Sony rootkit case ends in customer pay-out and free downloads
May 23, 2006 | 15:56
Companies: #eff #electronic-frontier-foundation #sony
Sony has been ordered by a US court to pay out to anybody who bought a rootkit-infected CD.
A class-action lawsuit was brought against the entertainment film by the state of Texas. Around 15 million CDs were sold with the rootkit on.
Those who bought the software are entitled to $7.50 and a free album download or three free album downloads from Sony - although there's no word as to where those music downloads are going to come from, leading to the ironic possibility they might be DRM'd Windows Media or Sony Connect downloads.
"This settlement gets music fans what they thought they were buying in the first place: music that will play on all their electronic devices without installing sneaky software," said Cindy Cohn, legal director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) - the body that was amongst the first to rally against Sony.
Sony said it was pleased with the settlement - and so it ought to be. Given the damage that it caused, and the outrageous hubris of actually putting the software on the CDs in the first place, it could (and possibly should) have all ended a lot worse for them.
Are you pleased with the news? Will you be claiming your free music from Sony? Let us know over in the forums.
A class-action lawsuit was brought against the entertainment film by the state of Texas. Around 15 million CDs were sold with the rootkit on.
Those who bought the software are entitled to $7.50 and a free album download or three free album downloads from Sony - although there's no word as to where those music downloads are going to come from, leading to the ironic possibility they might be DRM'd Windows Media or Sony Connect downloads.
"This settlement gets music fans what they thought they were buying in the first place: music that will play on all their electronic devices without installing sneaky software," said Cindy Cohn, legal director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) - the body that was amongst the first to rally against Sony.
Sony said it was pleased with the settlement - and so it ought to be. Given the damage that it caused, and the outrageous hubris of actually putting the software on the CDs in the first place, it could (and possibly should) have all ended a lot worse for them.
Are you pleased with the news? Will you be claiming your free music from Sony? Let us know over in the forums.
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