In the midst of a PR debacle, a Sony spokesman had this response:
Sony spokesman John McKay said the technology has been deployed on just 20 titles so far, but that the company may include it on additional titles in the months ahead. (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/02/AR2005110202362.html)
On second thought, maybe Sony shouldn’t blog–they don’t seem to know what not to say. Maybe the company that developed the DRM solution will do better:
In response to criticisms that intruders could take such advantage, First4Internet Ltd. — the British company that developed the software — will make available on its Web site a software patch that should remove its ability to hide files, chief executive Mathew Gilliat-Smith said.
A patch that will merely unhide the DRM? Then again, maybe not. How about a patch to get rid of the thing? Oh wait, here we go:
…users who want to remove the program may not do so directly, but must fill out a form on Sony’s Web site, download additional software, wait for a phone call from a technical support specialist, and then download and install yet another program that removes the files.
Umm..yeah, sign me up. So, is the DRM really so bad? As long as we’re not music pirates, we should get along OK, right?
Hypponen agreed that Sony’s software could help hackers circumvent most antivirus products on the market today. He added that installing the Sony program on a machine running Windows Vista — the beta version of the next iteration of Microsoft Windows — “breaks the operating system spectacularly.”
Once again, maybe not. I haven’t bought a CD in nearly 2 years, and I’m quite glad for that.