Sharing is Caring and Caring is Sharing

Our kindergarten teachers always told us how we should be sharing, but the RIAA would have you believe otherwise.  Looking at any recent major label release, the packaging is pretty much destroyed now with big blocks of text, an FBI symbol and a warning.  Unfortunately, monster megalith Sony BMG isn't out to warn the consumer or provide any information that they're illegally loading "malware" (malicious software) onto unsuspecting machines. 

An article by Mark Russinovich appeared on his Sysinternals blog which detailed the RootKit installation of Sony Music CDs onto his computer. Basically this file gets into the computer's critical operating parts and opens it wide for viruses to exploit it.  Yesterday, an article in The Register detailed that a Trojan virus has already been used to exploit this hole, ironically created in the name of Digital Rights Management.

The bottom line is basically that IF YOU BUY ANY MUSIC FROM SONY BMG, YOU CAN SERIOUSLY BE FUCKED.  These files cannot be removed easily from the machine without massive destruction.  As for Macintosh OSX users, they're not spared either.  Slashdot reports that "A MacInTouch poster has found that certain Sony CD's also contain a smaller extra partition for 'enhanced' content. Running one of the applications found within this partition installs kernel extensions containing DRM software by SunnComm."

There's buzz around the net on places like Wired but this should not be treated like a geek issue.  This effects the entire music buying public and must be stopped immediately. 

This is only the latest chapter in "the ultimate problem of the major label industry and the RIAA that protects them" (Don't ever be fooled that they're trying to protect the artists.) They basically have waged an illegal war against their customers.  They have alienated their consumers.  They, unlike EVERY industry in the world are doing nothing to attract customers and are doing everything to show them how much distance there is between consumer and corporation.  This is why they are all endangered species (there were six major labels less than ten years ago, now there's only four left) and with any luck they will all perish within a very short while.

The major labels and the RIAA have not yet changed their tune to embrace new technology and work on finding new ways to distribute music successfully and effectively while keeping their musicians paid and their employees earning a living wage.  If they continue to operate in this manner, then they need to face the consequences: they will not survive.  The consumer is always the boss.

What Sony has done is criminal.  It's time to demand a criminal investigation and begin individual legal action if "malware" has been installed on your computer by a Sony BMG product.

Class action lawsuits are being filed but US residents may still write to their Congressional Representative.  State that you are a music consumer and Sony BMG is committing a crime by violating Title 18 Part 1 Chapter 47 Section 1030: Fraud and related activity in connection with computers and you demand a criminal investigation. 

If your computer is infected, find a lawyer and seek damages immediately.  Known cases of infected CDs are listed in an article at the Electronic Front Foundation.