But enough of that, let's point the spotlight back at SonyBMG. Not that we want to, but US industry site HitsDailyDouble is still gossiping about those executive tensions at the merged major, and it would seem rude to ignore them.
The latest HitsDailyDouble reports on problems at the top of SonyBMG centre on who should take the blame for the PR disaster that has been unleashed by the use of that dodgy rootkit anti-piracy software on 50+ Sony releases. As previously reported, those former BMG on the SonyBMG board wanting to push top man Andy Lack out of his job, are reportedly trying to make him take the rap for the whole rootkit thing. But others argue that if anyone at the top of the major is responsible for the use of the rootkit technology, it is COO Michael Smellie, the highest ranking former BMG man at the merged company.
In its latest gossip round up, HitsDailyDouble confirms that, while it was Lack who wanted a quick fix solution to the problem of punters making multiple copies of music from SonyBMG CDs, it was Smellie and his team who set about picking which copy protection technology to use. The website says: "One of Smellie's direct reports is Thomas Hesse, President of SBMG's global digital business, who in turn passed the job of finding a solution on down to a techie functionary with a Senior Director title named Adam Sosinski. According to urban legend, Sosinski was the SBMG employee who was responsible". They say that rival camps within SonyBMG are know busy blaming Lack or Smellie for the rootkit fiasco, which is further heightening the Sony v BMG tensions within the company. HDD continues: "Never before have we seen such a public display of internal company badmouthing. Most have been expecting Sir Howard Stringer to do something to stop this horrific train wreck. Will he make a move to end one of the ugliest music business dramas before the year's end? Most insiders agree that corporately the company is a disaster and has become totally nonfunctional. Clearly, something's gotta give". So there you go. HDD will presumably report on any news in this area (though we hear they're taking an extended Thanksgiving break, so not in the next few days).
Staying with the rootkit anti-piracy software for a few more lines, latest reports from the tech community suggest that there is a simple way to stop CDs containing the technology from buggering up your computer, though you have to do it every time you use the CD. Two tech types from Gartner Research - Martin Reynolds and Mike McGuire - say that if you put a tiny bit of sellotape on the outer edge of the CD your computer will ignore the 'second session' that contains all the anti-piracy software, and will therefore treat the CD as if it is a normal unprotected release. Reynolds and McGuire: "The user simply applies a fingernail-sized piece of opaque tape to the outer edge of the disc, rendering session 2 - which contains the self-loading DRM software - unreadable. The PC then treats the CD as an ordinary single-session music CD". Of course SonyBMG won't want to publicise this cheap solution to the rootkit CD problem, because it also shows how easy it is to crack the vast majority of these DRM systems.