Thanks to Stephen Judd for directing me to the EFF translation of the Sony BMG End User License Agreement for its malware music CDs. Who knew that if you're declared bankrupt you have to erase all the music you've bought from your computer? Seriously. Click the link for more surreal copyright lunacy.
I've had a number of emails about the Sony CDs. IANAL, but Anthony Trenwith is, and he says:
Sony BMG installing malware on consumers' computers is not new behaviour for the recording industry. A similar story last year involved the Beastie Boys album "To the Five Boroughs" installing an executable file (a virus by any other name) when inserted. As The Register rightly pointed out at the time this is in fact highly illegal!
In New Zealand, I can think of several of our e-crime laws which this falls foul of. Firstly, Sony BMG are accessing computer systems without authorisation and gaining a benefit of one kind or another.
Even without any gain on the part of Sony BMG it's still illegal because they're gaining access to computer systems without authorisation - pure hacking in other words.
Sony could also be done for damaging users' computer systems or for simply modifying the data in them (that is, by installing a file without permission).
One other thing - most countries have e-crime laws of one sort or another, and Sony BMG no doubt sell these CDs in most countries. All this adds up to the potential for a lot of potential for prosecution and lot of stress for the folks at Sony!
Oddly enough, Inspector Knacker of the Yard - or rather, Colonel Umberto Rapetto of the Guardia di Finanza - is already on the case in Italy, where a cyber-rights group has made a complaint.
In other news, the patch Sony BMG issued to un-hide its hidden code on your computer is so badly written that it might cause your PC to crash. The Register has more on this, plus news that the DRM code is playing havoc with corporate anti-virus systems and the rather blithe response of President of Sony BMG's global digital business division Thomas Hesse. I interviewed Hesse for The Listener in July, before the storm blew up.
Corante's Copyfight page has links to useful information, including how to tell whether you've been infected with the Sony BMG DRM.
Terrible news! An MIT study (yep, really) has determined that the time-honoured tinfoil hat will not stop the government beaming secret radio signals into your head and may in fact amplify the radio waves.
Or is that just what they want you to believe?
You know by now, of course, that all the New Zealand Herald's "premium content" pieces are being automagically sucked out and re-posted in the Herald Premium Content blog. Illegal of course, but very handy. It means that I can actually direct you to today's Herald editorial potting Gerry Brownlee for his embarrassing behaviour this week:
Gerry Brownlee, Deputy Leader of the Opposition, no doubt fancies himself in the leader's shoes one day. But if he wants to be taken seriously by anybody else he should abandon the kind of outburst he made against the Governor-General this week.
Quite.
Anyway … I'd best be off preparing for Karajoz Great Blend weekend. You'll know if you've RSVPd, and both the Auckland and Wellington events with Ashley Highfield, Ladi Six and Pitch Black are full - especially Wellington.
There will be a sausage sizzle and a few nibbles at the Hopetoun Alpha in Auckland, and the British Council is laying on some snack platters in Wellington. In Auckland, it'll be a cash-only bar.
You may also want to bring a little cash to buy the new Activity Press title, Trade Me Success Secrets by Michael Carney, which the author will be selling in Auckland. I'll also have signed copies of Great New Zealand Argument for sale, and hopefully David Slack will be selling Civil War and Other Optimistic Predictions and Graham Reid will be selling Postcards from Elsewhere, although you might have to catch them between drinks.
Please do try and be there around 6pm, because we have a very full programme in both cities. The running order in Auckland is: opening speech, Ladi Six, Ashley Highfield onstage interview, Great Blend TV, panel discussion, Pitch Black. For Wellington: opening speech, Ashley interview, panel discussion, Ladi Six. I've added Mikee Tucker from Loop to the Wellington panel.
Tell the babysitter not to expect you home till about 10.