So this post doesn't really relate much to what I've been doing here. Life is pretty much like normal. I wanted, instead, to comment on a news story I've been following and enjoying these past few days. If you've been following the stories on this there will be nothing new except my random insertion.

I'm a strong believer that downloading music from free peer to peer services like so many people do, even if it is legal and/or moral, is dangerous. MP3 files (the most common type of downloaded music file) are incredibally easy to infect with bad things (viruses, spyware.....). Since 1999 when all this file sharing started the big music companies have been fighting it as hard as they can. One way they do this is to make it harder to copy music off of a cd and onto a computer, or at least limit how many times you can do that and what you can do with the music afterwards. Sony, God bless their "copyright-protecting" souls, just committed suicide.

It seems that Sony contracted with a Brittish company to provide some software to ensure this protection for them. A few days ago, some chap discovered that this protection software was installing things on his computer that he didn't like. The software Sony was using was, by definition, a form of malware known as rootkit (definition of malware and rootkit) it seems that free downloads aren't the only dangerous place to get music anymore. Sony has since been brought to task by class-action suits in LA and NY for not ever mentioning anything about this software that they install. They've released a patch for damaged computers and recalled all the cd's that use the rootkit software but the patch opens up just as many security holes as it fixes. Sony is backpedaling....hard.

But the story gets better. Yesterday some briliant scandanavians made another discovery, Sony's rootkit software uses copyrighted software in an illegal manner. The software that they used was copyrighted as "open source" which means it's free for anyone to copy, modify, and use, with one requirment: the source code of the software must be published alongside the actual program and due credit must be given the original author. (--added 23NOV2005 --) One clarification, only the code used from an open source project must be published, not the entire program(--end of addition--) Sony did neither and now is in European courts fighting a copy-right infringement suit. A bit of a double standard, don't you think?

(--added 23NOV2005--) So I wrote this to let you all know my thoughts on the issue. When I wrote it, however, I forgot to include that part. Sorry. Basically I find it funny. I don't think it impacts any music I've bought recently but I have to wonder what this will do to the market in the future especially since a lot of artists are mad about digital rights management. Eventually there would have to be enough singers sick of the big corporations to start an independent record label together, one would think. I would be really excited if that would happen but for some reason I kinda don't think it will. It is really good that Sony had a reality check though, hopefully they learn from it. That's all I had to say. I enjoy the story. I laugh. And then I go do something else and don't worry about it. (--end of addition--)

Love and legality
David