14 DAY TRIAL // The Electronic Frontier Foundation has published a open letter to the CEO of Sony, asking that the company take responsibility for the problems caused by it's Digital Rights Management software. Sony should also retract any statement that the XCP software "is not malicious and does not compromise security", and in general act like a mature company.
The situation Sony is in is very similar to that which Johnson & Johnson faced in 1982. In the fall of that year, several people in Illinois died from taking Extra-Strength Tylenol. But J&J reacted immediately, they recalled over 31 million bottles of the medicine, loosing over 100 million dollars and launching a PR campaign of a magnitude that had never been seen before. Not only did the firm reaction prevent any further loss of lives, but it saved the company from potential disaster in the public eye.
Granted, no lives are going to be lost because of Sony's XCP, but the company needs to show the same candor, contrition and commitment to transparency that J&J showed back then, if the public is ever to trust them again.
Here are some of the things the EFF is asking Sony to do: ￭ Recall all CDs that contain the XCP and SunnComm MediaMax technology. The recall must include removing all infected CDs from store shelves as well as halting all online sales of the affected merchandise. We understand from a recent New York Times article that well over 2 million infected CDs with the XCP technology are in the marketplace and have yet to be sold. ￭ Remove from all current and future marketing materials statements like that on http://cp.sonybmg.com/xcp/english/updates.html that say the cloaking software "is not malicious and does not compromise security." ￭ Widely publicize the potential security and other risks associated with the XCP and SunnComm MediaMax technology to allow the 2.1 million consumers who have already purchased the CDs to make informed decisions regarding their use of those CDs. The publicity campaign should include, at a minimum, issuing a public statement describing the risks and listing every Sony CD, DVD or other product that contains XCP or SunnComm MediaMax. The publicity campaign should be advertised in a manner reasonably calculated to reach all consumers who have purchased the products, in all markets where the CDs have been sold.