Another reason not to pay for music again
By
on
November 10th, 2005
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Music companies are pathetic. And so are the movie companies. They want people to stop downloading music and DVD from the internet but don’t offer any viable alternatives. And don’t even mention Itunes. You expect me to pay 0.99 a song for music of crappy 128 kbs quality that is full of nasty DRM (limits on what I can do with the music)??? Yeah right. Dream on.
I used to be a dream customer of the music industry. Every year I bought quite a few Cd’s from Amazon and listened to them on my Bose system. But that was years ago. That was before I got fed up with their corrupt business model and wowed to never pay for music or DVD again. I will most likely pay for music again when someone comes up with a good business model WITHOUT DRM. I will actually be glad to give them my money. But that is many years away. I’m so glad I made that decision. If you are a little on the geeky side you might have seen that the idiots at Sony install spyware on your computer when you play their new copy protected Cd’s. That’s right, the spyware on our computers that we all try to desperately get rid of is installed secretly by Sony. It doesn’t matter if you rip the Cd or simply play it, the spyware is installed regardless. When you pop out the Cd and put it on the shelf the spyware keeps running in the background to see what you’re doing. And who do they do this to? The lawful people who buy a regular expensive Cd of their favorite artist. Fucking outrageous. They do this by installing a "root kit", which is something you use when you’re trying to hide what your evil program actually does. Geeky folks who know lots about computers often see root kits as malicious software. Read more geeky details on Mark’s site. He’s the one who originally discovered the scam.
What does this spyware installation actually mean?
– You can’t copy the songs form the Sony Cd to your Ipod. You read that correctly. You can’t copy the songs from the Cd you bought legally to the most popular music player in the world. Thanks Sony. Some workaround for this have now been released but you will have to search the internet and install it manually.
– You want to make a back-up copy, one for the car, and one for the summer house? Sorry, not allowed. You can only make TWO copies. The Sony software will prohibit you from making more copies. Apparently they think it’s unimportant that you purchased the Cd legally and are only making LEGAL back-up copies for your self. If you got kids you might want to make a back-up copy immediately since the kids have a tendency to scratch Cd’s. After that you only got ONE more copy to do, then you’re fucked. Apparently there is now some workaround for this if you you poke around on the net and install another patch. Totally ridiculous.
– If you try to remove the spyware there is a large risk that your Cd player will not work any more. You will then need to reinstall the device, possibly find new drivers, and perhaps flash firmware. Does that sound like fun? Thanks Sony
And it looks like this scam is going to come back and bite Sony in the ass. Big time. They have now officially declared war on their customers and told them to fuck off. I hope lots of people realize how absurd it is to buy a CD and not be able to do whatever you want with it. And as an added bonus for giving Sony money, spyware is installed secretly which is extremely difficult to remove without damaging your computer. Customers can tell Sony, and others, what we think of their business practices in a very easy way. Don’t buy any of their products!
If you really want to take a look at how fucked up the music industry is, especially Sony, then take a look at this link and see what you are obligated to do when you buy a Cd from Sony. If you do not follow all these rules you are in violation of their EULA (End User License Agreement). It’s fucking unbelievable. But sadly true. That should quickly summarize why the music industry is about to drastically change and how outdated their business model really is. Or you can take a look here and try to imagine what kind of genius thinks this will help the movie and music industry. How about we concentrate on some more important issues, like education or health care, instead of suing small children for downloading a moviefor their own personal use? They remind me of the Germans who still think it’s year 1970 with no internet and business as usual. No wonder they and the music industry are about to go out of business.
I admire that you actually have a legit explanation for illegally downloading music. I just do it because I am a cheap bastard.