Sony DRM rootkit code (#20) Reviews Sony DRM rootkit code (#20) Reviews

Mark Russinovich found the Sony DRM rootkit after it was installed from a CD titled "Get Right with the Man" by Van Zant. As a result of his article in his blog, the music buying public has pummeled the CD in reviews on Amazon.com. Currently, it carries a one star rating (Amazon's lowest) almost entirely because of the DRM rootkit software. At last count, there were over 140 reviews, all negative, except for the first couple who reviewed the CD on its musical merits alone.

I do feel sorry for Van Zant, because this was not of their doing. Nevertheless, this appears to be spreading to other Sony CDs. None of those reviewers who panned the CD because of the DRM rootkit software expect to buy Sony CDs in the near future - at least not until Sony cleans up this mess. The questions though are how wide spread will the damage be to the company, and if it will die down in the near future? If not, then Sony's music business could take a big hit over this.