For those of you unaware of the recent news involving Sony and its latest attempt at a draconian copy protection scheme (that would be all two of you) here is a summary:
Sony is licensing a copy protection program called XCP from First 4 Internet Ltd., a British company. Essentially XCP is a "root kit", a program that hides itself from the OS and can't easily be safely removed. If you play an XCP CD you need to accept and install Sony's DRM (Digital Rights Management) software. Theoretically the software keeps you from making illegal copies of the CDs.... though it really doesn't work too well. It only works on a Windows PC (if you're spiffy with a Mac or Linux the software won't run and you can run your CD like normal). Its really only a bother for the average consumer - who wasn't the one pirating it in the first place!
Not long after the first few XCP CDs started rolling out a virus came along that piggy-backed on the program and hid itself too. The day after that Sony stopped including the program... for now.
Here are a few links to some articles that Computer World ran on the topic. They cover the issue better than I could in a short space like this.
I put all this to ask: As independent artists, what is your opinion on the XCP fiasco? Is this the first death-knell for fair-use provisions? Is this the final knell for fair-use provisions? Or is it something else?
There's no trick to being a humorist when you have the whole government working for you. - Will Rogers
And the story continues with Sony finally pulling the plug on XCP all together. Not only are they pulling the disks from the shelves, but they are exchanging disks with the XCP program for ones that don't.
Unfortunately that isn't the end of the story. They haven't said anything about the other program in the wings called MediaMax.... a program that (so far) exhibits the same problems as XCP.
You'd think Sony would learn by now wouldn't you?
Any thoughts?
There's no trick to being a humorist when you have the whole government working for you. - Will Rogers
Sony isn't going to live this one down for a long time. Ironic coming from the company that gave us the Walkman and all sorts of means to copy cassettes and VHS, and a company that makes CD/DVD burners and ....
There's no trick to being a humorist when you have the whole government working for you. - Will Rogers
Media
Posted - 15 Nov 2005 : 23:09:20 
I hope I haven't violated any intellectual property rights ... 
