3 ms·

"operates within the laws of their country" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_rootkit https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_rootkit Doesn't excuse others illegal

by joeyh 12y ago

"operates within the laws of their country" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_rootkit https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_rootkit Doesn't excuse others illegal activities, but it certianly makes it easier to feel a certian level of schadenfreude in this case.

anigbrowl 12y ago
That was a decade ago, they paid out several million to settle the matter, and the actual impact of it was virtually nil. The endless harping on this transgression has reached the point of being posturing rather than substantive criticism.
- revscat 12y ago
  Possibly. The leaked emails have definitively shown that Sony is philosophically still very much the same company today that they were they released the rootkit. Ergo, the rootkit still holds up as an accurate symbol of Sony's culture, specifically their arrogant belief that the end justifies the means.
skuhn 12y ago
I thought about mentioning the root kit as well, since a lot of people get schadenfreude-y over it. I greatly disliked the root kit and that whole approach to treating your customers like criminals (d/b/a DRM), but I don't see this attack as giving Sony their just desserts. The root kit was attached to Sony BMG's products (CDs), and this current attack was against Sony Pictures. Sony is a giant conglomerate with 140,000 employees and who knows how many child companies. To top it off, Sony BMG was a 50/50 joint venture with Bertlesmann. The root kits first appeared on BMG CDs, suggesting that it originated at Bertlesmann and not Sony (although I don't know that and it doesn't excuse Sony anyway). While it's hard to measure the impact that the root kit had on Sony BMG's customers, it's safe to assume that most of them did not have their personal data disseminated all over the Internet and in newspapers. Whereas that's the reality Sony Pictures and their employees are currently dealing with. It also happened eight years ago. While not everyone may forget or forgive, I think it's more productive to respond to the way Sony treats me as a customer today versus a decade ago. That's how you encourage better behavior from a company, by rewarding them for doing a better job.

by joeyh 12y ago

anigbrowl 12y ago

That was a decade ago, they paid out several million to settle the matter, and the actual impact of it was virtually nil. The endless harping on this transgression has reached the point of being posturing rather than substantive criticism.

revscat 12y ago
Possibly. The leaked emails have definitively shown that Sony is philosophically still very much the same company today that they were they released the rootkit. Ergo, the rootkit still holds up as an accurate symbol of Sony's culture, specifically their arrogant belief that the end justifies the means.

skuhn 12y ago

I thought about mentioning the root kit as well, since a lot of people get schadenfreude-y over it. I greatly disliked the root kit and that whole approach to treating your customers like criminals (d/b/a DRM), but I don't see this attack as giving Sony their just desserts. The root kit was attached to Sony BMG's products (CDs), and this current attack was against Sony Pictures. Sony is a giant conglomerate with 140,000 employees and who knows how many child companies. To top it off, Sony BMG was a 50/50 joint venture with Bertlesmann. The root kits first appeared on BMG CDs, suggesting that it originated at Bertlesmann and not Sony (although I don't know that and it doesn't excuse Sony anyway). While it's hard to measure the impact that the root kit had on Sony BMG's customers, it's safe to assume that most of them did not have their personal data disseminated all over the Internet and in newspapers. Whereas that's the reality Sony Pictures and their employees are currently dealing with. It also happened eight years ago. While not everyone may forget or forgive, I think it's more productive to respond to the way Sony treats me as a customer today versus a decade ago. That's how you encourage better behavior from a company, by rewarding them for doing a better job.