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BMG Brother is Watching You
J: Last
Friday we had our monthly party for friends and familia. Gary donated
some nice dry wood; the fire was bright and cheery with very little
smoke. Unfortunately we neglected to kick everyone out at 2:00 AM, our
usual protocol, and the party went on too long and too loud for my
comfort. Our neighbors were forgiving, but understandably annoyed, I
think. Many of our visitors are from outside Greenbelt, and don't
realize that these circa 1930's, built-to-be-temporary, little
townhouse units don't have the soundproofing materials that come
standard with modern houses. Got to stick to the 2 AM kick-out rules.
On Sunday night Gina and I went to Kelly's birthday party for Alfredo
and Doreen. Kelly and friend Bryan (Doreen's husband) made a huge,
delicious feast that included lots of vegan dishes. I helped Alfredo
light a medium-size outdoor fire. There was one child there-- she loved
the fire and was obviously entranced by it. She watched, made happy
noises, and ran around the fire for a long time. Her parents had a hard
time taking her away from it.
And now
for this week's rant. I'm a big fan of Sony's electronic
paraphernalia. I've found that their products work well and last long,
and I've bought a lot of Sony entertainment items. That said, Sony's
latest foray into destructive
copy "protection" has me disturbed enough to entertain a personal
boycott of their products. This week I was glad to see that its not
just a few drop-in-the-bucket consumers who are troubled by their dirty
tactics-- not to mention their implied objections to customers legally
copying purchased CDs for their own personal use.
Here is a snippet from a recent tech-support bulletin sent to many NASA
employees:
Dear Users --
Sony
BMG Inc. is releasing some content (music and perhaps video) on CDs
that is protected with a spyware-like technique. While we respect
Sony's copyrights and intellectual propery, we cannot permit users to
install this software on their systems because it presents a security
threat. Furthermore, it is extremely difficult to remove this
software. We have a means to detect it, and if it is detected on
your system, your system may be blocked from the network, and your hard
disk may have to be re-formatted.
Effective immediately, please do not put any Sony CD in any system
which connects to the GSFC network (regardless if the system is owned
by you, your company, or GSFC) which has a "Content Enhanced &
Protected" label on the CD or CD packaging/case. I understand
that there are some 24,000 Sony BMG titles with this protection scheme.
I'm sure Sony isn't the only company dabbling in invasive and unethical
control tactics. Likewise, I'm sure NASA isn't the only major
government organization that has alerted its employees to Sony's
aggressive behavior. I hope Sony and the other companies can take a
hint and stop pestering us. At present, there are plenty of other
sources for electronics and music -- sources that don't treat their
customers like criminals -- and ultimately the consumers will purchase
products that don't tend to poke them in the RAM or scratch their hard
drives.
In the meantime, I think it's a good idea to refrain from installing
Sony's malware into your computer, at the very least to keep it from
infecting other important systems like those at NASA.
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