Tax’ while Sony, Warner still not signing with Apple iTunes – October 10, 2005
Why aren’t Sony, BMG, Warner, Victor making their artists’ music available on Apple’s iTunes Japan? – October 06, 2005
Sony and Warner holding out on Apple iTunes Music Store Australia – September 08, 2005
Musicians stage mutiny against Sony, defiantly offer music via Apple’s iTunes Music Store – August 10, 2005
Sony BMG and EMI try to force Apple to ‘open’ iPod with iPod-incompatible CDs – June 20, 2005
New Sony BMG copy-protected CDs lock out Apple iPod owners – June 01, 2005
Record company causes Apple to hit ‘pause’ on Australian iTunes Music Store – May 05, 2005
I hope that a virus takes advantage of Sony’s generous opening of the gates, and a big ol’ class action lawsuit ensues.
Too Little Too Late???
Too Little Too Late??? I haven’t even seen anything close to action yet…
ok…let’s give sony a second chance…after all, anyone can make a mistake. I will even offer a solution to their perceived piracy problem: Here ya go, Sony:
market cd’s in a proprietary format that will only play on Sony players. To make things harder for the pirates, these players will only play sony cds. You can call it CD-Betamax.
big tex — ha, clever.
This is why lawsuits are a GOOD thing.
Now is the time for Steve Jobs to say to Sony, “Hey, want to license our DRM technology?” and make a buck off of every CD Sony produces.
sony sucks. way too late. what, they waited till a virus came to do this?
Sony boycott, MS boycott, Nintendo Revolution is poised to become a huge hit!
Sony has the right to “prevent customers from illegally copying music”, as they state, but that right does not extend to damaging or altering my property without permission. And I don’t give a damn if it’s on some dumbass user agreement when you pop your CD in– the consumer ALREADY PURCHASED THE AFFLICTED CD by the time they get to see the agreement!!! They have no opportunity to reject or agree to the fine print in the agreement prior to purchase!! This makes the effin’ user agreement null and void.
Sony, you do NOT have the right to add, subtract, or change ANYTHING on my computer without my explicit permission, and I have to be notified of your intent to do anything to my computer PRIOR to my purchasing your craptastic CDs. Anything else is criminal.
I’ll boycott Sony up until they release the Playstation 3.. Then.. erm…
SPREAD THOSE ASSCHEEKS, YOU IDIOTS
We will do so when Sony admits wrongdoing and promises to permanently stop using similar garbage in the future.
Promises? No Demonstrates! Talk is cheap and I trust noone
Soni Sony Sone….at least they had the guts to admit they were jackin us
Andrew Hamilton
videographers in las vegas
Hamilton International Productions
http://www.hiproductions.com
watch out Sony! MDN is playing hardball!
Hey, MDN editors! Please stop calling these non-compliant coasters “CDs”. They are audio discs which fail to meet the red book specification, and play on all compliant CD players.
I really wish Apple would start licensing FairPlay in certain circumstances, including a version to ship on CDs. That would lock the iPod and iTMS in as the standard. I can’t think of a single reason why they shouldn’t.
This is really crap.
Sony thinks they have the right to prevent piracy – this is true.
But they don’t give the consumer a way to refuse.
My point: you buy the CD without knowledge of the software trojan, you might be one of the really sharp end users that reads the user agreement. OK – you figure it out and refuse and try to return the “opened” cd. Good luck trying to get the store to take back an opened cd – the retailer doesn’t know this trojan exists and thinks you’re trying to return a cd that you’ve copied. You can’t even retrun a cd that you can’t use.
Take SOny to court and boycott their crap.
Go Boycott!!!
Get the chairman on the phone! Get the CEO! I don’t care if he’s in a meeting…get me somebody…anybody!!! MacDailyNews has refused to lift their boycott of our products. These sons of b**ches aren’t budging. Oh gawd, ohhhh gawd! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!
SONY is a reprehensible company. Sure, they’re a huge corporation and have many, many divisions and sometimes one hand might not know what the other is doing, etc., etc., blah, blah, blah . . .
But does anyone remember THIS story? The one about SONY suing a small business owner in Baltimore for, you know . . . CALLING HER BUSINESS BY HER REAL NAME!!!!!! And the best part of it was — she used her last name too, making the distinction between a small restaurant in the Inner Harbor and a monolith like SONY quite clear.
Still wasn’t good enough for SONY, though:
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?r102:S22MR1-31:
SHAME ON YOU, SONY (United States Senate – March 22, 1991)
[Page: S4092]
Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, I wanted to come to the Senate floor to tell you and my colleagues about a drama that has unfolded in Baltimore, come to a head in Baltimore, and it tells the story of how a big, foreign-owned corporation has set about wrecking the American dream of a small woman entrepreneur. The story is a simple one.
A woman comes to this country from the Philippines and her first name is Sony. Her last name is Florendo. She goes about working hard to save a few pennies to open a small downtown restaurant in Baltimore. Through her own great recipies and sweat equity, she builds a business, and she calls it Sony’s.
In comes Sony Electronics and tells her she cannot do business using their name. They then proceed to take her into court, threaten her with all kinds of lawsuits, and finally the other day they won. And Sony Florendo’s restaurant is no longer in Baltimore now. It is S. Florendo.
Well, you know, I just do not think that is right. I do not think megacorporations with megabucks ought to crush a small entrepreneur who in no way jeopardizes their operation nor, by the very nature of the products they sell, poach on that reputation.
This woman’s business sold delightful Asian food. It did not sell TV’s; it did not sell radios. And it in no way was poaching on the reputation of Sony electronic products.
Well, Mrs. Florendo has no legal remedies anymore. The law just was not on her side. But I will tell you, this Senator is on her side. I have just written to Sony Corp., and I want to tell you what I said:
[Page: S4093]
Dear Mr. Morita: Shame on you, Sony.
Shame on you for forcing Mrs. Resurrecion `Sony’ Robles-Florendo to remove her name from her restaurants in my hometown of Baltimore, Maryland, I want you to voluntarily and immediately reconsider this decision.
Your company won’t let Mrs. Sony Florendo use her own good name to sell her own good food in her own country that allows you to trade freely even as you treat her unfairly.
I’ve known Sony Florendo for years. I can’t understand how this woman is a threat to Sony Corporation. She is a fine and decent woman who serves delicious food at a small downtown restaurant at Harborplace and at a suburban mall–I’ve been there and eaten there. She sells food, not electronics or anything that competes with your company.
Sony Corporation has billions of dollars. Why are you bullying her?
You brought a $3 million trademark lawsuit against Mrs. Florendo in 1984. You knew she couldn’t afford to take on your high priced lawyers. But she tried to work with you. She even changed her restaurants’ name from `Sony’s’ to `Sony Florendo’s.’ Even that wasn’t good enough.
Do you think Phillips Petroleum should follow your lead and sue Phillip’s Crab House? Does Scott Paper Company have to sue Scott’s Hobby and Crafts Shop?
Sony Corporation may have the law on its side. But you do not have common sense or even common decency on your side. I can’t believe that Sony can sign a $1 billion contract with Michael Jackson and still feel your corporation is threatened by having a couple of `Sony Florendo’s’ restaurants in Baltimore.
You should voluntarily reconsider this harassing, humiliating and heavy handed decision. Let Sony Florendo use her good name. Then you might restore your own good name as well.
I look forward to your prompt response.
(Continued below)
(Continued from above)
Mr. President, Sony Corp. won the legal battle with Mrs. Florendo, but guess what, her restaurants are open today. Her good spirit is there. She loves this country. She loves this country, and she earns a living, and she puts people to work.
Though Sony Corp. might have won the lawsuit, Mrs. Florendo wins the battle. She is about hard work, sweat equity. She had to change the restaurant’s name, but if you talk to her, she is ready to go; she is not going to be stopped.
I regretted that I had to do this, and most of all, I regretted that while this woman was trying to earn a living,
establish her own reputation, and care for her family, she had to go through all of this for the past several years.
Mr. President, I hope that the high-priced lobbyists out there for Sony Corp. have heard my words, and I think I speak for all of Maryland and all of America.
Sony Florendo has Barbara Mikulski, and I believe the U.S. Senate, on her side.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that an article from the Baltimore Sun be printed in the Record at this point.
There being no objection, the article was ordered to be printed in the Record, as follows:
From the Baltimore Sun, March 19, 1991
Electronics Giant Finally Beats a Woman Named Sony
BY CINDY HARPER-EVANS
It’s been four years since `Big Sony vs. Little Sony’ headlines appeared in local and international papers, highlighting the unseemly controversy between small Baltimore restaurateur Sony Florendo and giant Japanese electronics manufacturer Sony Corp.
But to Mrs. Florendo, owner of two Philippine-Asian restaurants and a catering operation bearing her name, the battle she fought in the U.S. District Court just a few blocks from her main office on Park Avenue is still very real.
Today, Mrs. Florendo must take the name `Sony’ off the signs on her restaurants at Harborplace and Owings Mills, her banquet hall on Belair Road and her main office downtown. She says she is still struggling to decide the new name of the restaurant she has owned since 1982.
`Oh, I don’t know. Maybe it will be S.R. Florendo or maybe just S. Florendo,’ she said yesterday, her voice choking at the thought of changing the restaurant’s name from `something that has been mine since I was a child.’
The name change is part of the deal Mrs. Florendo reached with Sony Corp. in 1987 to drop the $2.9 million lawsuit it had filed against her for alleged trademark infringement, unfair competition and deliberate confusion of consumers.
Originally, Mrs. Florendo’s restaurants were called `Sony’s.’ In response to the court order, she initially changed the name to `Sony Florendo’s.’ She had until today to get rid of the `Sony’ nickname altogether from all of her signs and advertising.
Mrs. Florendo has not yet ordered new signs and a new letterhead for her restaurants or decided how they will be designed.
`She is trying to put off the inevitable–to think about other things,’ her husband, Gerardo Florendo, said.
(Continued below)
(Continued from above)
Sony Corp.’s hard stance with a small entrepreneur is not unusual; the company makes a habit of defending its trademark aggressively. It has won infringement cases against businesses that sell everything from chocolate to bicycles.
But the Japanese manufacturer’s actions have had a big effect on Mrs. Florendo, 54, who was born Juana Evelina Resurrecion Robles in Cabanatuan, the Philippines, a few years before World War II began.
The hardest times in her life `all have to do with the Japanese,’ Mrs. Florendo said, her head shaking in disbelief and her eyes welling with tears as she begins to tell a story she says she has never shared publicly.
When she was 4, Mrs. Florendo’s father was taken prisoner by Japanese soldiers. He was picked up at a restaurant in Manila while he was having lunch, she said.
Her father was interrogated and tortured for 10 days, Mrs. Florendo said. She said he was about to be killed but was released after he was able to prove to his captors through a newspaper article that he was a judge.
`My grandfather had his spinal column smashed by Japanese and had to live as an invalid for the rest of his life. Cousins were slapped so hard on the side of their faces by the Japanese that they lost some of their hearing,’ Mrs. Florendo said.
At the age of 5, she had her `first negotiation with the Japanese,’ Mrs. Florendo recalled.
The Robles family owned one of the two pianos in their town. One day Japanese soldiers came and took the Robles’ piano back to their barracks.
`I was able to convince a soldier to come and pick me up so I could still practice the piano,’ Mrs. Florendo recalled.
`That time I was able to negotiate, but with Sony Corp., there was no compromise because it had to do with money,’ Mrs. Florendo said.
Several years ago, Mrs. Florendo said, she wanted to deal with her hurt over the Sony Corp. experience by starting an organization to help small entrepreneurs engaged in expensive legal battles.
`It was not possible for me to fight Sony because each day my husband, my son and I spent away from my restaurant, it meant something was not getting done or we had to pay someone to take our places. That is very expensive,’ Mrs. Florendo said. In addition, she said, the legal fees were exorbitant.
But Mrs. Florendo said she gave her idea up.
`It was very painful for me to keep remembering my experience. It made me very angry, though I try not to be,’ she said.
`But one thing I’ve learned from all this is that when you are honest about what you do, you can survive even the biggest fall,’ she said.
FUCK YOU SONY!
We should still SUE. I’ll take my settlement in iTunes Gift Cards.
Nice to see $ony get pimp slapped for this. MoFo’s.
MMW: inside. As in, ah
Many thanks to all the devoted Mac fans and the MDN site. You can hurt Sony where they live by boycotting their products. Think about it next time you’re getting ready to make a purchase.
Thanks again for all your support.
PS: We’ve got some really exciting things coming soon.