No christmas for Sony!

[kingandy]

In a move that would no doubt make stsquad proud, I have been recapping on that whole Sony-BMG "rootkit" fiasco.  Don't tell me you missed it?  It was on Radio One Newsbeat^[1], even I heard about it.  Well, in a demonstration of the power of BLOGOSPHERE 1, some geek in an attic stumbled upon a number of secret hidden files installed by his Sony music CDs and opened a Pandora's box of troubles for Sony's PR department.  The rest, as they say, is history.^[2]

Well, no, it isn't history quite yet, as several wronged parties including the State Of Texas have filed legal proceedings against the multinational conglomeration.  But you can read more about it at the aforelinked Anti-Customer Technology Timeline.

I mention this here because I found the ramifications of the infesting^[3] software's End-User License Agreement quite funny.  That's right, by inserting your CD into your PC and thereby installing this piece of malware that you neither asked for nor are aware of, you are agreeing to the terms of a 3,000 word EULA.  But what does that actually mean?

If your house gets burgled, you have to delete all your music.
If you move out of the country, you have to delete all your music.
If you file for bankruptcy, you have to delete all your music.

BEHOLD!



[1] To quote Bart Allen, "What?  You hear it ... first."
[2] Originally this paragraph involved use of the word "infested", but due to various reworkings it has regrettably had to be let go.
[3] Oh, there it is!  Nice to see it's still getting work.

Comments

[spodula.livejournal.com]

(Addition: But some of the more stupid terms are unlikely to survive, Theft, Moving country, ect)

[kingandy]

Yeah, I strongly suspect that those are the sort of terms that are only there in case they're needed, rather than to be enforced in every case. Standard practice, it seems, is to close every possible loophole or technicality that could possibly be used by somebody with malicious intent ("Honest guvnor, it was stolen, and this large catalogue of copies is purely for personal use!"). They're certainly not going to check up on everybody who leaves the country after buying their CDs, and indeed, how would they? (Though I'm sure Alex would say something about how Big Brother is tracking you through your debit cards...)