It was reported in the news at one point in the heat of the issue and I don't have time to go hunting across the net for it right now.
Yes, I've seen such reports, too. There were lots and lots of speculation, both by the media and individuals.
The most reliable information I saw, was that Sony BMG (IIRC) blamed the UK company who made the software for them, while it was still fairly clear that they had approved of parts of the functionality.
I'm not going to get into an argument in the issue.
Wake up, you're already in an argument on the issue, as is evidenced from your post.
Your (and others) comparisons of what Sony has done with other companies shows a great level of naivety of the magnitude of Sony's actions not to mention the direct connection of those actions to other legal issues regarding fair use rights plaguing our country at the moment.
You may think it's naive, but it's not really.
I'm very much opposed to the way members of the RIAA, MPAA etc. behave in their relationship to their customers.
I'm not necessarily willing to
automatically extend that courtesy to the owner companies, who are mainly concerned with the results and dividends.
I'm a bit astounded at your lack of knowledge concerning the company structure of Sony BMG, though. Sony BMG is a 50/50 joint venture between Sony Music Entertainment and Bertelsmann Music Group, where Sony owns 50% and Bertelsmann AG owns the other 50%.
Sony violated our fair use rights (which are Constitutionally protected),
Yes. And so has almost every other big music or movie distribution brand; they all implement various schemes to reduce the usability of their products. I'm fairly certain that e.g. Canon or Nikon have, with the license agreements for their software, too.
(But if you're thinking of the USA, the DMCA has revoked numerous of those rights that Sony BMG limited technically.)
vandalized private property, lied numerous times about it, opened their customers up to malicious attack, and did not learn a damned thing from it; no apology has come from them as they continue to think they did the right thing.
Sure, other companies do bad things too, but the Sony issue was the straw that broke the camels back much like Nikon was with the whole raw file thing. This time however, the Sony issue was less like a straw and more like a 2-ton piano.
Well, thank you for at least acknowledging Nikon's move.
Whether it's a 2-ton piano for all of Sony, just the joint venture Sony BMG, or Sony Electronics who you're going to boycott, remains to be seen.
You have every right to support the company if you choose to do so but I (and several others) have chosen to put our money into a more trustworthy company.
If you want to take the high road, remember not to buy any books from the publisher Random House, which is a division of Bertelsmann, the
other 50% of Sony BMG. Ditto for watching TV on RTL and buying magazines published by Gruner + Jahr. Remember to track ownership further down the chain, you may need to return some books and cancel some subscriptions.
As far as I know, there is only one combined electronics and music company who's taking the nice-guy approach to copy protection rackets, and that's Philips. Everyone else is a bad-guy, or has been. Even EMI, who apparently at least put some effort into
not damaging your stereo or computer.
