Quoting Chibiabos, reply 4
Setting aside the "we've heard all this yakkity yak before about this tech for decades," Sony is on my permanent boycott listanyhow due to their rootkit fiasco. Hackers that aren't incorporated get years or decades in prison, but because Sony is a corporation, it got little more than a slap on the wrist despite, essentially, willfully infecting millions of computers with what amounted to a rootkit virus and essentially hacking their paying customers' computers for their own ends. In my mind, Sony lost its right to exist as a corporation when it committed that, and they will never get another dime of my money. I will never buy a PlayStation, nor any music nor movie put out by Sony. I work very hard for the few dollars I have to spend, and I don't spend them on companies that have gone way too far with the power they've amassed.
I missed this. What are you referring to?
A cautious computer user discovered that between 2005 and 2007, Sony BMG created a rootkit virus (this is a special type of virus that alters your computer's operating system to hide itself so your antivirus cannot detect it, and in the process makes your computer vulnerable to other malware) it distributed on 22 million audio CDs ... these are normal audio CDs you would buy in a music store. If you placed one of these music CDs into your CD/DVD/etc. drive to play music on your compute from a audio CD you legally purchased, the rootkit virus Sony created would install onto your hard drive (bypassing all antivirus) even if you declined to install the autorun software on the disc. I repeat: the virus Sony created would install onto your computer even if you declined to install the audio CD's program that would autorun on your PC.
Mark Russinovich discovered this, and posted his discovery to his blog. There was, understandably, an outpouring of anger toward Sony, whom said the rootkit was harmless, but then offered an 'uninstaller' which merely unhid some hidden files installed by the audio CD rootkit, did not repair OS modification, and secretly installed new software that could also not be removed normally; further, getting the uninstaller required providing Sony with your e-mail address and agreeing to a EULA that analysists determined granted Sony the authority to resell to bulk e-mail lists.
There is more information and details here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_BMG_copy_protection_rootkit_scandal
Sony got less than a slap on the wrist, and only recalled one in ten of the intentionally infected CDs.
Unfortunately, consumers have a short memory, and Sony music, movies, and Playstation consoles and other tech is considered by many to be "must have," no matter what Sony has done in the past. Intentionally creating a virus that damages paying customer's computers is really beyond the pale for me, moreso doing so despite a customer declining to install software, and even moreso adding more malware with a supposed uninstaller for the first virus, so it doesn't matter to me how wonderful these VR headsets are if they're from Sony. If some small developer or website distributed music that did this, they'd be out of business ... in my mind, Sony doesn't deserve to be in business, but unfortunately the short memory of most consumers forgives and forgets a bit too readily.
