Here’s an interesting bout featuring not one, but two crippled combatants. One hobbled by shoddy electronics and the other shackled by leaden copyright protection software.

After not making last year’s competition, some WCIA prognosticators predicted Sony had peaked after 2005’s rootkit extravaganza, in which its copyright protection software allowed computers to possibly become infected by malware. But they also said the Walkman would never survive the iPod… Oh wait.

Regardless, this plucky pugilist pulled together its legal team and came out slugging in recent months, earning its tournament spot by going after its incredibly dedicated PlayStation fan base for daring to tinker with the device.

Similarly, there were those who predicted that Dell wouldn’t be able to live down its first-round knockout at the incompetent hands of HP last year. But with what appears to be an increased focus on ineptitude and byzantine customer service, the Texas Titan has let it be known it will be a cold day in Dell Hell when its logo doesn’t grace the WCIA brackets.

This poll is now closed. Congratulations Sony! See you in Round Two!

This is a post in our Worst Company In America 2011 series. The companies competing for this honor were chosen by you, the readers. Keep track of all the goings on HERE.
See and print the entire WCIA 2011 bracket, here.

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