Texas Sues Sony BMG Over Rootkits
from the don't-mess-with-texas dept
Sony BMG execs may not think their rootkits are spyware, but the Texas attorney general doesn't agree, announcing that the state has filed a civil lawsuit against Sony BMG for violating an anti-spyware law enacted earlier this year. The attorney general's office said that Sony BMG CDs that feature the rootkits were still on sale in stores in the state as late as Sunday, even though the company had said they'd all been recalled. Sony could be liable for up to $100,000 per violation of the anti-spyware law, and the state says there were at least thousands of violations. While it's unlikely they'll have to pay the maximum amount for each alleged violation, this could turn into a big financial (in addition to PR) mess for Sony. There will probably be more suits like this filed in other states, class-action suits from consumers, and even potential copyright damages. So, all of that to stop Celine Dion songs from being pirated. Was it worth it, Sony?
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No Subject Given
SONY/BMG got served...a summons that is.
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All I can say is
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No Subject Given
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No Subject Given
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License ?
While this is a PR nightmare I doubt they are libel for anything beyond being really really really stupid ,,, course the same thing could be said about people buying celine dion CDs and probably clicking 'OK' to every screen present to them during the install without reading it.
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Financial Outlook: Grim
2 Million CDs times $100,000 = $200 BILLION. I suppose that is a worst case senario...
But add in all the class action lawsuits (which will likely be settled out of court), possible lawsuits for copyright infringment of the code, the cost of the recall and manufacturing changes, the cost of tech support for thousands and thousands of infected PCs. Ouch, what is their financial situation going to look like for this quarter and beyond? Is it time to short SNE?
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Sony Rootkit
Many computers (my Dell) come with a DVD-ROM but you cannot watch a commercial DVD because of back room deals. I get a message stating that because of "copyright regulations" they cannot display the content.
Of course that didn't last for long, there are many ways to get around that; its my content and I bought the CD legally on Amazon.
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Re: License ?
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EULA
Esspecially when a retailer or service provider makes it something required to make the product run or use. It's basically forcing the consumer to do so under duress, not the same as a loaded gun no doubt, but to someone who has just made a purchase and we all know no retailer around takes back opened CDs, DVDs, or any other copyrighted material.
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Re: EULA
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No Subject Given
Which makes sense, because otherwise, you could:
a) insert the cd
b) minimize the EULA without agreeing
c) rip the cd.
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Stock Price
Does anyone know of a site that lists the CD's that had the root-kits on them?
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Re: Stock Price
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Re: EULA - proven in court?
Anyone know?
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Don't Mess With Texas
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Re: Don't Mess With Texas
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No Subject Given
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Texas = lawsuit capital of US
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Suits
I actually feel sorry for Sony in all of this. They make good products, it's unfortunate that the limited vision of a few bumbling executives has now mired this corporation in serious legal trouble, and all attempts to downplay the graveness of it all has only served to fan the public flames.
Will anyone at all come to the defense of Sony? Probably not, it's competitors are probably now licking their chops in anticipation of the slaughter.
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EFF Just filed a class-action lawsuit
http://www.eff.org/news/archives/2005_11.php#004192
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No Subject Given
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Re: Sony Rootkit
Don't be so paranoid.... get a DVD player program and you shoudl find it plays fine. (eg powerdvd) you may find that your DVD ROM came with software preinstalled that lets you watch DVDs
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Huhu...
Never mind.
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Re: EULA - proven in court?
CD PRO vs Kershaw (sp?)
CD pro produced a compliation of phone book data, and this guy ripped it off to make his own software. Since phone book data is public, it couldn't be copyrighted, and the only protection was the EULA.
Judge said that an EULA is like auto insurance, that you buy it before you see the policy, and if you don't like it when your policy come sin the mail you can cancel.
There was no metion what to do if Best Buy or the Software company won't give you a refund and you disagree with the EULA.
Since it was a State law, The ruling currently only applies in WI.
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Switchfoot - Nothing Is Sound
I checked online and found people complaining that the copy protection allowed ZERO copying, no transfers even in protected format, etc. Even Switchfoot themselves were pissed off about it!
I also pointed out to Sue that the CD was designed not to let her play the music on her cheap MP3 player (no DRM formats, only mp3 and wav), might not work in the DVD player, and there was a fair chance it wouldn't play in Linux either.
She agreed even though she thinks 'copyright infringement' is wrong (it's kind-of like stealing) it would be pretty stupid to pay for a CD that turns out to be completely unplayable to us and can't be returned either.
So I downloaded it instead.
It's a great album by the way. Sue's put some money aside to pay for it already but we can't find a mailing address that doesn't go through Sony :-(
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Re: Don't Mess With Texas
Ummm...don't quite get how california comes into play regarding his initial message...or anything...and thank god being second or third or a thousandth doesn't stop people from doing something or none of us would be here. And, hmmm, lets see, california is bleeding money as corporations and the middle class flee from that disaster plagued, illegal alien overrun, stupid-celebrity infested state that once again elected a mentally retarded actor for a governor...and New York, well New york has been limping through the recession since 911. Texas? Texas is one of the few states in the country whose economy is strong and whose job market is thriving, it sent one of it's right wing kook governors to the white house but the jokes on America, Texas governors have VERY little power over the state legislature and in general. It also is the only state in the union that flies its flag at the same height as the American flag and reserves the right to secede from the union (just in case it becomes too much like "Cali"). Sounds like a much more independant, interesting and economically sound place than the failed socialist republic of "Cali" or the still limping state of New York.
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