Down with the RIAA!
There are certain people who give me grief for enjoying certain "mainstream" artists, although I like to think my musical inclinations are more eclectic in nature. I am far from the "music nazis" that I have encountered in my lifetime, I've even had to live with a few. (ourmoni, you understand) But Sony has pissed me off, along with most of the music consumers who know anything about computers or own am MP3 player. Sony has installed a "rootkit" into many of their cds crimpling your computer when installed. Keep in mind that this software is installed without authorization and is invisible. It can track what cds you listen to and cripple your cd drive if you attempt to remove it.
Sony, and in my opinion many other publishers, want full control of how YOU listen to the music YOU have purchased. They want to ultimately make you pay for the right to listen, and only on their terms. Want to use an MP3 player? Sure, for X dollars. Want to copy it for the car?... no. Play it on your computer? Sure, with our program and our ads in front of you, and only for so many times.
This is not far-fetched, Apple's music store has been doing this since their inception. You can only play their music within iTunes or on the iPod, don't bother using winamp or WMP, and forget about a different brand MP3 player! Sure, you can burn the CD but only a couple times. Most people simply burn the CD, then rip it into MP3 format to play in their MP3 player. Illegal. The DMCA prohibits circumvention of copy-protected media and it is supposedly enforced by the FBI as it is a congressionally passed law.
With this new rootkit from Sony, I believe, as I have believed for quite some time, that the music industry is at war with the consumer. They use a handful of artists and inflate the hell out of a product which they then push to a degree that is unbelievable. I truly feel bad for the artists with rootkit cds, they didn't have the option here, it was mandated by their record company. Do an Amazon search for one of these cds, nothing but 1-star reviews from people warning of viruses on the disc. I bet that will hurt sales!
Here's the list thus far:
Trey Anastasio, Shine (Columbia)
Celine Dion, On ne Change Pas (Epic)
Neil Diamond, 12 Songs (Columbia)
Our Lady Peace, Healthy in Paranoid Times (Columbia)
Chris Botti, To Love Again (Columbia)
Van Zant, Get Right with the Man (Columbia)
Switchfoot, Nothing is Sound (Columbia)
The Coral, The Invisible Invasion (Columbia)
Acceptance, Phantoms (Columbia)
Susie Suh, Susie Suh (Epic)
Amerie, Touch (Columbia)
Life of Agony, Broken Valley (Epic)
Horace Silver Quintet, Silver's Blue (Epic Legacy)
Gerry Mulligan, Jeru (Columbia Legacy)
Dexter Gordon, Manhattan Symphonie (Columbia Legacy)
The Bad Plus, Suspicious Activity (Columbia)
The Dead 60s, The Dead 60s (Epic)
Dion, The Essential Dion (Columbia Legacy)
Natasha Bedingfield, Unwritten (Epic)
Ricky Martin, Life (Columbia)
-EW