Sony to (temporarily) stop making protected CDs

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Richard Forno <rforno () infowarrior org>
Date: November 11, 2005 1:12:57 PM EST
To: Dave Farber <dave () farber net>
Subject: Sony to (temporarily) stop making protected CDs

 Sony to stop making protected CDs
Robert Lemos 2005-11-11
http://www.securityfocus.com/print/brief/45

Beleaguered Sony BMG will temporarily suspend the manufacture of
copy-protected CDs and re-examine its digital-rights management  
strategy,
the media giant said on Friday.

The company has been widely criticized by consumers, security experts  
and
digital-rights advocates for the surreptitious copy-protection  
programs that
Sony BMG CDs install on consumers' computers. Digital-rights  
advocates and
consumer attorneys are preparing nearly a half dozen legal actions  
against
the music giant.

While the company is re-evaluating its inclusion of the Extended Copy
Protection (XCP) technology produced by U.K.-based First 4 Internet, the
company stood by its right to protect its music.

Here is the full statement:

    We are aware that a computer virus is circulating that may affect
computers with XCP content protection software. The XCP software is  
included
on a limited number of SONY BMG content protected titles. This potential
problem has no effect on the use of these discs in conventional,
non-computer-based, CD and DVD players.

    In response to these events, SONY BMG has swiftly provided a  
patch to
all major anti-virus companies and to the general public that guards  
against
precisely the type of virus now said to exist. The patch fixes the  
possible
software problem, and still allows CDs to be played on personal  
computers.
It can be downloaded at http://cp.sonybmg.com/xcp/. Starting today,  
we will
also be adding this link to the SONY BMG label and corporate sites. We
deeply regret any possible inconvenience this may cause.

    We stand by content protection technology as an important tool to
protect our intellectual property rights and those of our artists.
Nonetheless, as a precautionary measure, SONY BMG is temporarily  
suspending
the manufacture of CDs containing XCP technology. We also intend to
re-examine all aspects of our content protection initiative to be  
sure that
it continues to meet our goals of security and ease of consumer use.  
More
information about our content protection initiative can also be found  
at:
http://cp.sonybmg.com/xcp.



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