Friday, November 11, 2005

Biting the Hand That Feeds You...

Sony to Suspend Making Antipiracy CDs - Yahoo! News

Well, at least they say they've stopped. The software they were putting on CD's to "protect" them from being copied was actually spyware which not only sent data back but also opened up a hole for enterprising hackers to walk through. Stupid Sony. This is the kind of stuff that makes people want to copy and file share more, not less. If you're not going to care about the damage you do to my property with your product and not even be honest about what it could do, why should I care about how I obtain your product? The shame of it is, this only hurts the artists who put the effort into the music. I'll bet Sony is screwing the artists for money just as badly as they're screwing their customers all in an effort to "maximize profits." Idiots...

Whenever I see a CD that is label "Copy Protected", nine times out of ten I've put it back on the shelf, and with the odd one I have bought I've never installed software on my computer to "allow" me to play the music I've bought. Don't these big companies realize that they're not squashing illegal file sharing, they're angering the legal buying public and turning more fed up people towards "alternative" music means? I'm no marketing genius, but even I know that making it as hard as possible for the legal owners of your product to enjoy said product is really, really, couterproductive...

Comments on "Biting the Hand That Feeds You..."

 

Blogger Eaglewing said ... (November 13, 2005 5:29 PM) : 

Well, after reading the legalese, all I have to say is: Wow. Just Wow. I marvel at the wrongness of Sony's heavy-handedness. What idiot thought any of that would be a good idea?

I read something on the net (can't remember where) about 'acceptable levels of piracy' actually helping these companies make money. Basically the article stated that going too far in the lockdown anti-piracy mode alienates good paying customers because it becomes too burdensome to actually use the product. If you can find an acceptable percentage of piracy without ticking off your regular customers, everybody benefits and the company can still be profitable.

Unfortunately, looks like Sony tipped too far to the dark side of the balance...

 

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