Sony Boycott Voices Grow Louder As Company Gives Weak Response To Rootkit Controversy

Even as Sony has said they will stop producing the controversial rootkit copy-protected CD’s angry voices against the company are growing louder.

Under the headline "BOYCOTT SONY" Wired.com reporter Dan Goodin writes, "Friday’s announcement was inadequate to say the least. Sony, which has yet to say how many CDs carrying the XCP software remain on store shelves, stopped short of issuing a recall, a necessary step if consumers are ever to trust Sony with their computers again. And it still owes customers who have loaded the XCP software onto their machines an easy way to get rid of it…Add to these failures the utter lack of contrition shown by the label and its executives and you get what’s effectively an unforgivable combination…All of which goes to show that a mealy-mouthed apology is worse than no apology at all."

The blog BoycottSony.us declares, "…there’s still plenty of work to be done if we are to achieve our goal of being treated like the music lovers we are rather than the criminals that Sony’s DRM assumes us to be…For starters, there’s Sony’s other DRM. Remember, the XCP protected discs were deployed by Sony BMG…Sony has its own set of labels, including big ones like Columbia and Epic, as well as smaller labels distributed through Sony like ATO (home of My Morning Jacket and Mike Doughty). And those releases have a different DRM scheme—the Suncomm scheme.."

As of this morning more than 3500 people had signed an online anti-Sony petition, and over the weekend Microsoft and other companies providing anti-virus services began to add ways to block or remove Sony’s software from infected PC’s.

If Sony has any desire to regain consumer confidence they must immediately:

1) Issue an official list of infected CD’s and offer a free recall program to replace them.

2) Provide instructions as to how to remove the offending software.

3) Pledge not to use invasive copy protection schemes in the future.

Anything less will only lead to greater distrust from consumers who are already offended by RIAA lawsuits, onerous pricing schemes, and a general belief that major labels rip-off rather than serve their favorite artists.