Sony BMG Copy Protection Rootkit Scandal - Background

Background

In August 2000, statements by Sony Pictures Entertainment US senior VP Steve Heckler foreshadowed the events of late 2005. Heckler told attendees at the Americas Conference on Information Systems "The industry will take whatever steps it needs to protect itself and protect its revenue streams... It will not lose that revenue stream, no matter what... Sony is going to take aggressive steps to stop this. We will develop technology that transcends the individual user. We will firewall Napster at source - we will block it at your cable company. We will block it at your phone company. We will block it at your ISP. We will firewall it at your PC... These strategies are being aggressively pursued because there is simply too much at stake."

In Europe, BMG created a minor scandal in 2001 when it released Natalie Imbruglia's second album, White Lilies Island, without warning labels stating that the CD had copy protection. The CDs were eventually replaced. BMG and Sony both released copy-protected versions of certain releases in certain markets in late 2001, and a late 2002 report indicated that all BMG CDs sold in Europe would have some form of copy protection.

Read more about this topic:  Sony BMG Copy Protection Rootkit Scandal

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