• sab
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      1022 years ago

      I can’t believe I hadn’t heard of this.

      Sony BMG initially denied that the rootkits were harmful. It then released an uninstaller for one of the programs that merely made the program’s files invisible while also installing additional software that could not be easily removed.

      And then they just paid some settlements, recalled some CDs, and continued to operate as if nothing has happened. Bloody hell.

      • be_excellent_to_each_other
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        292 years ago

        I remembered there was a Part II to the story that made it even worse, but did not remember those details. Should have read my own link! Thanks for highlighting that because it truly is the icing on the cake.

    • Beto
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      172 years ago

      I worked for a startup that had as main investor a company called InterTrust. Our office was inside their building.

      InterTrust was a patent portfolio that belonged to Sony and Philips. All they did was sue people. One day they were able to sue Apple on some stupid patent, and there was much rejoicing at the office.

      • @Rozz@lemmy.sdf.org
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        42 years ago

        I hate when you need to install different software for whatever camera, music player, whatever that you had. Luckily that is pretty rare that proprietary software is required nowadays.

        • @SIGSEGV@sh.itjust.works
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          12 years ago

          I still miss my mini-disc player! I loved using it to record songs from the radio. I felt like I was truly living in the future, having such vast storage space (like, 50 low-quality songs, lol).

          • be_excellent_to_each_other
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            32 years ago

            I always wanted one, but by the time my disposable income and the price of a player met, they were on their way out. Always seemed like a really cool bit of personal tech to me though.

          • UKFilmNerd
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            22 years ago

            I loved my minidisc player. My first was a Sharp but that was stolen in a robbery. So I replaced it with a Sony NetMD which I loved even more. Due to the new compression, depending on the length of the albums, you could fit 3 or 4 onto one disc. Also it docked with the PC, so labelling and ripping was really easy. I bought a compatible in line remote which had a backlit LCD display which I loved. The chewing gum stick battery lasted ages and if it did run out of power, I could screw on a little compartment that’s held a AA battery and keep me going.

            I loved that little player.

        • @DangerMouse@lemm.ee
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          12 years ago

          I remember Sony forcing everyone to use their proprietary SonicStage software and proprietary ATRAC3 audio file format with their Mini Disc players. Nothing else would work on their products. Thank goodness big industries don’t influence governments worldwide, or we’d be heading into some kind of dystopia DRM-laden in every aspect of our lives. Oh wait…