Nickname: Mark Lyon

Review: The US class action lawsuits have been consolidated, and the case is nearing settlement. There are two class actions pending in Canada. Individuals can opt out of the class action lawsuits and sue on their own. All of the court documents from the cases, along with information about how victims can sue Sony BMG in small claims court, is available at http://sonysuit.com

Date reviewed: Jan 14, 2006 11:33 PM

Nickname: Aussie

Review: Better posting late than never :-) I returned my Sony, Dave Mathews "protected" CD and got my money back, and I have put my $2,000 HDR-HC1 camera purchase on hold indefinitely. For someone who has already spent about $8,000 on Sony products, I am appalled at the tactics Sony is using against me (and the rest of us). And considering the fact that a copy to analog and back to digital is so easy to do, this root kit won't stop piracy either! It just annoys loyal customers. Where is the class action suit for me to join?

Date reviewed: Dec 7, 2005 12:47 AM

Nickname: WES

Review: To the person named "Just Say No to Windows" you've got now idea what you're talking about. I've had Windows XP installed on my PC for over a year now and it's running great. As long as you don't open unknown e-mail attachments or go to sites you don't trust and keep a good anti-virus and firewall Windows XP works fine--you just have to be smarter these days with PCs, which isn't that difficult to do. However, what Sony did is install something that not only did you not agree to, Sony did so without your knowledge. And let's not forget it actually hides itself so you can't find it. When people are playing the CD that's all they're expecting--not for Sony to install a DRM that poses a security risk. Nope don't be stupid like Sony and lay the blame elsewhere. Sony is completely at fault for putting this crap on CDs. Sony should face legal action and I'm going to do my bit by boycotting their products and telling my friends and family to do the same.

Date reviewed: Dec 6, 2005 12:24 AM

Nickname: William Jacobs

Review: I don't buy Sony products whenever a reasonably priced alternative is available. Their stuff is unreliable junk. I bought 2 radios that were OOB failures and a CD jukebox that lasted a year before giving a disturbing rattling sound. Serious QA problems.

Date reviewed: Dec 5, 2005 3:27 PM

Nickname: Just say no to Windows!

Review: Buy a Mac, Build a Linux Box. Leave your Windows "yet another infection" behind. On the World's AIDS day, you can see how Windows suffers from a compromised immune system. Don't blame Sony for infecting your Windows. Blame Microsoft.

Date reviewed: Dec 3, 2005 4:25 AM

Nickname: AntiSony

Review: This is just typical Sony. I paid good money for a Sony DVD player, and I have always bought legitimate DVDs. Sony's aggressive approach to region protection means that I couldn't play most of my legitimate DVDs. Even after having the protection disabled (at some additional cost) it still won't play some disks. I will NEVER buy another Sony product, unless this company starts to focus on serving its customers.

Date reviewed: Dec 2, 2005 1:07 AM

Nickname: Stephen

Review: I think the music industry should abandon DRM altogether, and consider licensing Gnutella, FastTrack, and other P2P protocols. We have seen that DRM can be harmful to consumers, artists, etc and disrupts the methods people are used to use their content. Also, we have seen that DRM does not work. I have heard of people successfully ripping these discs, by disabling Auto Install, and using Exact Audio Copy, CDParanoia, and other tools. Also, some Macintosh and Linux computers were able to rip them. I also bet that these songs are on P2P already!

Date reviewed: Nov 30, 2005 9:05 PM

Nickname: Jack of all

Review: I feel sorry for the music artists as well as the actors whose movies are signed / distributed by Sony. In the past I would download songs and if I liked what I heard buy the album, if not I would just delete the songs. Unless Sony does something truly exceptional to change my mind I will never buy another Sony product. I said the same thing about GM cars 31 years ago and still will never buy another one. I currently own over 1000 CD's & 500 DVD's and I know a good portion are Sony/BMG. If even a third of US buyers refuse to purchase Sony products it will have a HUGE effect on their bottom line. DRM only suceeds in angering consumers, it does nothing to stop file sharing.

Date reviewed: Nov 30, 2005 9:00 PM

Nickname: Nathan

Review: This article contains misleading information, in my opinion. It nearly implies that one of the reasons why Sony's CD's don't work with the iPod is because Apple refuses to license Fairplay. This is false - any standard, non-Sony CD will work with the iPod and iTunes, and Apple's Fairplay is not ever involved. Sony's CD's don't work with the iPod because Sony's DRM spyware specifically prohibits transfer to iPod via the standard method of using iTunes - in fact, they do this most likely because they offer a competing product to the iPod, the Sony Digital Walkman.

Date reviewed: Nov 30, 2005 7:11 PM

Nickname: CrankyMan

Review: 1) America has been giving its corporations way too much license for decades. Time to put them on a leash. Note that it's not just Sony BMG, another subunit called SunComm has their own CD-DRM nastiness. 2) This story was uncovered and pursued largely on the Net. The site where I first learned about it was www.freedom-to-tinker.com, which has been following it from the beginning. Other helpful sites have been www.interesting-people.org (a bit less technical) and www.schneier.com (security expert Bruce Schneier). Go explore! Remember, knowledge is power!

Date reviewed: Nov 30, 2005 1:58 PM