Gartner has posted a research note on its site, saying that it has discovered that the "stealth" DRM software that has put Sony in the limelight for all the wrong reasons, can be easily defeated.

Gartner's analysis states that Sony BMG has made a prudent decision - after more than ten days of intense criticism from industry observers and consumer advocates - to end the use of its highly controversial DRM technology. This decision will help the company recover from what has become a serious public-relations problem, but Sony BMG still faces lawsuits filed by PC users who allege that their PCs have been damaged by the technology.

The research note on the Gartner site says that what makes the Sony BMG incident even more unfortunate, is that the DRM technology can be defeated easily. The user can simply apply 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, and the commonly used CD "rip" programs continue to work as usual. (Gartner emphasizes that it does not recommend or endorse this technique.)

Moreover, even without the tape, common CD-copying programs readily duplicate the copy-protected disc in its entirety. For these reasons, Sony BMG's DRM technology will prevent neither informed casual copiers, nor high-volume "pirates" from doing whatever they like with the content on the disc. It does, however, load "stealth" software - software that has been demonstrated to have suspect effects - on uninformed users' machines.

The research note goes on to say, "The bottom line: Sony BMG has created serious public-relations and legal issues for itself, and for no good reason."

Gartner also maintains that after more than five years of trying, the recording industry has not yet demonstrated a workable DRM scheme for music CDs. The research and analysis provider believes, that it will never achieve this goal as long as CDs must be playable by stand-alone CD players. The industry may now re-focus its attention, on seeking legislation requiring the PC industry to include DRM technology in its products.

Gartner believes the industry would be better-served by efforts to develop solutions that use DRM as an accounting/tracking tool, rather than as a lock. This approach would enable them to move to play-based business models not tied to hardware, and to track their digital assets without complicating users' ability to move legitimately acquired content to whatever devices they choose.
Sony BMG faces public-relations and legal problems because of the "stealth" digital rights management (DRM) software installed on some of its music CDs.

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