I knew him before fame...

David Eisner, a blogger and software developer at the University of Maryland's Computer Aided Life Cycle Engineering Center, believes the record label's actions will ultimately backfire and drive otherwise legitimate customers to download pirated music from the online file-sharing networks.

"The people they're trying to stop from stealing their music are always going to find a way around these types of technologies," Eisner said. "Sony is just hurting people who obtain their products legally, and many of these same people are now going to think twice about doing so."