Most funny is that Sony themselves apparently violated copyright with the rootkit itself: It included code of the LAME MP3 encoder, mpglib, FAAC and others, and they didn't adhere to the licensing requirements of these.
I once flew from San Francisco to Frankfurt, and we were stopped by security because my brother had handcuffs in his baggage. (toys from Alcatraz sold as Souvenirs, but they were made of metal and looked quite real).
Can you imagine what would happen today if security found handcuffs in your bags at the air port? Back then, they smiled and put them back after my brother explained they were just toys. Unbelievable today.
It also really helps if you were born in a time where all this didn't exist. Just remember how we did this in the 90s. I do a live-like-in-the-90s-day about once a month now, and it is quite relaxing.