Would You Install Any Software From Sony At This Point?
from the big-trust-hurdle-there... dept
Sony is out talking about their new video softphone offering that sounds sort of like a Skype clone with video functionality (it's possible to add video to Skype already through some third parties). Of course, the market for video calls still isn't totally clear, despite breathless predictions about the space for the past forty years. It turns out that many people prefer to be heard, not seen, when talking to people. However, a bigger question is whether or not the whole rootkit fiasco will make people afraid to install any software from the company. Obviously, the rootkit issue is totally separate, built by an outside firm (First4Internet) and then offered by a separate subsidiary, Sony BMG. However, the Sony name has been pinned to the whole situation, and that may cause plenty of people to have second thoughts about installing any kind of software from Sony for fear of what it might be doing to their system.
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Nope
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yeah i dont like sony no more
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Re: Nope
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Re: Nope
Sony is now taking a big hit but is not the only company doing things wrong, in fact other companies might now make a profit because of this while doing the exact same thing sony was doing.
I find it rather naiive to completely stop buying sony products, just my opinion. Plus get a good spyware remover, that should do it.
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Re: Nope
There has to be punishment for bad behavior otherwise they will continue the behavior and keep pushing to see how far they can take it.
We can't say well everyone's doing it, so we gotta put up with it..
Hit em where it hurts. Their wallets.
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NO!!
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Buy Sony Products? ...hmmmmm
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Forget it
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Re: Forget it
As long as the softphone program is a good product, I’ll be using it.
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Re: Forget it
Not that SONY violated the law, your rights and then said who cares?
Sorry I am not that forgiving. I feel the only power/vote I have left is the buying power my meager wages give me.
No SONY for me!
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Re: Forget it
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ha... you pseudo-offended idiots!
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Re: ha... you pseudo-offended idiots!
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Re: ha... you pseudo-offended idiots!
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Companies think there is a demand for PAY video ph
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Such is the downside of having a brand
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I for one welcome our new Sony overlords...
Besides Techdirt, CNET and Fark, I haven't seen any media coverage of this.
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Um... no...
This is sadly just another case of a little PR, and as they say, there's no such thing as bad publicity. Look at it this way... if the music industry weren't so insanely profitable, would they be fighting this hard to protect it? And as long as we're on the subject, would there be so many completely talentless, intellectually inept morons getting rich from it?
For all of the RIAA lawsuits filed, does anyone seriously believe that the effort isn't bleeding red numbers due to the legal fees and tiny settlements they get in return? That is well funded by record labels and there's still enough cash left over to make the likes of Brit and K-Fed wealthy.
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No Subject Given
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No Subject Given
As far as future purchases go, if it's worth the money and the best available product I will buy it.
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Re: No Subject Given
That's a rather stupid statement. Not everyone knows how to do this and not everyone would want to for various reasons. Why should it be their fault to face this type of problem?
The mistake lies with SONY, not with them. Put it where it belongs.
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Re: No Subject Given
If you can't take the time to learn how to access software on a cd without autorun you are just plain lazy. Learn how to use your computer. Do you blindly open email attachments? No? Why? Because you don't want to expose your computer to viruses. So why let your cdrom run anything it wants?
Would you say locking the door to your house is stupid? How about your car? The best way to keep unwanted things out is to make sure they can't get in.
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What's the big deal?
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Re: What's the big deal?
And it's not that Sony got caught doing something sleazy. All corporations do sleazy things to try to maximize profits. It's practically mandated in our legal code that corporations act this way. For me, it's about how they handled it (and that DOES go beyond the division level) after they got caught with a hand in the cookie jar.
Now the icing; there was GPL licensed code in their DRM system? They violated copyright to protect their own copyrighted material. That's beautiful!
I doubt I'll buy Sony again.
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Re: What's the big deal?
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Re: What's the big deal?
The reluctance Sony showed in correcting it kind of shows otherwise.
And it's a matter of principle now. Are you willing to prop up a corporation whose objective is to strip your rights using legal and/or illegal methods to do so?
And, I don't see why I have to accept an EULA if I pay money for a CD
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Re: What's the big deal?
It IS a big deal. Sony made a "mistake" that could easily turn 500,000 PCs into zombies snding spam. And they have not yet figured out how to give us software to correct their mistake.
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Re: What's the big deal?
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Re: What's the big deal?
Our apologies to you and all the other "bleeding-heart" EULA reading liberals out there if we offended you.
Maybe these companies should think about writing those stupid things in some language other than "LEGALESE" so that more people could actually UNDERSTAND them.
A cute little cartoon format like "Penny Arcade" would be a nice change...
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sony's style
I own a 5 disc sony cd player
2 sony recievers
1 sony television
have bought 3 sony dvd players over the years
I have a sony vcr
and I used to be really proud of that
I honestly will not buy sony equiptment anymore INCLUDING the ps3
and I will never under any circumstances buy music from another sony artist
even if it is modest mouse
-dead serious
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I would on someone else computer if I hated them e
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No sony for me
http://dewinter.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=215
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hell no we wont go
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Install Sony Software?
It is because I am truly afraid of how their next lowdown, dumbass trick might affect my system. They have proven to me beyond the shadow of a doubt that they A) don't trust me, and B) can not be trusted themselves. I will never install ANY Sony software again, ever, period.
Now, as to their A/V hardware, well that's another story...
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Sony Music is not Sony Electronics
Will I buy Sony again? Yes, if the price is right. But I will eye anything that goes into my PC with suspicion from now on.
Trust no one.
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Sony - Who would buy . . . . . .
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No Subject Given
as far as the ps3 goes, we'll have to see what happens with the rumors of the software key for games and that they may only be able to run on one system. i hope for sony's sake they arent dumb enough to try it, but i've heard of dumber things, i guess. if they do that, i may just have to mod an old xbox and stick with that and my ps2.
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Sony be gone!
I will never buy a sony product again, and im telling all of my dj friends that use sound forge/acid about the rootkit. Sony really shot them selfs in the foot with this one.
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Yep, but...
So will SERE still get money for my aibo? Yes. WIll I still buy games from SCEE? Absolutley. Would I buy a physical Sony BMG CD...I sincerly doubt it.
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sony products
sony digital tv box, hi-fi, car stereo and cd changer, aiwa minidisc running on sony systems
none of them have given me a problem, except the pc software for the minidisc,
this whole incident will not prevent me buying most sony electrical equipment, and nor should it anybody else, with the except of anything that goes on the pc
and even then if we stopped using that company because of a mistake there wouldnt be any companies out there, micrsoft, ibm, any of them, we would have boycoted each and everyone
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Of course...
This article should've been a poll, then we wouldn't have so many repetitive comments.
The question worth asking is how many non-Techdirt-reading folks do you know who are clued-up on Sony's evilness? I, for one, made sure my Dad knows not to stick a sony CD in his spodbox, for example.
Obviously, my data: It should go without saying that I've been anti-Sony ever since some droid in one of their shops described my first walkman as "buggered" in front of my mother. The datum I bought a minidisk recorder in subsequent years is a sign that I gave them a second chance. The fact that my telly is a panasonic says I consider their offerings to be overpriced. Plus I don't do gaming machines, let alone when they set out to restrict my imagination in what I can run on such a toy. As for the rootkit? I knew they were evil, now I'm sure and I have enough ammunition to go on with for decades to come. One of my hats is being a sysadmin, so the existence of thousands of CDs out there just waiting to infect unsuspecting/idiot users' machines gives me palpitations.
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Never buying any product (including home electroni
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Competition
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Sony Sucks
Not that I'm annoyed, particularly...
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Full boycott
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Re: Full boycott
I am never gonna take up anything which has anything to do with sony, unless they come out in public and appologise for their dirty work and promise not to do it ever again.
after all this i would rather download pirated music then buying music.
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Re: Full boycott
These days, the suits at these uber-corporations may not care if I call or send in a complaint (customer service is dead), so I simply boycott them. I have a list of companies I will no longer do business with, and Sony is on it now. I may not be doing much damage, but I feel better about not giving them my money.
How many of you are constantly getting hosed by companies, yet you still give them your money? Answer is, most people do.
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wired article
http://www.wired.com/news/privacy/0,1848,69601,00.html?tw=rss.TOP
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Not if there's an alternitive
But I can buy a stereo, portable CD (cassette), laptop, MP3 player, car stereo from a number of other vendors.
The only things I can think of as sony exclusives are the artists on Sony Records, Sony movie DVDs, and Playstation.
I don't have to buy it from Sony. I bought from Sony in the past because their stuff was elegant and worked well. Apple & Sony have lots in common in design.
This root kit is an ugly scar and it signals a move away from elegent design which is the whole reason to buy Sony in the 1st place.
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No Subject Given
Some of you are kindly (or stupidly) turning a blind eye by claiming that Sony is comprised of so many divisions that it doesn't matter or have an effect that "one" of them made a bad decision. Yet you fail to see that the demise of the Walkman and its' marketplace stature can be traced back to their becomming a media company. It should be shameful to them that another company [Apple in this case] was able to walk all over them. It is only in the last year that they have made an [and note that it is only half-hearted] effort to make a Walkman capable of playing anything other than their own proprietary ATRAC encoding. MP3's can now be played on them, but only by transfer with their accompanying media management software - you can not drag and drop files to and from them as an open device... I fault the ipod for this technicality as well, but at least it will accept and play mp3's.
MiniDISC never took hold due to this same sillyness. And they still insist on making Laptops and computers that do not support Compact Flash or SD card memory, instead holding fast to their own Memory Stick format.
In truth, Sony's in-bred, closed-mindedness had turned me away as a customer long before this Rootkit bullshit.
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No Subject Given
I've really heard their name being drug through the dirt in all aspects lately.
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Nevermore
At the time, it seemed like a good idea to buy Sony.
From this day forward I will buy NO Sony products of any sort. That's just my position and I act according to my beliefs.
Your mileage may vary.
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Boycott Sony
Fuck the bastards all to hell.
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Sony
As for the rootkit I refused to buy the new CD by Neil Diamond when I found out Sony without asking me was goind to infect my PC.
They seem to think we are all crooks trying to rip them off. All they are doing is killing themselves! The music industry has got it all wrong. Go after the people who really steal the music and not people like me and others who would like to make a copy of a few CD's and not in mass to give away or sell. At some point in time all a DVD or CD burner will be good for is to copy data files because I'm sure if Sony can figure it out I won't even be able to make movies from my personal home videos.
Go SamSung!!!
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Neil Diamond
I would not install any software from Sony at this point.
I'm a typical consumer and before this I rarely looked at who produced a CD at the music store. Now I will take the time to look and be mindful of buying anything that says either BMG or Sony or whatever. I'll just pick another CD to buy instead. I don't want any viruses on my computer.
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Sony? No thanks!
Besides which, I seem to recall that they're charging about $10 per month *and* 8 cents per minute for their "best" package. I don't know what they're smokin', but I sure as hell ain't buyin'.
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