Recently Sony has been a very bad boy indeed using something called XCP protection on its CD's (Philips who owns the CD tech has now asked Sony not to use the CD title)
XCP is a DRM technology which when you put it into your PC changes registry settings and puts in programs which prevent this tampering from being noticed. This is to prevent the music being copied and any other music CD's from being copied.
Fortunately if you used any software that detected viruses and other tampering it could be removed so you are safe right? . No in doing so it also removed the registry settings concerning your DVD or CD writer, thus preventing the copy functions and in some cases the player stopped working.
It gets worse. Now that the hackers know about it they are now using the same tech to infect other machines with Trojans and prevent detection of these programs.
And it does not end there Sony released a patch to fix this problem however the cure is worse than the disease as security companies say to use it will actually make you computer more Vulnerable.
It has now been discovered it also put a phone home system to report back what you have been up to!
In fact security experts used this same feature to detect who is infected and the result is a minimum of half a million computers are affected and up to half the worlds networks have at least one computer with this problem. Joy. If I was to create a program that did the above I would be in serious trouble but as yet Sony has suffered no legal comeback at all.
And this is not the end Sony has also put a patent on a system which will prevent you from playing your CD or DVD on anything but your own equipment. This bit of tech will be for the future but I wonder will they tell us about it?
I do not think so.
And when did all this begin? Why is it that company’s look upon their customers as enemies? I may be overreacting but am I?
I have no objection to them protecting themselves from organised gangs they are a business and have the right to protection.
But now they seem to think everyone is fair game old ladies the young and the poor. I mention these, as when the corporations wield their legal cudgel it is these people who suffer. They have to make a deal because they cannot afford the court case, guilt is practically guaranteed they must deal if they do not want a long legal case, and even if they win the legal costs can be staggering true they can sue but this process can take years with appeals etc and for the company lawyers this is their job they go home that’s it, the old lady or the poor person cannot they take it home with them and it dominates their lives.
This process of turning the customer into the enemy begins with terminology .We are now no longer customers but consumers. So what does that mean? A customer indicates some form of relationship with the seller a social contract is a term you might use. This means the exchange of money and goods is not just about that exchange but also about respect for the person and making them a human being. Consumer is like the phrase "collateral damage" it desensitises us. Makes it more acceptable to do these things, as we no longer perceive the "consumer" as a person. This extends also to the legal documents enclosed with our products and in our EULAS on software. If you actually look at them they are draconian. This again reaffirms their view of us as the enemy as it seems they are not so much a legal document but terms of surrender.
So how does one fight back? By the legal means possible but you must have deep pockets or rich friends. By calling your elected official? Perhaps if they think it might be a vote winner, but the companies contribute to the political parties and offer hard cash. Or really good directorships for when they leave politics.
In the end the best way to fight back is not to buy. As one thing I have learned is screwing with someone’s cash
Always gets a response.
I would like to add before I posted this sony was already subject to litigation in NY State and California
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