"Anti-piracy" techniques install spyware on your computer

Fascinating read here, about how a copy-protected music CD from Sony installed a surriptitious program on a computer, hid itself completely from view, and made itself nearly impossible to remove without crippling the user's computer. These are the techniques of people trying to hijack your computer, the worst techniques of crackers, spyware, and viruses. What's different in this case is that it's a big well known company doing it. Mark's Sysinternals Blog: Sony, Rootkits and Digital Rights Management Gone Too Far