As if having Blizzard and Microsoft mad at them wasn’t enough, now Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott piles on. He tells Sony, “Not so fast, an incomplete recall isn’t enough! You shall be vigorously sued!”
The lawsuit, filed under Texas’ new spyware law, is the first filed by a state against the New York label, Abbott said.
The suit accuses Sony BMG of surreptitiously installing spyware on millions of CDs that places files onto consumers’ computers. Those files hide other files installed by Sony, a “cloaking” component that can leave computers vulnerable to viruses and other security problems, Abbott said.
Bad Sony! Bad! Bad!
The Texas spyware law allows the state to recover damages of up to $100,000 in damages for each violation. Abbott said there were thousands of violations, and that any money would go to the state.
Oh wait. I meant, “Greedy state! Greedy! Greedy!”
So… how do they count the violations? I mean, if I play a Sony CD on my computer and then loan it to a friend to play it on his, does that count as one violation or two? Or none, since we just broke Sony’s insane EULA? And is it just me, or is this so farcical that the opposing counsel should be named Costello? (I don’t mean Elvis, either.)
More here.
As if that weren’t enough, the rootkit was found to contain elements identical to “LAME,” an open-source software MP3 encoder. First4Internet, the British company that created the rootkit for use on Sony CD’s, was alleged to have used the LAME code without indicating its origin or sharing their alterations to the code.
California lawyers thought they’d get the first dance in, but they don’t have the leverage of an entire state though:
“Lawyers in California have filed a class-action lawsuit against Sony and a second one may be filed today in New York. The lawsuit was filed Nov. 1 in Superior Court for the County of Los Angeles by Vernon, CA attorney Alan Himmelfarb. It asks the court to prevent Sony from selling additional CDs protected by the anti-piracy software, and seeks monetary damages for California consumers who purchased them.”
EFF has the list of affected cd’s.
As I’ve said before, I will not spend a thin dime on any Sony product. That’s not quite true, as I don’t turn down a movie because it’s on Sony’s label. But I do feel dirty afterwards.
It’s only fun to feel that way after sex. If it was good.
Sony made several serious mistakes, among them assuming their legitimate customers were criminals (only those who bought or were loaned the CDs were required to install the software), along with distributing software that violated the very copyrights they claim they are attempting to protect.
It remains to be seen if the fallout from this series of bad decisions will have any effect on the future of the music industry (sad, that, calling the creation of music an “industry”).
No, the industry is finding and exploiting young artists that don’t know better….