[HarryT]

Originally Posted by kacir

Good faith is the key word here.

The problem is, that I *personally* do not think they acted in good faith. My judgment is partially based on:
- a very arrogant first response of Sony BMG's Global Digital Business President Thomas Hesse,
- their trying to cover up after they were informed about the problem (weeks before the scandal broke out),
- the fact that their rootkit remover did not remove their installation
- the fact they also used other, highly dubious "protecton" for their CDs
- the fact that they never properly apologized
- general longtime experience with Sony

It certainly sounds as though they could have handled it better, I agree with you. I have, however, been a long-time buyer of Sony products (I am writing this e-mail on an excellent Sony VAIO notebook) and personally believe them to be a company which produces high-quality products. I appreciate that other people may feel differently.

I do think, however, that they do have right to use whatever super draconian protection scheme they wish on their music CDs, as long as they do not endanger innocent bystanders, and as long as their DRM protected CDs are clearly marked as such.

I agree with you.

I think that DRM crippled media should be clearly marked the way the cigarettes are marked here in the EU by a big, bold text stating something like this:
"This media is protected by DRM technology [insert name here] and you might be unable to use it in certain players/circumstances"

Again, I agree.