I can't explain it better than the source but I couldn't ignore the announcement either.
Check out the details:
http://www.sysinternals.com/blog/2005/11/victory.html
It is sad to think that in the not too distant future, I might have to fire up a virtual machine in either VMWare or Virtual Server to rip audio CDs (that I've bought!) just because I'm afraid of software getting on my main machine. It turns me off to buying CDs. If Sony wonders why sales is down, it could be for reasons like this.
Movie execs are concerned with lower ticket sales too. I can honestly say I haven't downloaded a "ripped" movie from the Internet, but I know I've gone to less movies in the past few years. It is economics. Do I want to feed my kids or do I want to go to the movies? Well, of course I'd like to go to the movies, but feeding my kids comes first. Plus, product placements in movies and a half hour of commercials before the movie starts are really starting to grind away at the overall 'end-user experience' for me.
