Sony BMG's spyware music CDs
Sony/BMG (the giant recorded music conglomerate formerly known as CBS Records/Columbia Records and RCA Victor Records , has created an enormous controversy throughout the blogosphere and technology world with its recent release of "copy-protected" music CDs that can over-ride your home PC's security firewalls. In many years of purchasing and collecting legal copies of albums on LP, CD, cassette, and even the venerable 8-track cartridge and reel-to-reel tape formats...I've never seen a record company go to such lengths to demonstrate CONTEMPT for its paying consumers. Since March 2005, Sony/BMG has encoded some of its music CDs with Digital Rights Management (DRM) software which is intended to restrict "burning" and copying of music CDs. Playing these audio CDs on a PC forces a "rootkit" software download onto the user's PC, without their explicit knowledge and consent, creating a huge potential security violation for the PC user who simply