Kalimat al-Mutafalsif

Ok then. Back by popular demand, my take on the Sony Fiasco, translated into human-ese.
Read on for more.

Back in late September, early October, Sony released a new form of DRM (Digital Rights Management) software.

I'll take this moment to translate DRM. This is to software what a pair of handcuffs and pole is to a criminal. It means he can't go somewhere he shouldn't, and others can't make him... without extra work. I add the last bit because, like even good handcuffs, DRM can be broken, and in no wya prevents piracy.

To get back to the story, this software is a rootkit. A rootkit is a piece of software (I would say virus) that attains permission to do whatever it wants to your computer, and because it is "root" (the highest permissions level) it can hide, even from anti-virus software! This rootkit does something we know, and things we don't know.
We know:

1. It hides all files beginning with $sys$, which allows virus writers more room to work.
   • That is to say, if the file name was $sys$text.txt you would not be able to see if on the desktop, or anywhere else. A virus named $sys$virus.exe would be able to run just fine, undetected!
2. It “phones home” unidentified information, probably regarding your system.
   • That means it sends information to a server elsewhere, where someone could collect it and study it. Such as what windows you have open, (looking for copy software), and your IP address (to tell your ISP you violated their copyright).
3. It contains GPL’ed source code, violating the terms of the GPL (another form of copyright).
   • This means they took other copyrighted work, violated its copyright, and distributed it. AKA, they broke other people's rights, in order to protect theirs.

As if the above wasn't bad enough, their president, Thomas Hesse, went on NPR to say “Most people, I think, don’t even know what a rootkit is, so why should they care about it?" In other words, if you don't know we're hurting your security, we must not be hurting it. Though it should be noted here that at first he denied such DRM software, and it wasn't found until a concerned user found it on his system.

Note, he was told of the security flaws on October 4, 2005. Almost 30 days before the software was found out by the public. He had the time to change it, and issue a recall, he didn't.
So, what was the solution? Sony hired another company to make a removal tool. That seems to be the right thing to do, right? Well, that tool was even buggier, and opened up your web browser to any other software that wanted to install itself.

Hmm... think of this like your computer being your car, I love using that analogy. Sony hid a bad part somewhere in it, and finally agrees to fix it. When the mechanics fix it, however, they have to get in, so remove the locks from all the doors. They then forget to reinstall the locks, and give it back to you minus the bad part, but also minus the locks.

Now then, what can you do? First, you can tell me if this made sense or not, and how I could clarify even more. I've changed it to not need to be logged in for comments, hopefully I don't get trolls. If I do, I'll turn that back on. Until then, comment away!

Second, you can immediatly place your Sony cd's as far from your computer as possible. Next check this list to see if any of your cds are infected. Even if they're not on this list, I wouldn't trust them not to have other DRM (and they probably do).

Third, boycott Sony. By the way, it's a crime to advocate boycotting a company in Virginia, so, right now I'm putting my own liberty at risk to urge you to do the right thing. Do not buy Sony products until they have shown

1. Remorse for their actions before. Lieing to the public, bad software, stealing, everything.
2. A proficiency at putting out good software and products, that are free from DRM. This will never happen, as even amidst the scandal, they announced their new DRM scheme in Australia.

I, for one, will never buy Sony products again, I don't care if they're the last label on the planet. The artists I like are all on smaller labels, and those labels normally do not believe in DRM software.