For Sony, a Pain in the Image
Business Week
December 2, 2005
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/dec2005/tc20051202_241333.htm?campaign_id=topStories_ssi_5

	This article discusses some of the backlash that Sony has received from its
customers in the wake of the "rootkit" digital rights management debacle.  The
source of this backlash is the recent realization by a software developer that
the content protection scheme used on many new Sony/BMG CDs installed software
which uses "rootkit" like tactics.  These are techniques which effectively hide
the presence of the software from the computer owner.  Beyond the level of 
deception felt by customers, it was also revealed that sloppy engineering in the
DRM software allows viruses and worms to abuse the cloaking mechanism making
customer's computers vulnerable to attack.  This story was picked up recently
by the mainstream media, causing an outcry from both consumers and from the
government which has laws against installing this type of software.
	This article is interesting in light of several of the topics discussed
in class.  The first is the discussion of digital rights management.  This
case very clearly highlights the lengths that companies feel they have been
forced to go in order to protect their digital content.  The level of
"guerrilla" tactics that are embodied in the XCP software is somewhat
astonishing, especially as it has been adopted by a company as big as Sony.
This also indicates an interesting example of where the costs imposed by
copy-protection have created a major backlash by the customer.  Whereas the
discussion in class centered mainly on the impact on convenience (ie what
devices am I allowed to play my content on), this shows that the potentially
intrusive nature of DRM also can impact customers.
	Another interesting take on this article is its commentary on the network
effect provided by the Internet.  In this case the network effect is not
increasing the utility of a product, but rather serves to accelerate and grow
customer's expressions of dissatisfaction.  The article discusses customers not
only commenting about their distaste for Sony in blogs, but also in creating
boycott websites and signing up customers for class action lawsuits.  None of
these phenomenon are new, many other big companies like Best Buy and United Airlines
have had similar expressions of dissatisfaction directed toward them, but this
case shows how quickly a single event can crystallize into action.  Image consciousness
has always been a motivating factor for companies, but the persistence and wide
dissemination of the Web exacerbates the impact of image hiccups. Awareness of this
mechanism for consumers to share their dissatisfaction efficiently with each other
will increasingly be a must for any company, no matter how large.