Posted by Abe on 11/18/05 23:54

http://www.bbspot.com/News/2005/11/sony_photo_sharing.html

Los Angeles, CA - Many consumers are complaining about Sony's new
Cybershot DSCP515 camera that installs digital rights management (DRM)
software on the person's computer so they are unable to share their
digital pictures with anyone.

A Sony representative said it was part of its "increased vigilance in
combating copyright and trademark infringement."

"People are sharing pictures all over the Internet without regard to
copyright and trademarks. Just the other day I saw a Halloween photo
of a kid dressed up like Yoda. Don't they know that Yoda's image is
wholly owned by Lucasarts? That behavior needs to be stopped," said
Sony Vice president of Copyright Protection Clay Wilkerson.

The DRM is similar to the one which Sony recently came under fire for
on its music CDs. That software installed rootkits on consumer's
computers making them vulnerable to cyberattacks.

"Picture sharing flies under the radar when it comes to piracy," said
Wilkerson. "People know about the dangers of music and movie piracy,
but not about the dangers of sharing personal photos. What happens if
a person takes a picture of Mariah Carey's latest CD? Think of the
children."

The system which also makes it difficult to print out pictures has
prompted complaints from consumers. "I tried to send a picture of my
daughter to her Uncle Tim, but this window popped up saying it was
blocked. I decided to print it out and mail it to him. There was a
14-page license agreement that printed out first that I had to fill
out and fax to Sony so they could send me an authorization code to
print out the picture."

Wilkerson doesn't think the lack of photo sharing capabilities will
hurt the sales of their digital cameras. "We've hidden the protection
so the consumers won't notice it when they buy it, and our draconian
return policy will prevent any returns. Problem solved."

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