Sony May Have Made a Mistake, But It's Not a Terrorist 

For those who haven't heard yet, Sony BMG had been beat up lately in the news (and rightfully so) for including a "rootkit" in many of their music CDs as part of an anti piracy effort. For those who are unaware, a rootkit is basically a set of software that is able to hook undetected into the operating system (in this case Windows, though there are also Linux rootkits) and do... well anything. In this case, not only did they try to do things like prevent you from illegally distributing their music, they also made it impossible to uninstall (without breaking drivers on your machine), and also makes your computer more vulnerable to new viruses. You can read the details here.

Today, Sony announced that they will stop using the rootkit, at least temporarily. And in this Washington Post story, the Bush Administration, through the Dept. of Homeland Security has chastised Sony for their use of the rootkit. Wait... the Dept. of Homeland Security? Yep... you read that right:

A high-ranking Bush administration official weighed in Thursday on anti-piracy efforts domestically and abroad, indirectly chastising Sony BMG Music Entertainment for its digital rights management (DRM) software, which computer security analysis say uses tactics typically employed by virus writers to hide its components and resist their removal.

The reference to the scandal over Sony's anti-piracy software came at a U.S. Chamber of Commerce-sponsored event in downtown Washington on combating intellectual-property theft. At the event, Stewart Baker, recently appointed by President Bush as the Department of Homeland Security's assistant secretary for policy, made a comment that suggested that some anti-piracy efforts introduced by the industry could have profound and unexpected effects on the security of the nation's critical infrastructures.

So does the Bush Administration consider Sony to be a terrorist organization? Or is it just that the Dept. of Homeland Security is actually in charge of pretty much everything in Washington? Enquiring minds want to know.

Update: And if you thought the rootkit was bad, just take a look at some of the things that the EULA demands:

1. If your house gets burgled, you have to delete all your music from your laptop when you get home. That's because the EULA says that your rights to any copies terminate as soon as you no longer possess the original CD.

2. You can't keep your music on any computers at work. The EULA only gives you the right to put copies on a "personal home computer system owned by you."

3. If you move out of the country, you have to delete all your music. The EULA specifically forbids "export" outside the country where you reside.

4. You must install any and all updates, or else lose the music on your computer. The EULA immediately terminates if you fail to install any update. No more holding out on those hobble-ware downgrades masquerading as updates.

The list goes on... go check them all out. I won't be buying anything from Sony until this changes.