All of us are following the Sony DRM "rootkit" issue, right?
Since this story broke, I've been asking the question if Sony's DRM software is going to be considered "malware" by the AV/spyware players. CA has answered that question for us, and the answer is "yes, it most certainly is". They've added it to the CA Spyware Encyclopedia, and has given it a very thorough analysis.
This is a good move for CA in my opinion; the home and corporate buying public has spoken loud and clear about their feelings about this software and I think CA is heeding that sentiment. Take 5 minutes and look through the ocean of responses and comments to Mark's SysInternals blog entries - note how many are from administrators experiencing pain:
I'm just some network admin. Just a couple hundred users, a few servers, nohting special. I've encouraged users to bring CD's in to work if they want to listen to music 'cause I don't really have the bandwidth to support a lot of streaming content. Silly me.
or
I am sysadmin ... This Sony's Rootkit just makes my work harder... Having this program installed calling home is a security risk that no sysadmin can take, period. No matter how you call it: rootkit, DRM, etc. It opens a door in an already difficult to secure OS.
I know what side I'd want to be on if I were an anti-spyware player. Kudos to CA for reading the market and taking a stand.