Band Takes Matter Into Own Hands Over Sony Rootkit Debacle   - 1,596 Views,

Of course, it all started when it was revealed that certain music CDs shipped by Sony had the equivalent of a rootkit in the form of Sony’s DRM (digital rights management) software. That software was provided to Sony by First4Internet.

Then it was compounded with the discovery of a second security flaw on the Sony CDs, created by MediaMax software that was also included on the CDs.

Sony released a statement, offering to allow customers to exchange the suspect CDs for copies without the software in question.

But at least one band under contract to Sony, and whose CDs were among those affected, apparently thinks that Sony offered too little, too late, and others are clearly unhappy as well.

Sony artist My Morning Jacket, whose album “Z” was one of those affected, started mailing their own, unprotected copies of Z even before the news of the second issue hit. As soon as My Morning Jacket’s fans started complaining that the DRM software was making it impossible to transfer songs from their CDs to their iPods, the band went into action, sending the unprotected CDs to any fan who complained, explained My Morning Jacket’s manager, Mike Martinovich. “It should have been enough that fans are annoyed,” he said.

And a statement on Santana’s website sums up what many other Sony recording artists must be feeling when they say “We have never been in a position where our music has caused harm, and we feel extremely sad and angry that we have caused our fans distress with what we intended would bring you joy.”

Amen.

Recommended reading (click on picture for details)