Boycott Sony!

Sony BMG has included a Trojan horse as part of the Digital Restrictions Management (DRM) software on some of their new CD titles. Currently this software only affects users of Microsoft's Windows operating system. But if encouraged, there is no reason why Sony and other major labels won't extend their DRM technology to other platforms and media.

The DRM software in question is XCP. In order to properly play an audio CD using XCP, Sony claims that you need to install their player software, included on a separate session on the CD. When you install this software, the Trojan horse gets installed. If you have autorun enabled, the default for Windows, and you are running with Adminstrator privilages, also a default condition outside of a corporate environment, then the software will automatically ask to be installed.

These "copy protected" CDs will supposedly behave as ordinary audio CDs on Macintosh and Linux PCs.

Why Is This Worth Boycotting Sony?

There is a very good probability that what Sony is doing is illegal. At the very least, they are providing a vector for more malware on Windows systems. Windows is bad enough when it comes to security. This so called DRM software makes it worse. For the dirty, dirty details, see the following:

If what Sony is doing is illegal (and I'm pretty sure it is), it seems unlikely that any law enforcement body will do anything about it. That leaves the consumers to vote with their wallets. Just stop buying anything sold by Sony. Full stop. That includes the Sony VAIO line of PCs which already have the DRM preinstalled. Sell all your Sony stock if you have any too.

In the off chance that a law enforcement body would actually look into Sony's practices, I've filed a tip with the FBI:

I think that it's pretty clear that I'm pissed off about what Sony is doing.

Others Call For Boycott

I now see other people calling for a boycott on Sony music. I've already said that I'm for boycotting ALL Sony products. If you have a web page for boycotting Sony, let me know and I will link to it here. Boost your Google karma! (Perhaps you can help me boost mine by linking to this page ;).