On Friday Sony announced it would halt production of CDs including XCP technology. “We are aware that a computer virus is circulating that may affect computers with XCP content protection software,” the record label said in a statement Friday. “We stand by content protection technology as an important tool to protect our intellectual property rights and those of our artists. Nonetheless, as a precautionary measure, Sony BMG is temporarily suspending the manufacture of CDs containing XCP technology.”
Microsoft’s decision to remove the Sony rootkit may have been influenced by concerns that the software could interfere with the stability of Windows. Russinovich told the Windows news site Bink.NU that a software patch Sony issued to limit XCP capabilities could cause crashes in Windows during installation. Microsoft and Sony are also ferocious competitors in the gaming market, where Sony’s PlayStation 2 and Microsoft’s Xbox are the leading gaming consoles.