Schneier on Security: Sony’s DRM Rootkit: The Real Story
Schneier on Security: Sony’s DRM Rootkit: The Real Story
Quote: The story to pay attention to here is the collusion between big media companies who try to control what we do on our computers and computer-security companies who are supposed to be protecting us.
The part of the article I have quoted is one that I—well, I don’t take issue with per se, but I partially disagree…
The rest of the article is a good read on and summary of the huge blowing-up issue… I highly recommend the entire article. 
Having said that, I want to pick on the bit I quoted—
I don’t buy the collusion argument- at least, not yet.
Collusion would imply, to me, an active agreement or common purpose, and I see none. I would say that the action is very much passive.
There is a certain sensitivity involved in such matters—innocent servers get blacklisted all the time; anti-spyware companies get sued by spyware makers in that dark-grey market…
So when you’re faced with a rootkit installed by a major corporation, although it’s easy to blog about it—it’s not so easy to take swift action. After all, Sony wasn’t making a mistake, per se—not like this was a rogue employee. No, this was the company itself doing this.
So I can understand the desire to try and find out a little more about it before rushing to do things that could have gotten them sued…
And I think this is a larger issue than just the Sony problem—the other two similar areas I mentioned are real problems…
But having said all that, I reiterate- well done article, and a good read to help you catch up on the timeline of how it’s gone down so far.
(Disclaimer: Stupid tag used because of the Sony issue, not my disagreement! I think I’ve filed all the Sony posts under stupid...)