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About two months ago one of our readers sent a message to representative Sherrod Brown about some issues of consumer protection. You can read the original post here. Well, Sherrod Brown apparently responded to this letter a few days ago. It doesn’t appear to be a form letter, so its either very well done or it was actually written by Mr. Brown himself.

Dear [posters name]: Thank you for expressing your concerns about the spyware included by Sony BMG on the company’s music CDs. The “rootkit” installed upon accepting the CD’s user agreement gave the multinational corporation unannounced access to every user’s computer. Though defended by the media giant as a copyright protection device, the rootkit was widely criticized as a form of the “Trojan horse” spyware used by hackers to camouflage unauthorized access to personal computers. Sony BMG agreed to exchange media containing the rootkit software for media without the software, and the company has settled class action privacy suits for millions of dollars. The Texas Attorney General has filed suit on behalf of that state’s consumers, and the New York Attorney General has urged New Yorkers not to buy affected CDs and retailers not to sell them. And Stewart Baker, Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security for Policy has raised concerns about the potential of this technology to undermine personal and business computer security. Multinational corporations often do too little to strengthen consumers’ privacy. Sony BMG’s rootkit software may signal an even more disturbing trend – a deliberate effort by multinational conglomerates to undermine the privacy and security of their customers. As Congress debates privacy legislation, I will keep these concerns in mind. Thank you for your comments.

Although I find any mention of the Homeland Security Department to be disheartening when mentioned with issues of privacy, I think the letter as a whole is positive.