COPYCENSE

“Sony BMG has struck a deal with the plaintiffs in a class action lawsuit over copy-restriction software it used in music CDs, according to a settlement document filed at a New York court Wednesday.

“The record label has agreed to compensate buyers of CDs that contained the XCP and MediaMax DRM programs and to provide software utilities to allow consumers to uninstall both types of software from their computer.

“The furor over Sony’s DRM software began at the end of October when a U.S. programmer discovered that XCP software on a Sony music CD had installed copy-restriction software on his computer that was hidden using a rootkit. Antivirus companies later discovered Trojan horses that exploited this software to avoid detection and found that another type of Sony DRM, MediaMax, also posed a security risk.”

Ingrid Marson. Sony Settles ‘Rootkit’ Class Action Lawsuit. News.com. Dec. 29, 2005.

See also:

Lorraine Woellert. Sony BMG Ends A Legal Nightmare. BusinessWeek Online. Jan. 9, 2006.

The Gripe Line Web Log by Ed Foster. Unsettled by the Sony Settlement. Dec. 30, 2005.

Girard Gibbs & De Bartolomeo, LLP. Sony BMG CD Proposed Class Action Settlement. No date.

CopyCense™: K. Matthew Dames on the intersection of business, law and technology. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.