So... Sony's rootkit was a-okay in your opinion? Or have you just not given any thought to your position at all? Because that seems to be pretty common among ut

So... Sony's rootkit was a-okay in your opinion? Or have you just not given any thought to your position at all? Because that seems to be pretty common among utilitarians who are somehow perpetually surprised by blowback and "unintended consequences". It really strains credulity, the whole "unintended" defense, when you've got people pointing to the predictable outcome. Analogies are rarely helpful in technical discussions, but who knows - maybe this time will be different: boobytraps. Boobytraps are a major no-no, and have been for a very long time, regardless of whatever mitigating circumstances you can dream up (deep in your property, posted warnings, etc). This node dependency was a boobytrap. You can try and justify it by pointing to licenses, concepts of developer IP ownership, etc - it is still a boobytrap. There is no talking your way out of it, in the same way that you wouldn't be able to talk your way out of injuring a trespasser who scaled your fence and triggered a mousetrap rigged 12ga-shell while breaking into your storage shed. This case is even worse - its more like allowing the public to wander onto your property for years to access your free petting zoo, before one day deciding to bury landmines all over the place and post a sign informing people that you take no responsibility for the resulting carnage.