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"Heck, it might be fun to figure out how/where to get the form, what needs to appear on it and get as many people as possible to send one in. Sort of 'slashdot' the system."

Here you go.

It's in the big text at the top of the settlement document: http://www.sonybmgcdtechsettlement.com/Faq.htm

ALL PEOPLE WHO BOUGHT, RECEIVED OR USED A SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT COMPACT DISC WITH CONTENT PROTECTION SOFTWARE

If you bought, received or used a Sony BMG Music Entertainment compact disc containing either XCP or MediaMax 3.0 or 5.0 content protection software, your rights may be affected by a class action settlement.

IOW, you or someone else only had to have inserted the CD in your computer for you to be eligible to file a claim under the class action.

There is a complete list of the cds covered by the Settlement here.

Nothing is preventing you from filing a claim against them. From the court settlement notice:
http://www.sonybmgcdtechsettlement.com/Notice.htm

EXCLUDE YOURSELF: Get no XCP exchange program, cash or free music download settlement benefits. This is the only option that allows you to ever be part of any other lawsuit against the Defendants about the legal claims being resolved in this case. See Question 13 below.

OBJECT: Write to the Court about why you don't like the settlement.

GO TO A HEARING: Ask to speak in Court about the fairness of the settlement.

DO NOTHING: Get no XCP exchange program, cash or free music download settlement benefits. Give up certain rights. You will retain the right to sue the Defendants for any consequential damage to your computer or network that may have resulted from interactions between XCP software or MediaMax software and other software or hardware installed on your computer or network.

NOTE: the "Do Nothing" option is also for anyone who didn't buy the CD, whose computer was damaged because someone else loaded the CD onto their machine, etc. (for example, a temp office worker decided to listen to the CD and infected a PC). Write Sony, state your claim (number of pcs affected, time lost) and that you are not part of the class settlement and would like to know what they're offering you to avoid court action.

Heck, up here small claims handles stuff like this up to $7,000.00 If I were affected, I'd send them a demand/notice, wait 10 working days, then pay the filing fee. If enough people did this, they'd make a SERIOUS offer, one in line with the actual damages.

Here's the claim filing website for the Sony BMG settlement, since I didn't see a link to it in the article.

The solutions given almost don't seem worth it, but I'll probably opt-in anyway just so that little bit of money gets drained from Sony so they don't do this again.

But we can file an objection... Here's mine. I'm open to suggested improvements:

Name
Address
Telephone Number

In re SONY BMG CD Technologies Litigation:

I am objecting to the settlement process on the grounds that,

A) The settlement excludes people who may not have purchased one of the listed compact disks from Sony/BMG, but have otherwise been affected by the software contained on it. It is conceivable that someone may have legally borrowed a compact disk, been affected by the rootkit, and have no receipt to file a claim in the settlement.

B) The settlement excludes people who may not have used any compact disk from Sony/BMG but may have otherwise been affected by the nature of the software. There has been no investigation into what, if any, personal information protected by law was surreptitiously obtained by Sony/BMG's use of the rootkit or by others who may have taken advantage of security holes left open by the rootkit itself.[1]

C) The settlement does not address the criminal actions of individuals at Sony/BMG. If this were the case of a "computer hacker" distributing a rootkit, that person would have been jailed on charges of computer trespass. Sony/BMG shipped an estimated 20,000,000 affected compact disks, some of which installed software REGARDLESS of whether or not the end user accepted the terms of their license agreement.[2] All members of the settlement class are potentially victims of Sony/BMG's criminal actions. Yet there have been, to my knowledge, no charges regarding criminal actions brought against Sony/BMG or any individual of that company.

[1] http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2005/11/sony s_drm_rootk.html
[2] http://www.freedom-to-tinker.com/?p=936

Hmmm, after that last bit, I wonder if I should instead file for exclusion. One or the other must be done before May 1, 2006. You can't do both... and I'll probably just get lip service from the courts with my objection...

But we can file an objection... Here's mine. I'm open to suggested improvements:

Name
Address
Telephone Number

In re SONY BMG CD Technologies Litigation:

I am objecting to the settlement process on the grounds that,

A) The settlement excludes people who may not have purchased one of the listed compact disks from Sony/BMG, but have otherwise been affected by the software contained on it. It is conceivable that someone may have legally borrowed a compact disk, been affected by the rootkit, and have no receipt to file a claim in the settlement.

B) The settlement excludes people who may not have used any compact disk from Sony/BMG but may have otherwise been affected by the nature of the software. There has been no investigation into what, if any, personal information protected by law was surreptitiously obtained by Sony/BMG's use of the rootkit or by others who may have taken advantage of security holes left open by the rootkit itself.[1]

C) The settlement does not address the criminal actions of individuals at Sony/BMG. If this were the case of a "computer hacker" distributing a rootkit, that person would have been jailed on charges of computer trespass. Sony/BMG shipped an estimated 20,000,000 affected compact disks, some of which installed software REGARDLESS of whether or not the end user accepted the terms of their license agreement.[2] All members of the settlement class are potentially victims of Sony/BMG's criminal actions. Yet there have been, to my knowledge, no charges regarding criminal actions brought against Sony/BMG or any individual of that company.

[1] http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2005/11/sony s_drm_rootk.html
[2] http://www.freedom-to-tinker.com/?p=936

Hmmm, after that last bit, I wonder if I should instead file for exclusion. One or the other must be done before May 1, 2006. You can't do both... and I'll probably just get lip service from the courts with my objection...

Screw my karma, I'm done here. This issue is possibly *the* easiest for regular people to respond to that has ever been on this site. My submission was not a dupe and informative enough to make that point. Sony should be held accountable for their actions and everyone here knows it. So what does the editor do? Rejection. Woohoo! DRMed downloads and empty promises of regulation. Oh sure, that'll make up for thousands of machines being compromised in the United States by foreign nationals. When the president spys without a warrant it's bad, but apparently, when the FUCKING Japanese do it, it's A O FUCKING K.

In summary... Dear Slashdot: How dare you chide any company for kowtowing to China when your editor is too much of a pussy to stick up for the rights of Americans IN AMERICA.

Screw my karma, I'm done here. This issue is possibly *the* easiest for regular people to respond to that has ever been on this site. My submission was not a dupe and informative enough to make that point. Sony should be held accountable for their actions and everyone here knows it. So what does the editor do? Rejection. Woohoo! DRMed downloads and empty promises of regulation. Oh sure, that'll make up for thousands of machines being compromised in the United States by foreign nationals. When the president spys without a warrant it's bad, but apparently, when the FUCKING Japanese do it, it's A O FUCKING K.

In summary... Dear Slashdot: How dare you chide any company for kowtowing to China when your editor is too much of a pussy to stick up for the rights of Americans IN AMERICA.