“A federal judge on Monday gave final approval to a settlement in a class action suit against Sony BMG Music Entertainment over anticopying software the company had embedded in some music CDs,” Anne Broache reports for CNET. “The agreement (click for PDF) covers anyone who bought, received or used CDs containing what was revealed to be flawed digital rights management (DRM) software after Aug. 1, 2003. Those customers can file a claim and receive certain benefits, such as a nonprotected replacement CD, free downloads of music from that CD and additional cash payments.”
“The court action picked up last fall when security researchers discovered vulnerabilities posed by two pieces of software, First4Internet’s XCP and SunnComm’s MediaMax, which are automatically installed on a user’s computer upon loading certain Sony BMG music CDs,” Broache reports. “Under the terms of the final settlement, Sony BMG definitively agreed to continue halting manufacture or distribution of CDs containing the two programs.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Note: From the settlement: Settlement Class Members will be able to select promotional codes usable to download the specified album contents from any one of three (3) major download services. SONY BMG will use commercially reasonable efforts to ensure that one of the three download services offered as an option to Settlement Class Members is the “iTunes” service. The promotional codes will be fully transferable, and will expire no less than 180 days after they are issued.
This seems like an opportune time to end our boycott of Sony products. Now, if Sony would only ship a product that we’d like to buy.
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Related articles:
Federal judge tentatively approves Sony BMG tainted CD rootkit settlement – January 07, 2006
Sony BMG rootkit settlement may offer free Apple iTunes albums as compensation – December 29, 2005
Trouble snowballs for Sony – December 22, 2005
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Texas expands tainted CD lawsuit against Sony BMG – December 21, 2005
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Sony sued over copy-protected CDs – November 10, 2005
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Report: Sony copy-protected CDs may hide Windows rootkit vulnerability – November 01, 2005
Analyst: Sony BMG’s boycott of Apple’s iTunes Music Store Australia won’t last long – October 24, 2005
Apple launches iTunes Music Store Australia – October 24, 2005
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Record company causes Apple to hit ‘pause’ on Australian iTunes Music Store – May 05, 2005
Well SONY/BMG has been punished, they realized their mistake. I don’t think we should ever forget what they did.
(I suspect they were motivated by someone high up in the RIAA to install this homebrewed DRM scheme)
SONY/Hardware Division has created the BlueRay DVD format and the Playstation 3, which if it wasn’t for that it would be Microsoft/Intel HD-DVD and M$ X-Boxes.
Since we hate Microsoft more than SONY….
Sony sucks the root.
All participants in the settlement will be given 100 Coke® bottles with special twist-off caps. You too could be a winner!
So what do we do?
1: Hate Sony/BMG Music – boycott only music related (except iTunes purchases)
2: Hate Sony/BMG Music – boycott all music (even iTunes purchases)
3: Hate Sony entirely – boycott all products, music and hardware, (and embrace M$ products eventually)
Your choice, you decide.
Sony was just stupid & greedy, these two are marketing products to anyone who will buy them that infringe upon established fair use. I wonder how much of the settlement will come out of their pockets.
Sony was just stupid & greedy, these two are marketing products to anyone who will buy them that infringe upon established fair use. I wonder how much of the settlement will come out of their pockets.
Sony made the Powerbook 100. Maybe you could pick up one used. Still a great machine.
can Sony do anything right these days?
Trust is earned, this will take some time.
Wow are you people nutz, Sony has the power to create their own OS and kill iMacs.
Phoney Sony:
Sony lack the experise and experience to write an OS. You can’t crack a nut with a sledgehammer and expect and expect to eat it’s fruit.
“Ding” hommmmmmm………..
I think this settlement is pretty lame compared to the damage this rootkit may have done to some people’s PeeCees. There were viruses out in the wild the very next week that exploited this hole. Someone’s computer had to have gotten screwed up by this disaster. Let’s just hope they were smart enough to throw it away and get a Mac.
And all this time I thought that “rootkit” was a collection of Speedo repair tools.
Amazing how corporations get away with anything these days.
Had an individual created that malware and spread it as they did, that person would be looking at 10 years in jail minimum.
They are the knights who say, “so NI!”
Forgiving is meaningless; forgetting is something else. Sony will need to demonstrate clear superiority for any of its products before I ever consider buying their brand. And I don’t see it happening.
If you think Sony is going to stop researching ways to protect their greed, forget it. They just got caught this time, and will be more careful the next.
Wait until Blu-Ray devices……
This seems like an opportune time to end our boycott of Sony products. Now, if Sony would only ship a product that we’d like to buy.
I can recommend the Sony CFD-440, a ~$100 “portable stereo” (boom box) of modest size and impressive sound quality. Excellent choice for dorm, home office, some work-spaces. Been around for years with minor cosmetic changes.
As for music sold by Sony? Leave it on the shelf.
I think the RIAA duped SONY/BMG into the DRM schemes.
Possibly another music label in cahoots with the RIAA, they knew people would revolt.
Make Sony remember its mistake….DONT BUY their products or music CD’s, and MAYBE they won’t do it again
MDN said: “his seems like an opportune time to end our boycott of Sony products.” Why?
A court forces legal remedy down Sony’s throat and you figure it’s a good time to end your boycott?
If I boycott a organization, it’s because of that organization’s actions not because a court hasn’t gotten around to forcing legal remedy down their throats.
MacMania and affiliates will continue to boycott Sony, $ymantec, MacAfake, et al.
I truely don’t know if I will ever buy another Sony product again. Yu’al gotta look at their track record. 1) They got caught paying for favorable movie reviews, 2) They out right lied on their 8track format and the number of songs you could put on their mp3 type player…with bit rates that low, old 8 track tape cartridges sounded better, and 3) This root kit invasion…There are serious problems with this company. I just wonder what else they have done and not been caught….it just goes on and on…If anyone were to really get inside and report, I believe that we all would be surprised. Has anyone really tested any of their audio amplifiers??? We just might find out that they are not truthful in the specs there….I don’t trust them anymore….kind of like another Japanese company that use to make WWII aircraft. They have an inbred corporate ego that makes them think they are above all ethics and morals.
Last Post!
YES!!!!!
I am so Awesome!!!!