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Sony Reaches Rootkit Settlement with 39 States

By BetaNews Staff, BetaNews

December 21, 2006, 4:14 PM

The full extent of Sony BMG's rootkit liabilities came to light Thursday, as a group of 39 states announced they had reached a $4.25 million settlement with the record label over the issue. Like earlier announced agreements with both Texas and California, consumers will be eligible for compensation of up to $175 for those who can provide documented evidence that a Sony rootkit caused damage to their computers.

A website has been set up to provide more information on the settlement. As part of the agreement, Sony BMG has agreed to no longer distribute discs with the copy-protection software in question on them, either MediaMax or XCP. Settlement of the case closes all pending litigation by the states in the matter. Sony BMG said it was pleased with the terms of the settlement.

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By drumcat

posted Dec 22, 2006 - 1:00 PM

I like the idea about making the penalty equal to what they've been getting from extorting people for illegally downloaded tracks... it's a nice twist of irony. =)

Score: 0

By wincement

posted Dec 22, 2006 - 1:37 PM

Irony nothing.

I think that would be nothing but pure justice.

Sony got away with murder right after and even during their persecution of others for a lesser crime.

Score: 0

By Altman

posted Dec 22, 2006 - 9:17 AM

How can a normal person be sued for $2000 per song on file sharing but Sony only gets sued $175 per computer that they messed up which potentially opened up someones machine exposing private information?

Score: 0

By ir0nw0lf

posted Dec 21, 2006 - 5:58 PM

"Sony BMG said it was pleased with the terms of the settlement."

Well, duh. Considering this as a slap on the wrist, why wouldn't they be happy? They could and SHOULD have gotten slapped with a two-by-four...

Score: 0

By Noremacam

posted Dec 21, 2006 - 7:25 PM

Well, there's plenty of sony boycotts going on so I have a feeling that sony is going to continue to hurt for a long time.

Score: 0

By plague201

posted Dec 22, 2006 - 11:35 AM

I think your right, it will show with their PS3 sales in the future.

Score: 0

By dhjdhj

posted Dec 24, 2006 - 8:26 PM

Wake up! The people who buy Sony playstations could care less about its rootkit problem.

Score: 0

By drumcat

posted Dec 21, 2006 - 4:42 PM

Once again... total slap on the wrist. Someone should be held to serious accountability here. As with most class actions, the remedy isn't worth the effort already dealt with by a customer. It's too bad that the culpable limit wasn't in the neighborhood of $1000.

Score: 0

By Frostek

posted Dec 22, 2006 - 5:15 AM

Now come on! It's not like damage to a computer is worth as much as an MP3 file...

Otherwise you'd have people claiming $150,000 per infraction... :p

Score: 0

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