4 - The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, December 7, 2005 OPINION Clbe £ibitgux &ii1il JASON Z. PESICK Editor in Chief SUHAEL MOMIN SAM SINGER Editorial Page Editors ALISON Go Managing Editor EDITED AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN SINCE 1890 420 MAYNARD STREET ANN ARBOR, MI 48109 tothedaily@michigandaily.com NOTABLE QUOTABLE Forgive me for using the term 'fat little brother.' It is not a criticism, rather a suggestion that he do some exercises and go on a diet." - Cuban President Fidel Castro, speaking about Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, as reported yesterday by The Miami Herald. Indecent rubbing in France THE THUMBS HAVE IT King Kong French officials forced to fence off 19th cen- tury statue because of concerns about "inde- cent rubbing" of its groin area. If we were French, we'd riot too. Peter Jackson's $210 million blockbuster receives early five-star reviews. We haven't seen the film, but we'd give Naomi Watts five stars any day. A New Hampshire man named Ronald MacDonald was detained by police for robbing a Wendy's. Word has it the Burger King has his sights on KFC. Stay on guard, Colonel. Unsigned editorials reflect the official position of the Daily's editorial board. All other signed articles and illustrations represent solely the views of their author. Ham- burglary Ann Arbor District Library v. Sony BMG EMILY BEAM LOOKING FOR AMERICA ecognizing a growing trend, Sony BMG decided to fight back against villain- ous music-sharers by restricting how many times listeners can copy their CDs. Fight- ing technology with technology, last spring it started selling CDs that contain Extended Copying Protection software - a lovely euphemism for what is little more than a com- mercially distributed computer virus. The innocent-looking XCP software auto- matically installs itself on Windows comput- ers and limits listeners' ability to copy the CD's music - supposedly protecting Sony from untold lost profits. But while copy-pro- tection software keeps Sony safe, it also puts buyers' computers at risk. This type of pro- gram, called a rootkit, lurks on users' systems - undetected even by antivirus software - and makes computers more susceptible to viruses. Viruses happen, but who expects "The Essential Pete Seeger" to be the culprit? A blogger revealed the threat Sony's soft- ware poses in late October, quickly attract- ing national attention. The company at first provided only a flawed uninstall program that left computers even more vulnerable. Thomas Hesse, president of Sony BMG's global digital business division, told National Public Radio, "Most people don't even know what a rootkit is, so why should they care about it?" I must have misunderstood - as long as listeners don't know that Sony is violating their com- puter's security, there's no real harm done? By late November, the company recalled all affected CDs - 52 titles amounting to roughly 5 million discs - but ignored the Electronic Frontier Foundation's complaints about a similar Trojan horse-style program included with another 20 million CDs. It wasn't until yesterday that Sony finally issued an advisory on the second program. During the gap between the public's dis- covery of the risk and Sony's recall, one brave institution took action: the Ann Arbor District Library. Employees read about what was going on and promptly cancelled orders of CDs that contain the XCP software and pulled discs that contain it off the shelves. Just like run- of-the-mill library censorship, well-mean- ing library administrators sought to protect patrons from loaned materials. But unlike controversial literature, the CDs actually posed a threat. Eli Neiburger, tech manager for the library, said the choice was a no-brainer: "It's as if it were a book that had spikes stuck out in it." Sony has taken the spikes out of its CDs now, but what's next? It depends on how much consumers are paying attention. For now, the library will begin purchasing Sony's CDs again, and a handful of jaded buyers will look elsewhere for their music. As for Sony, every- one from the Electronic Frontier Foundation to the Texas state attorney general is fuming - and suing. If Sony can keep its 16 lawsuits (and count- ing) quiet, it seems likely that it'll simply find a bigger, better copy-protection program that does the job without jeopardizing computer security. Neiburger suggested that Sony's mistakes could generate the backlash needed to signal "the beginning of the end" of these sorts of restrictions, but I'm not that optimis- tic. Although companies are starting to real- ize the music industry needs more than just CD sales to survive, they're still trying to keep afloat by pegging themselves to the past. Sony's stubborn crusade to make sure buyers share CDs no more frequently than they share underwear fails to recognize that the game has changed. It seems absurd that Sony's innova- tion consists of little more than researching new ways to restrict its product's use. Neiburger mentioned that these music companies, along with other corporations struggling with copyright law, need to come up with a business plan that actually reflects the change in how consumers demand music. And indeed, a few companies have adapted - iTunes emerged out of the Napster mess as a copyright-friendly way to make money off digital media. But for all its popularity, Apple, not the buyer, is in total control. Apple can "change, suspend, remove, or disable access ... at any time without notice" to downloaded music - meaning that $0.99 music file isn't really yours at all. At a certain point, customers will want to actually own what they purchase, and they may be willing to pay a little more in order to be free of restrictions. But even as things stand today, it's not consumers' job to worry about what their music CDs could do to their com- puters. And it certainly shouldn't have to be the library's job to keep us safe from viruses. * Beam can be reached at ebeam@umich.edu. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Daily's editor in chief makes articulate case in defense of cartoon TO THE DAILY: Congratulations to Jason Pesick on a well- reasoned and articulate explanation of the Daily's mission and policies (Daily responds to critics, 12/06/2005). My only problem with his column is his stating, as the paper has many times since the cartoon in ques- tion ran, that some of the views expressed on the editorial page "do not represent the views of the Daily's editors or its editorial board." What "view," exactly, did the cartoon express? There was no opinion in the car- toon. All black students gain an advantage over all white students as a result of affir- mative action. Whether one supports affir- mative action or not, surely he can agree that this is, in fact, the definition of affirmative action. Was it not until this cartoon ran that the NAACP recognized the mechanisms of the program? Does the NAACP have some interest in hiding those mechanisms? If affirmative action is to be a legiti- mate policy of the University, its advocates must be able to support it for what it is: an advantage given to black applicants over white applicants. They traditionally do so by pointing out that the program is intended to level an unequal playing field created by the long history of slavery and discrimina- tion that black people have endured in the United States. I'm not sure what it says that there has been such an uproar over a car- toon that did nothing more than identify the primary purpose of affirmative action, but I'm sure it's not insignificant. Most problems relating to discrimination in this country will not be solved until we can have an open discussion of the issues. The uproar over this cartoon shows that we've got quite a long way to go before that discussion is possible. Tyler Mann Law student represented in the paper, and I would like to thank you for sticking up for those who may have opinions different than the major- ity here on campus. Breanne Hoernschemeyer LSA sophomore Pesick fails to see mora l reason for affimative action TO THE DAILY: In his explanation for the "provocative" car- toon, Jason Pesick sidesteps the entire point of affirmative action: to legally countervail the racial inequality found throughout the K-12 education system and the admissions tests. There is a "compelling need" for equality, not for diversity. If racial preferences in admis- sions were awarded only so the campus could be more "colorful," then they wouldn't be fair and Michelle Bien's cartoon (The Bean Archives, 11/28/2005) that started the uproar would not have been offensive. The cartoon and Pesick's argument justifying it are offensive because blacks, Hispanics and American Indians face additional burdens of discrimination against them in their K-12 educa- tion. There are exceptions - black students in good districts, white students in bad districts - but there is a distinctive, substantial, scientifical- ly demonstrable racial bias in the school system. Furthermore, it goes beyond which schools are good and bad, to the subtle forms of discrimina- tion that black and Hispanic people face in many ways. Again, this racial bias has been scientifi- cally established; there's no debate about it. Not only Pesick, but shockingly, the Univer- sity's legal team ignored virtually all of this evi- dence, resting its entire case on this so-called "compelling need for diversity" argument. It was actually BAMN's lawyers from the Law school who called the witnesses to prove this racial bias in court. For instance, Stanford Uni- versity Prof. Claude Steele testified how and why blacks and Hispanics get lower scores on standardized tests, even with socioeconomic status and grade level controlled for. Does Pesick understand WHY the cartoon was racist? Does he understand that affirma- ed that the Dow Chemical Company's denial of responsibility for the Bhopal gas disaster was neither highlighted nor challenged. Though the Daily mentioned the settlement reached between the Union Carbide Corporation and the Govern- ment of India, the article failed to explain that this settlement was reached without the consent of survivors and the gas-affected people of Bho- pal. This settlement only covers health care costs for survivors for three to five years, and many of the survivors can no longer work because of exposure-related illnesses. The article also mentions that the Indian Supreme Court closed the case filed by Bhopal victims to overturn the 1989 settlement. Unfortu- nately, it did not go on to explain that while ruling the settlement would stand, the court simultane- ously reinstated the criminal cases against Union Carbide and its former CEO Warren Anderson - who remain wanted for culpable homicide by the courts of Bhopal to this day. When the Dow Chemical Company acquired Union Carbide's assets in 2001, they also acquired their liabilities according to U.S., Indian and international corporate law. Union Carbide is now effectively owned by Dow Chemical. It is important that the corporation accept its liabili- ties in Bhopal and take responsibility, for thou- sands of lives depend upon it. Jayanthi Reddy LSA senior Apology needed before we can continue discussion TO THE DAILY: Two days ago, a Palestinian suicide bomber entered a mall in Netanya, Israel and blew him- self up, killing five people and wounding over 60. For those not familiar with Middle East politics, the city of Netanya is nowhere near any land claimed by these Palestinians. What were these people guilty of that they deserved to die? They were neither in the "territories," nor were any on military duty at the time. These people, may they rest in peace, were killed out of cold blood, for no rational reason. Until acts like this stop, and the people responsible for them neutralized, there can 0 Editorial Board Members: Amy Anspach, Andrew Bielak, Reggie Brown, Gabrielle D'Angelo, John Davis, Whitney Dibo, Milly Dick, Sara Eber, Jesse Forester, Mara Gay, Jared Goldberg Ashwin lagannathan. Theresa Kennellv. Mark Kuehn, Will Kerridge, Frank Man- I