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12.148.60.177
Turns out the software they use to protect their valuable intellectual property and copyright, violates a bunch of programmer's copyright. It turns out they ripped off a bunch of LGPL and GPL'd code in their nasty DRM package.For the uninitiated, the GPL and LGPL are popular open source licenses, which allow for commercial distribution, but the distributor MUST acknowledge the orginal authors, and make the source code of their changes available to all. Sony has done neither.
This is really sleazy. It's the equivalent of a journalist working for a national paper cribbing whole paragraphs out of a story from a local weekly. If Sony is lucky, the authors won't care, or will let it slide. If they are unlucky, they're facing some nasty copyright violation lawsuits, all in the name of protecting their own copyright and IP. Irony...
/*Music is subjective. Sound is not.*/
Follow Ups:
oh goody. i'd like to see someone sock it to one of the big greedy corporations for a change. i'm totally whizzed off with the sony DVD player that i just bought. it sucks rotten eggs compared to my 5 year old onkyo...i can't zoom widescreen in past 16:9 aspect ratioes. anything past that gets cut off which sucks on a 4:3 screen
ANY zooming creates an annoying blue "#X zoom" icon that never goes away
i can't listen to or watch a disc while changing others
i can't change any discs except #1 without carrying the remote over to the player!
before that, my VCR is a pain too as i can't use onscreen timers whenever there's a blank screen. i like to record 1 minute blank on a tape, i need to look at the VCR to cue anything up. it's impossible to see the clock with a tape in the deck unlike my JVC which stomps it to death for features and flexibility.
i've had it with sony and their consumer hostile gear and for fighting DVD-A with SACD and HD-DVD with blu ray.
i'm happy as a clam to see them in the hot seat for a change instead of ruthlessly imposing their will because they're the biggest player in consumer electronics.
All this from a company that has strong roots in the production of consumer equipment for recording audio and video!
Hi Inmates,Sony has just released a list of discs with the drm.
However, the disc that started the hassle for us here at KK is *not* on the list. Ryan Shupe and the Rubber Band - Dream Big, ASIN: B000AHJ82Y , on the Liberty Label (I think it is part of the Sony BMG family AFIK) Still listed on Amazon and stated to contain the copyright protection.
So there are 52 titles on the list and I know for certain that at least one disc is missing.
This leaves me with my uneasy questions of yesterday:
Are there discs that are not listed? (The answer is YES!)
Are there drm discs that are not marked on the packaging?
Are there drm discs that completley omit the opening End User License Agreement (EULA)?
Did First4Internet provide the drm to more than Sony/BMG?
Kind regards,
Ray
Maybe it is just me but it looks to me that the artists on this list would not have a serious problem with piracy. Not saying they aren't great artists, but most of the copying is done teens and 20 somethings, my teenage kids aren't going to be listening to many of these artists anytime soon.
There are two aspects to the "pre-release phase" of this fiasco:1. The decision to implement some form of software-based copy protection
2. The development of the copy protection softwareIf some of the recent posts are 100% accurate, it would appear that First4Internet must carry some of the blame for:
- Poor design (allowing virus-code to piggy-back the XCP)
- Plagiarism (using OpenSource code without attribution)
- Inadequate Testing (which would have exposed some of the issues)If we concentrate on this "pre-release phase", Sony would have a good case to try to lay the blame on First4Internet based on "Inherent Defects". The problem for Sony is that, even if they do try to deflect legal actions onto First4Internet, none of the people responsible for the actions would even consider going after First4Internet - they don't have the financial resources to pay any damages, and will probably just declare bankruptcy. So, guess what? Sony will be the target - justifiably or not!
Moving on to the "post-release phase", Sony-BMG have been rather less than forthcoming in disclosing the titles impacted - probably on advice from legal counsel. This failure to disclose the nature and magnitude of the problem and to take the appropriate measures to minimise the impact, is what is going to be Sony's nightmare in court.
If anyone out there has shares in either First4Internet or Sony, my advice would be to get rid of them as soon as possible...
My prognosis as to which will feel the pain: BOTH!!!
a. First4Internet WILL NOT SURVIVE!
b. Sony-BMG will be VERY HARD-HIT and may also not survive...A lot will depend on the courts' rulings - in the post-release phase - on Sony's handling of the situation.
Time will tell...
DE
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