Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is

Continued from 'Shame On You, Sony'….

Sony's actions are unbelievably arrogant and egregious. How to punish them, and in doing so, ensure that their competitors (who pragmatically may have done similar things, and just not yet gotten caught) don't go down the same road? Pardon my cynicism, but lawsuits will do little but make lawyers rich. The U.S. Department of Justice seems to be more interested in pursuing copyright violators than in prosecuting large corporations (that happen to also be lucrative lobbyists).

Online petitions will be ignored. The RIAA praises Sony's 'responsible attitude'. It's been over a month now since the scandal first hit the headlines, and although some studies suggest that the affected artists are seeing sales plummet, others suggest there's been no impact. Bigger picture, though, a December 2 press release happily trumpeted that "Sony Achieves Record Sales in Its U.S. Stores and Online During Thanksgiving Holiday Weekend". Consumers don't seem to have gotten the message.

So what to do? Well, with what I'm about to say, I'm going to prove to you all that there's a tall, thick wall between advertising and editorial at EDN (or, if you find later this week that I'm no longer employed, feel free to come to a different conclusion….kidding!). Following in the footsteps of Wired's Dan Goodin, I have two words for you. Boycott Sony.

As a consumer, don't buy their music (pressed or download). Don't go to their movies, or buy their DVDs. Don't buy their hardware. And enlist your friends and family in joining the embargo.

As an engineer, don't use their chips, software and systems. And don't design their proprietary technologies for which they receive patent royalties, such as Memory Stick memory modules, SACD and Blu-Ray optical discs, and 4K digital projectors, into your systems.

Boycott them until they deeply feel the pain; until they get the message in their wallets, where it really hurts. They'll think twice about pulling a stunt like this again. So too, watching from the sidelines, will their competitors.

Shame on you, Sony.