The President of the RIAA is a Fucking Idiot.
These days, it seems, the words "RIAA" and "fucking idiot" just seem to go together perfectly like Jose Cuervo and orange Gatorade. But THIS just takes the cake: in the linked transcript of a speech RIAA President, Cary Sherman, presented at an online press conference, he publicly states that Sony BMG did not wrong by installing rootkits on consumers' computers. Actually, his exact words were:
In essence, Sherman has declared that Sony cannot be held responsible for the fact that the copy-protection software they licensed from First 4 Internet for their CDs just "happened" to create a gigantic security hole on consumers' Windows-based systems. In essence, he is comparing Sony's situation to that of, say, Microsoft--whose Internet Explorer, as we all know, is riddled with security problems. Do people go crazy when another security vulnerability is discovered in IE? Do they demand Microsoft Do Something About It? NO. And here's why:
Microsoft knows fell well their product is full of holes, and of course they should be held accountable for that. But, whenever new vulnerabilities pop up, they patch them or, at the very least, alert their users of the discovery--not always in a timely fashion, but they address the situation. What did Sony BMG do when news broke about their DRM package's massive security issues? They denied it. They refused to acknowledge there was even a problem. When they finally did acknowledge the problem, they offered an uninstaller that created a BIGGER PROBLEM. Then, even in the face of MASSIVE public outcry, Sony refused to pull the infected CDs from shelves for weeks before FINALLY caving in to pressure. This would be tantamount to Microsoft releasing a statement like "What Sasser worm? We don't know nuttin' about no Sasser worm. And if there was one, don't worry about it unless you're a software pirate."
Sony BMG acted about as irresponsibly as a corporation possibly could when dealing with this situation. For the President of the RIAA to declare Sony's absolute fiasco even vaguely responsible is the very epitomy of Bullshit.
They have apologized for their mistake, ceased manufacture of CDs with that technology,and pulled CDs with that technology from store shelves. Seems very responsible to me. How many times that software applications created the same problem? Lots. I wonder whether they've taken as aggressive steps as SonyBMG has when those vulnerabilities were discovered, or did they just post a patch on the Internet?
In essence, Sherman has declared that Sony cannot be held responsible for the fact that the copy-protection software they licensed from First 4 Internet for their CDs just "happened" to create a gigantic security hole on consumers' Windows-based systems. In essence, he is comparing Sony's situation to that of, say, Microsoft--whose Internet Explorer, as we all know, is riddled with security problems. Do people go crazy when another security vulnerability is discovered in IE? Do they demand Microsoft Do Something About It? NO. And here's why:
Microsoft knows fell well their product is full of holes, and of course they should be held accountable for that. But, whenever new vulnerabilities pop up, they patch them or, at the very least, alert their users of the discovery--not always in a timely fashion, but they address the situation. What did Sony BMG do when news broke about their DRM package's massive security issues? They denied it. They refused to acknowledge there was even a problem. When they finally did acknowledge the problem, they offered an uninstaller that created a BIGGER PROBLEM. Then, even in the face of MASSIVE public outcry, Sony refused to pull the infected CDs from shelves for weeks before FINALLY caving in to pressure. This would be tantamount to Microsoft releasing a statement like "What Sasser worm? We don't know nuttin' about no Sasser worm. And if there was one, don't worry about it unless you're a software pirate."
Sony BMG acted about as irresponsibly as a corporation possibly could when dealing with this situation. For the President of the RIAA to declare Sony's absolute fiasco even vaguely responsible is the very epitomy of Bullshit.
