p2pnet - rss feed: Quebec Sony spyware settlement
p2pnet.net News:- In the latest instalment of the ongoing Sony BMG rootkit scandal, a Quebec court has approved a class action settlement for Sony music CDs which installed dangerous spyware on buyers’ computers without their knowledge or permission.
"The settlement relates to music CDs sold by Sony BMG (Canada) Inc. that included anti-copying software that would be secretly installed on a computer when it was inserted in a CD drive," says the CBC, pointing out the spyware DRM (digital restrictions management) consumer control software, "made it possible for a computer to be hijacked by an attacker or susceptible to a computer virus.
Ontario has already reached a similar settlement and, "The agreement now includes additional notification requirements on Sony and a comment from the judge that there were no findings with respect to the now-infamous Exhibit C," said Michael Geist, Canada research chair in Internet and e-commerce Law at the University of Ottawa.
Geist was the first to draw attention to Exhibit C, "an astonishing and hitherto well hidden affidavit from Sony’s Canadian Vice President, Legal and Business Affairs, Christine J. Prudham," as copyright expert Howard Knopf wrote. "That affidavit purports to explain why Canadians should be content to settle for no injunctive relief, whereas Americans will get injunctive relief against SONY’s outrageous conduct."
TheSony DRM, "could read and transmit the internet address of a person’s computer, which served to identify the user and send the information back to Sony BMG," says the CBC, quoting Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic (CIPPIC) executive director Philippa Lawson.
Says the Sony BMG settlement site:
The proposed settlement involves persons who bought, received or used SONY BMG CDs with either [First4Internet] XCP or [SunnComm] MediaMax software. If you have installed XCP software or MediaMax software on your computer, you will need to uninstall the software or download an important security update as part of this claim process.
If you have played a CD on your computer that contains either XCP or MediaMax 5.0 content protection software, you should update or uninstall the software to reduce your risk of security vulnerabilities.
Sony BMG is a member of the Big For Organized Music family which is currently trying to sue customers around the world into buying over-priced, low quality digital downloads. The others are Warner Music, EMI and Vivendi Universal.
All four are being investigated at federal and state levels in the US for alleged price fixing and bribery.
Stay tuned.
Also See:
CBC - Quebec court approves Sony music CD settlement, October 11, 2006
similar settlement - Canadian Sony BMG settlement, September 22, 2006
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