Just when Sony is starting to get a bit of positive press, they go about and destroy it with a single move of utter evilness.

http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/07/12/1256258

"Sony BMG Music Entertainment is suing the company that developed anti-piracy software for its CDs, claiming the technology was defective and cost the record company millions of dollars to settle consumer complaints and government investigations. The software in question is the MediaMax CD protection system, widely derided as a rootkit. Sony BMG is seeking to recover some $12 million in damages from the Phoenix-based technology company, according to court papers filed July 3."

Of course, just because Sony contracted them to write illegal rootkit software it doesn't mean they can pass the blame onto the company who only did what Sony asked them to do. I suppose it was too much to ask for Sony to go an entire year without reminding us that it's run by complete arseholes.  

It depends... was it Sony's idea, or did the company approach Sony and try to sell it as cool DRM technology? Without more details, it's hard to say who is more at fault.

As Sony was already sued, this isn't really any bad press to me, except maybe to remind me of past major mistakes... (OLD NEWS)

How do you know that sony actually asked for them to write a rootkit. It seems highly illogical for them to even consider asking for that.

They more than likely asked "How can we make PCs only play the songs in the way we want to" and they were presented a solution, a solution that was flawed.

They contracted out the software, and the company developed one that performed to Sony's requirements. However there were oversights in this software, the way it hides processes for instance, and can hide files with a certain filename. Its unlikely that Sony tested the software for this, as its a purchased solution.

Of course the contracted company is liable, as liable as Sony was and its right that they in turn sue the writers of the software. If it could be shown in the specifications that Sony provided, that the software was to be written with the intent of being a rootkit, or obvious malicious content, it will get thrown out of court in a second.

I don't agree with DRM on CDs and cheered when Sony were sued, however I'll cheer even more when the actual producers of DRM software are sued out of existence.

- ignore post. 

It doesn't matter. Sony knew exactly what they were putting on their CDs. Now they're claiming that MediaMax somehow tricked them into putting it on there. If so then they're clearly incredibly incompetant, as well as arseholes.

Hey Sony, the damages from that rootkit are much more than $12 million. Much of the Sony hate comes from that single episode, in fact. I know I do hate Sony for that.

And anyway, according to Sony, the rootkit isn't a problem, because (and I quote):

"Most people, I think, don't even know what a rootkit is, so why should they care about it?" -- Sony BMG's Global Digital Business President Thomas Hesse, 2005

So you are saying that Sony somehow released these CDs without knowledge that a rootkit existed on them? That someone offered them copy protection and they just said "yep" without even looking at it? Sony is one of the largest electronics companies in the world, and I'm sure there are many talented engineers and scientists working there. They knew EXACTLY what was on those CDs, and they chose to license it anyway. Whether Sony explicitly said "put a rootkit on these CDs" or were just given the technology is immaterial, they cannot balme some other company for their actions.

Of course, MediaMax should also be liable. For criminal damage, or for a class action lawsuit. The LAST entity that should benifit from their liability is Sony, as they were the ones who contracted them and they performed exactly to Sony's specifications. Sony lost money through this fiasco not by any fault of MediaMax, but due to their own stupidity.

Watch out for companies getting afraid of entering any kind of business relationship with Sony over this...

Damn I thought I posted a reply... it had a metaphor and everything.

Nuts.

 edit: Well more of an analogy, really.