Sony BMG is pretty well known for acting like the piracy police, recently
attacking Baidu, Yahoo, and Sohu. Well, it seems the tables have
turned on one of the top music labels. The music giant is being accused of
software piracy by French software company, PointDev.
It all began back in November of last year when a Sony employee ran into
some trouble with Ideal Migration, software that allows businesses to
centralize the administration of servers and client accounts. The Sony
employee contacted PointDev, a company that makes Windows administration tools,
for some tech support. After learning that the employee had not registered
the software, PointDev did a little digging and discovered that the key that
allows customers to use the software beyond the trial version was pirated and
had been in use since the end of 2004.
In January, the software maker mandated a bailiff to seize Sony BMG’s assets
and found that four of its servers had the illegally installed software, reported
European Digital Rights. PointDev CEO, Agustoni Paul-Henry, is
claiming €300,000 damage (a little over $475,000) but has made it a point that
this is not about the money.
"We are not interested in an amicable settlement. It is not just a
question of money but more importantly in principle," claimed
Paul-Henry. He also took a bold stance stating, “According to the
Business Software Alliance, an association of the major publishers in the
market, 47% of programs used in the company would be unlawfully in France ...”
The question remains if this was the work of a single employee or if Sony
BMG was behind this. PointDev CEO sure has his opinion on the matter. “I
think piracy is linked to the policy of a company. If the employee has the
necessary funding to buy the software they need, it will. If this is not the
case, he will find alternative ways, as the work must be done in one way or
another."
What makes this so interesting is the level of hypocrisy on the part of Sony
BMG. After spending much time chasing music pirates, puckering their lips
as the MPAA and RIAA take a bow, and even going as far as installing rootkits
on customers’ computer to fight piracy, the music label has finally taken a
right hook square in the jaw.
Sony BMG has declined to comment and seems quite upset that this was even
made public, possibly giving credence to PointDev’s claim about the company’s
policy.