A fresh lawsuit is seeking damages from Sony BMG for DRM nightmare
Texas and privacy group sue Sony for XCP 'damage'
/v3-uk/news/1992390/texas-privacy-sue-sony-xcp-damage
22 Nov 2005, Tom Sanders in California , V3
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has filed a lawsuit against Sony BMG demanding that the record label repair the damage done by anti-piracy technology bundled on millions of its audio CDs.
As well as the XCP technology, which for the past weeks has been at the centre of a storm of controversy, the lawsuit also targets SunnComm's MediaMax software that the music giant has included on more than 20 million CDs. Another two million CDs were shipped with XCP.
The not-for-profit EFF is a consumer advocacy group that aims to strike a balance between civil liberties and new technologies. The group has been a vocal opponent of Sony's use of XCP digital rights management technology.
Sony BMG has come under heavy fire from consumers, security experts and consumer advocates in recent weeks for its anti-piracy initiative.
The software seeks to regulate how consumers use the CD on a Windows computer by installing special software.
But the application has been heavily criticised for its poor security and for installing a cloaking feature that can easily be exploited by worms and other malware. It is also very hard to remove and could damage the user's system.
While XCP has raised the most security concerns, both XCP and MediaMax are illegally installed on the user's computer and do not include an easy way to remove the application, the EFF alleged.
The developers have made it unnecessarily complicated to obtain removal tools, according to the privacy group, and the tools in both cases included security vulnerabilities which put users at risk.
"Music fans should not have to install potentially dangerous, privacy-intrusive software on their computers just to listen to music which they have legitimately purchased," said EFF legal director Cindy Cohn.
"Regular CDs have a proven track record; no one has been exposed to viruses or spyware by playing a regular audio CD on a computer. Why should legitimate customers be guinea pigs for Sony BMG's experiments?"
The music firm is already facing lawsuits in California, New York and Italy over the XCP technology.
Texas Attorney General Gregg Abbott said on Monday that the record label had violated a local anti-spyware law because it failed to notify users of the cloaking software. Abbott has pressed charges seeking civil penalties of $100,000 for each violation.
It is not clear how many of Sony BMG's CDs have been distributed in the state of Texas. One security expert has estimated that worldwide more than half a million PCs have been infected.
The Texas case is the first instance of a government entity going after the record label.
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Do you agree?
CA lawsuit not Govt
I odn't know about Italy, but the California suits were by private attorneys suing under california laws, not by the state.
The lawsuits have just begun.
Posted by Harry Poulter, 22 Nov 2005
If Sony Gets Slapped, Thats A Good Thing.
Leave us music listeners alone Sony!!!. We buy the cd's and put food in your greedy mouths. Why don't we just stop buying them for a week and see if they like our way of NOT doing business. Leave us alone or Sony and all other labels will loose our business!!!
Posted by Walter Gatlin, 23 Nov 2005
Finally Texas gets something right.
You have to hand it to the great state of Texas, they finally have done something right for a change, starting to reverse a streak of stupid decisions starting with electing a 4x loser Governor (Bush). Hopefully, this is just the first in a long line of good decisions, by the state that acts like everyone's Drunken Uncle who constantly makes bad decisions and wonders why bad stuff happens to him. But, somehow I doubt it.
For what it's worth, Kudos to Texas. Keep it up!
Posted by Druidfaith, 23 Nov 2005
Sony = Stoopid
For years sony have been making excellent products, then ruining them by overdoing the copy protection. An example is their highly impressive mp3 players that require you to use their very buggy software. They have already lost so much custom due to this overly covetous attitude, that this latest incident comes as no surprise. My only hope is that it makes Sony wise up and make it easier to enjoy their products. Having seen their behaviour with minidiscs though, I somewhat doubt they will change.
Posted by Charlie Tyack, 23 Nov 2005
no, Texas was the first
GROUPS in California filed class action suits -- or asked that they be made class action. The CA Attorney General says he has no plans to file a suit against Sony, even though California has consumer computer laws as strong as Texas. I'm surprised New York with Eliot Spitzer hasn't jumped into the fray.
Posted by Chazz, 23 Nov 2005
Just in time for Christmas
Wish I had known...I just bought my daughter a Sony Viao laptop for her college schoolwork...wonder if they loaded the laptop with all their great technology?
Posted by Zack Watkins, 23 Nov 2005
no, Texas was the first
GROUPS in California filed class action suits -- or asked that they be made class action. The CA Attorney General says he has no plans to file a suit against Sony, even though California has consumer computer laws as strong as Texas. I'm surprised New York with Eliot Spitzer hasn't jumped into the fray.
Posted by Chazz, 23 Nov 2005
Good
its about damn time someone said something too them
Posted by Cameron Bergh, 21 Nov 2005
Not the first
Didn't California and Italy file suits against Sony before Texas did?
Posted by Tim McCormack, 22 Nov 2005