Sony Settlement Start of DRM Protection Act?

An anonymous reader writes "Sony BMG and a group of class action lawyers have reached a provisional settlement in the U.S. Sony rootkit class actions. Sony will pay cash compensation and give away free downloads from a choice of music download services including Apple iTunes as part of the deal. The settlement includes a host of restrictions on future Sony DRM use, which Michael Geist argues provides the starting point for a future Digital Rights Management Protection Act."

Comments

Outrage!

[Concern]

These people literally have their boot on Sony's throat. This could be a watershed moment in the "IP" war for individual rights. And instead, what do we get?

• Sony does not have to undo their vandalism to anyone's computers or provide cash compensation for their victims to do so (although they may have to fix unintentionally created security vulnerabillities)
  
• Future similar DRM schemes are legitimized as long as they are disclosed on the jewel case and in the EULA, and an uninstaller is provided
  
• The role of the EULA in this fiasco is implicitly legitimized (the
  entire concept of a "EULA," for those few who don't know, is largely an obnoxious legal fiction - sans UCITA, anyway)
  
• Collection of personal information in media products is legitimzed ("only for purposes of providing enhanced functionality" - LOL!)
  

This is a love letter to Sony, and a "go ahead" signal to expand "open season on your computer" into the entire market. It is a shocking, audacious outrage, and I have no doubt Sony et al would love to see it made the basis for future statute.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is it. We have to immediately mobilize and derail this "settlement."

This is not settled until Sony repairs each vandalized computer... and then we can talk punitive damages...

Re:Outrage!

[Yahweh Doesn't Exist]

solution: never buy another Sony product for doing what they did, and never buy another MS product for enabling them to do it. most people aren't focusing any of the blame on MS, but imo they should since this is exactly the sort of thing people have warned MS's crap security and disrespect of the user would lead to.

but are you really prepared to make the effort necessary to prevent this happening again?

most people aren't bothered enough, and I didn't buy Sony/MS before this happened anyway, so can hardly claim I'm doing much either.

Re:Outrage!

[Concern]

I'm a hotdog vendor.

If I think you're stealing my hotdogs, and I break into your house and spy on you to find out, and while I'm there I take piss on your carpet, your solution is not to... not buy my hotdogs anymore?

Fuck no, I go to jail. I'm "moderately" suggesting Sony could skip harsher criminal penalties that would be leveled at non-mega-rich, non-multinational-corporation ordinary people who tried to do what they did, and at least get a proportionate financial penalty.

Re:Outrage!

[Yahweh Doesn't Exist]

>your solution is not to... not buy my hotdogs anymore

yes, because at the end of the day the only thing that will make Sony/MS/whoever change is if people stop buying their products. legal fines are just the cost of doing business, and U.S. courts have shown repeatedly that they aren't prepared to punish businesses properly. everyone who takes part in this particular class action will just end up with yet more Sony products.

Re:Outrage!

[Concern]

U.S. courts have shown repeatedly that they aren't prepared to punish businesses properly.

True. But by studying history we can see that the judicial system is acutely aware of it's social context, and (as has happened in the past) if we stop taking it lying down, we will find that the courts can hold even the most powerful men and women accountable once they see the climate for doing so is favorable.

Re:Outrage!

[Yahweh Doesn't Exist]

>Ironically, isn't it the opposite? Wouldn't it be disrespectful of the user to NOT trust them with admin privs?

no, it's disrespectful for MS to not require explicit permission to make a fundamental change to the way the OS works. it's especially ridiculous and disrespectful for MS to have such a broken permissions policy that in reality pretty much every home user is forced to run as an administrator in the first place.

on a Mac, for example, this could not happen without the administrator password. some people make the claim that people would just get used to typing their password and nothing would really change, but this is only because MS's permissions policy is so broken that people wouldn't be surprised that playing a CD required an admin password.

Re:Outrage!

[Yahweh Doesn't Exist]

1. MS doesn't take security seriously. Has broken permissions.
2. People point out Windows's flaws, dismissed as MS bashers.
3. Company uses MS's broken permissions to threaten security.
4. People point out Windows's flaws, dismissed as MS bashers.
5. Rinse and repeat.

Re:Outrage!

[Shanep]

yes, because at the end of the day the only thing that will make Sony/MS/whoever change is if people stop buying their products.

But the problem with this, is that people WON'T stop buying Sony products. Sure a few die hards like myself and maybe you might (I still refuse to buy French products 10 years after the nuclear testing in Mururoa Atoll). But look at the situation right now. Most Sony consumers right now are probably either unaware of the rootkit (even though it has had so much mainstream press) or don't understand what the story means for themselves or what it reveals about Sony. That is a sad situation right now while this actually is news. The latest cool Sony gadget will come out and people will buy them TODAY and tomorrow. A few people won't buy them and Sony won't give a crap. They would just be a barely measurable short lived notch on their profits.

Power to the people? I would love to beleive that is true, but it seems "the people" don't care about much more than their own comfort and only a few of them are made uncomfortable by situations like this.

My biggest dissapointment is "the people". They have the power, but don't exercise it. So I guess they don't really have the power.

Re:Outrage!

[bblboy54]

My dad told me of a story of back in the 60's and 70's when he used to work for Howard Johnsons. When you were hired you were specifically told that you would not be paid overtime as the law states. Yes, this was illegal, and yes, they got fined.... but the reality of the situation was that it was cheaper for them to pay their fine every month than to pay overtime to all of their employees.

The only way to show them that you dont agree is to quit.... The same rule applies here.

Re:Outrage!

[drsmithy]

1. MS doesn't take security seriously. Has broken permissions.

False.

You may argue that they have poorly chosen defaults, giving users Administrator accounts (although in context I'd consider it justifiable), but the permissions themselves are not broken.

2. People point out Windows's flaws, dismissed as MS bashers.

Blaming Microsoft because Sony installed malicious code is bullshit. Unless you can think of some platform that can magically tell whether or not software is "good" or "bad".

3. Company uses MS's broken permissions to threaten security.

Which permissions are broken ? If running a non-Administrator account, the Sony rootkit fails to install. If running an Administrator account, it installs. That's exactly how the system *should* work.

4. People point out Windows's flaws, dismissed as MS bashers.

Blaming Microsoft because their system behaves as designed and identically to every other platform, is hypocritical, mindless, Microsoft bashing.

Re:Outrage!

[mrchaotica]

Poorly chosen defaults are broken permissions! If Microsoft had chosen good defaults, then everyone wouldn't be running as Administrator, now would they? The fact that everyone does run as Administrator is Microsoft's fault.

Re:Outrage!

[Vhalkyrie]

I was the biggest Sony geek. My TV, DVD player, receiver, console - all Sony. After the rootkit trick, I will no longer buy Sony electronics. Sony was great when they were an electronics company, and not a content owner. They are more concerned with making sure their electronics protects their content rather than building consumer electronics people want. I'm very disappointed, but there's plenty of other quality electronics companies that I can switch to - Toshiba, Samsung, etc.

I doubt that my boycott will have much effect on Sony. They won't notice that my electronics shelves no longer carry the Sony brandname, just as they haven't noticed I haven't purchased more than 5 music CD in over 5 years. I'm sure they chalk that up to illegal music downloads, but really, if you look at my music collection, I don't really have anything newer than 5 years ago.

I'm not a Microsoft fanboi. My everyday work computer is a powerbook with OS X, even though most of my servers are Windows. However, I fail to see how Microsoft is implicated in Sony's rootkit. Sony wrote the rootkit. Sony hid it. Sony installed it regardless of whether the user agreed to it or not. If you're arguing that Microsoft is responsible because it requires users to be administrators in order to install it, and average users are running administrator accounts, that would be disingenuous. This would have occurred regardless because even if it used a UNIX style administrator/user scheme, once the average user put their DRM CD from Sony in the drive asking them for administrator privileges, they would have done it. Why? Because it's a music CD from Sony. Same thing would have happened on OS X where the user is not administrator by default. A dialog box appears asking for admin privileges in order to install software that "enhances" the CD experience, and the user happily gives it because it's something they bought from a store in shiny shrink wrap, and not downloaded from the untrustworthy internet.

Funny that Sony's rootkit exploited consumer trust because they themselves don't trust the consumer.

Re:Outrage!

[c9a9t]

Either way, you seem to believe that it is ok for Sony to do this because it is the fault of the computer user for allowing the rootkit to be installed?

No indeed, I do not. I am simply advocating for personal responsibility as the first consideration in maintaining one's computer (works well for other things too). Otherwise what do you have but a mess to clean up and the need to blame someone else everytime a new piece of malware (or even a simple bug) screws up your system?

By all means sue Sony but don't expect that to address the real problem.

Re:Outrage!

[funkdancer]

YMMV, but I was tempted to buy a record the other day - it was not a Sony. Having passed that, looking closely at the jewel case, however, I couldn't see if it was actually a CD. So I assumed it was DRMed and dropped the thought.

The case is this: I won't buy any "CD" that is not a CD. Add to the fact that there's a lot less interesting albums, or maybe the interesting albums are all in hiding from the one hit wonders they'd rather have us buy, and I'm amazed sales haven't dropped more than they've done.

Whatever the reason, I buy less music and spend more on online games like World of Warcraft. At one stage I used to buy several CDs every week, meaning I probably have about 400 or 500 CDs in my total collection. In the past two years however I've bought less than a handful.

The publishers do everything in their power to piss off their once faithful customers, what do they really expect? It is much easier and safer for me to torrent a new album and burn it to a CD - not that, as said, I can find that much of value anymore. If I did, and I had some EASY SURE-PROOF way of knowing that it didn't contain any DRM, I'd much rather be buying it.

Re:Outrage!

[Rob the Bold]

I still refuse to buy French products 10 years after the nuclear testing in Mururoa Atoll

This is harder than you think: first you have to find French products to not buy, only then you can start not buying them.

Re:Outrage!

[WhiteWolf666]

It's not (usually) my fault malware gets on my system if I never, ever agree to it.

It is:

A) The OS vendor's fault for vulnerabilities on my system.
B) The malware creator's fault for exploting vulnerabilities on my system.
C) The product vendor's fault for coupling malware with their legitimate produce (SONY).

If I don't patch my system, then it might be:
D) My fault for not fully updating my system.

Not that it matters to me. My Linux boxen and Mac OS X boxen do not get infected.

Period.

Computers should be like appliances. I don't have to worry about putting an infected DVD into my DVD player. Why would I want to worry about putting an infected CD into my PC?

Re:Outrage!

[Roadstar]

The publishers do everything in their power to piss off their once faithful customers, what do they really expect? It is much easier and safer for me to torrent a new album and burn it to a CD - not that, as said, I can find that much of value anymore. If I did, and I had some EASY SURE-PROOF way of knowing that it didn't contain any DRM, I'd much rather be buying it.

Amen to this, for this sounds extremely familiar with my situation. I, too, used to buy lots of records earlier, but first came the crippled (some say "copy-protected") non-standard CDs, and then came the new Finnish copyright law. With the former case I had to leave some records I would've otherwise bought to the store shelf as none of my equipment was 100% guaranteed to play them, and with the latter case I stopped buying records from all companies that signed a IFPI petition demanding the law to be accepted regardless of its known flaws.

So basically the industry managed to alienate yet another of its loyal (~50 records a year) customers by fighting piracy (yarr, sail the seven ISPs) with desperate attempts that didn't actually harm anyone else but those buying legitimate copies of their stuff. Actually, if a year ago someone had told me that by now I wouldn't have bought a single record for three months, I would've asked what was this apparently good sh*t they're smoking.

Re:Outrage!

[ultranova]

A few people won't buy them and Sony won't give a crap.

Sony is incapable of giving a crap, since it doesn't really exist; it's just legal fiction, a figment of several people's collective imagination. For the same reason, Sony did nothing wrong, since a fictitious entity is incapable of doing anything; someone working at Sony did.

What I'm getting at is that it's completely pointless to punish corporations. They don't exist so they can't be punished in any meaningfull sense. What you want is to imprison the persons responsible for these decisions. Throw the entire Sony leadership into prison and make them pay millions in fines personally, and perhaps the next bunch will think twice about what is and what isn't acceptable behavior.

Re:Outrage!

[MaskedSlacker]

The French violated their treaty agreements.

Re:Outrage!

[drsmithy]

And the point everyone else is trying to make is Micorsoft encouraged ID to make Doom 3 use administrator to run by making half of the API's that Doom 3 uses only accessible by administrator (like writing directly to hardware to increase performance).

Bullshit.

Doom 3 "needs" Administrator privileges because some dipshit at id thought it would be a good idea to store configuration data in the application's directory, rather than the user's profile where it belongs. Changing the permissions on a single .cfg file is all it takes to run Doom 3 under a non-Admin account, with no performance impact whatsoever.

99% of programs that "require" Administrator access "require" it because of stupidity like this - stupidity that is 100% the fault of the software developer.

Absurd

[dbucowboy]

Once again the big company gets a slap on the wrist and everyone effected gets the peace of mind of knowing that the cd they bought still has the DRM on it and will still act the same way the next time they put it in a computer. Thanks for the great customer service Sony.

Re:Absurd

[Television Viewer]

Sony will pay cash compensation and give away free downloads from a choice of music download services including Apple iTunes as part of the deal.

Thanks for the great customer service Sony.

Isn't this the same thing that happened before? I forget the specifics, but a music company lost in court for keeping CD costs inflated, and they were ordered to give away free CD's to libraries. They ended up giving a library 50 copies of the same CD- "christmas songs" or "western songs". Not popular songs that are in demand.

Will Sony give choice to those who won the lawsuit. Will people be able to pick their music download, or will Sony select what music people get in the settlement?

New York?

[tacokill]

This is for the New York case only. What about the Texas case brought by the Attorney General of TX?

There are lots of cases against Sony. This is only one of them.

Re:New York?

[drhamad]

The Texas case is not a class action suit. It is a state action alleging violation of the Texas CPA. So Sony will have to satisfy the Texas Attorney General, not a lawyer for a citizen (who supposedly represents all other citizens in the area, in similar circumstances).

Still, I'm not sure what you guys expect? They aren't going to be banned from including DRM, unless they agree to that, which they won't. It's also unlikely they'll be hit with any MASSIVE fine. Although $7.50 per CD is actually a good amount of money (not to mention if people go for iTunes downloads, and the like), if the theoretical number of people all take it (unlikely).

I did not realize that the settlement included any download service - that makes it much better.

Re:New York?

[mikerozh]

Still, I'm not sure what you guys expect? They aren't going to be banned from including DRM, unless they agree to that, which they won't. It's also unlikely they'll be hit with any MASSIVE fine. Although $7.50 per CD is actually a good amount of money (not to mention if people go for iTunes downloads, and the like), if the theoretical number of people all take it (unlikely).

If I scrap your car with a nail and you sue me, you'd expect to get the amount of money that would be enough to repaint the car or at least the scraped parts of it. If my lawyer would propose you 1/2 price of the nail as a compensation, you'd sure refuse.

What is the difference?

In the Texas Case I want...

[dbucowboy]

A new computer to replace the infected one that I have now.

Any of these will work great!

http://alienware.com/alx_pages/main_alx.aspx

Re:In the Texas Case I want...

[Anonymous Brave Guy]

Unfortunately, that page doesn't seem to work just now. All I can see is a shaded background, some small print at the bottom, and a banner that reads "Alienware recommends Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional." Are you really sure about that recommendation? ;-)

Carrot, meet stick

[Gothmolly]

No, this means that companies like Sony can trample your rights (i.e. sell you a rootkit you didn't know about) and get away with it if they pay enough. How many retards out there won't get the incremental-cost-to-sony "free" downloads or rebates? How many people will stop buying their stuff? None. Its a trial balloon - and Sony now knows what the market will bear. Like MS continuing to violate monopoly laws, or the famous exploding Ford Pinto, companies will break the laws of the land and of decency when it makes them money. note that you don't have a "right" NOT to be rooted, or a "right" to free music, or a "right" to much else other than "this product is exactly what is advertised, no more, no less, and since it is a product, I have right of First Sale".

Re:Carrot, meet stick

[Television Viewer]

No, this means that companies like Sony can trample your rights (i.e. sell you a rootkit you didn't know about) and get away with it if they pay enough. How many retards out there won't get the incremental-cost-to-sony "free" downloads or rebates? How many people will stop buying their stuff? None. Its a trial balloon - and Sony now knows what the market will bear. Like MS continuing to violate monopoly laws

A couple of comments-

I would not call people retards. That is mean, you are attacking the victim a second time, Sony did it the first. It is like a mechanic telling me I am retarded for buying a car with throttle body injection for the carb instead of tuned port injection. I am not a mechanic, I don't understand mechanical jargon. Most people don't understand DRM. They just know if they put the CD in the player, it plays music. They could care less about making a copy. That does not make them retarded. By using that word choice, retarded, you are treating people with the same respect that Sony is.

Second, the way to attack Sony is with letting people know what they are buying. Will the EULA be nothing more than the Surgeon Generals Warning on the side of cigarette packs? Do we need a deeper social movement to tell people how bad DRM is?

I don't like DRM. I have purchased CD's because the music companies said in the 90's that CD's will last forever with clear sound, and that tapes will not last forever. I have CD's that won't play anymore, they call it CD rot. It sucks. I felt cheated. But what can I do?

Maybe what we should do is hold the companies accountable to the promises they make to people. Lets increase the warent period, and make it mandatory. If a company says lifetime gaurentee, lets hold them to it with the weight of law.

I don't think it will cost Sony anything to give out some music downloads. If the court wanted to punish Sony, they would have asked for cash, to be given to the victims.

Re:Carrot, meet stick

[Dunbal]

Maybe what we should do is hold the companies accountable to the promises they make to people.

      Like we do with politicians, right?

cash settlement and free downloads??

[Russ Nelson]

"cash settlement and free downloads?" How much do you want to bet that the lawyers will get the cash settment, and the much buyers (aka victims) will get the free downloads?
-russ
p.s. yes, I AM that cynical.

Jail!

[Anonymous Coward]

Just put some Sony guys in jail and everyone will be happy!

Punishing the Meek

[Paladin144]

From the Geist blog, is a list of 10 things that Sony has provisionally agreed to do, at least until 2008:

1. No further use of XCP or Media Max
2. Ensure that the DRM will not be installed on users' computers until the user accepts the end-user license agreement
3. Ensure that an uninstaller for the copy-protection software is made readily available to consumers
4. Fully disclose any updates to the copy-protection software
5. Ensure that the EULA accurately discloses the nature and function of the software in plain English
6. Obtain comments about the EULA from an independent oversight person
7. Obtain an expert opinion that the copy-protection software does not create security vulnerabilities
8. Only collect limited personal information necessary to provide enhanced CD functionality
9. Include full disclosures of the copy-protection software on the CD jewel case
10. Fix any software vulnerabilities that may arise from the copy-protection software

Number 3 probably interests me most. Anybody in the know will be able to download the uninstaller at any time and get that filth off their hard drive (or likely: not put it on there to be begin with). But what about those who are not tech-savvy at all?

It seems to me that the main result of copy protection so far has been to punish the honest and control the meek. Smarter, savvier people get around it and are privy to software and music unencumbered by the DRM that works quite well against those foolish enough to uniwittingly install it. So what's the point? Are the DRM-proponents trying to drive a wedge between power users and the techno-illterate? Do they plan to blame the foul side-effects of DRM on the pirates who are not encumbered by it? "We only put DRM on our products because pirates like Joe Blow download it. Blame him!"

I'd bet that 90% of the population doesn't know what the heck DRM is. We'd better be damn sure to educate the masses or the cartels will do it for us - by smearing the savvy.

Re:Punishing the Meek

[shawb]

While number 3 is important, I feel that number 9 is the most important. I feel that Sony or any company would be completely within their rights to put DRM or whatever into their music, as long as they let the customer know this before actually paying for it or installing potentially spyware laden software on the computer (if the media company contracted for the software, it would not be trivial to insure that spyware's not bundled or if the software opens up backdoors, even intentionally.

If someone still thinks it's worth it, then they can feel free to go ahead and buy the music/software/whatever. But including something like this (or even including restrictive terms of service in the EULA) in such a manner that the customer wouldn't be reasonably expected to find out untill after they purchased it (And has no legal recourse for refunds) or worse yet, comes to harm because of the DRM, is in my opinion dishonest at best.

Re:Punishing the Meek

[splanky]

I am with you. First, my bias, I own a chain of stores that sell their stuff. So, imagine how frustrating it is to try to help (i.e. protect) your customers when it is almost impossible to reliably know which CDs have DRM and which don't! I think once they clearly label the packages, the free market will drive them to really change the way they handle DRM -- because I think music fans will be far less likely to buy DRM-ed CDs because of this fiasco...and who can blame them!

SonyBMG's first reaction to us (the retailers) was abysmal. They sent out a notice pontificating about their rights to protect their copyrights, yada yada yada. It was such a shameful response.

Now, they have woken up in their response to us. They've given us lists of the DRM'd CDs and also have started giving financial incentives for retailers to pull all the rootkit ones off their shelves (it is amazing to me that not all retailers immediately pulled them off their shelves. We pulled them before sony said they would take them back... but some retailers didn't want that expense and kept RIGHT ON SELLING THEM. shame on them. I hope they get sued too.)

Re:Punishing the Meek

[FS]

There are multiple problems with this list.

1. XCP or Media Max? Why not? They should have learned from this mistake and are unlikely to do it again. It won't change my position on never purchasing a music CD again (I am a Rhapsody user), but it certainly makes sense that they should use someone who has learned from mistakes rather than another 3rd party without a clue.

2. There needs to be a more streamlined way for this to happen. Joe Average isn't going to bring back music just because it pops up in typical legalese or even plain English warning him that he isn't supposed to copy the music. Regardless of what it says about DRM, his interpretation in the 5 seconds he thinks before pressing "Accept" will be that this is just another warning about not copying the CD that he has to agree to before he can listen. It needs to say something like: "Installing this DRM will break your computer, prevent you from accessing the Internet, and allow everyone in the world to view all the files on your computer." just to get the user's attention.

3. Why would someone willingly uninstall this software when it means they can't listen to their music collection anymore. That's way worse than renting music online. It needs to be available so that Joe Average can take his CD back to the store within the return period and for the rare occasions when Sony makes a similar "mistake."

4. A pop-up message appears 6 months down the road and says Joe Average has to accept an update to his DRM or his music will stop playing. At this point he's a hostage to Sony. It is too late to bring the CD back to where it was purchased. It doesn't matter what the update says or warns him about, he's going to install it. This is pointless.

5. Plain English? If it is more than a couple sentences, any English looks like legal mumbo-jumbo to the average teenager who is likely the target market anyway.

6. In other words, a lawyer who is going to make them add more than a couple sentences to fully protect Sony's interests. Or a lawyer who is going to make them add more than a couple sentences to fully protect the consumer's interests. Either way it will defeat number 6.

7. Who is this going to be? Microsoft? Sony, or Sony's 3rd party DRM maker will never agree to hand out the code to, say, the open source community to take it through some decent testing.

8. Fine. I'd rather they just were happy with the high profit margin on the CD sale though. Anyone dumb enough to purchase a CD at this point deserves all the spying/targeted advertising they get.

9. This depends how they describe full-disclosure. I can't believe they expected that the current software would cause any problems. "This CD contains copy protection that has been tested by Microsoft to ensure compatibility with Windows XP." That may constitute full disclosure for them.

10. This depends what the fix is. They haven't fixed the problem they got themselves into this time. The AV companies and even Microsoft have had to do this for them. They aren't technically competent enough to do this, unless they mean to outsource this process to Microsoft, etc.

Every one of these points is lip service to the problem, and even all together they won't completely ensure that this doesn't happen again. You are right, this punishes the meek. I happen to be tech savvy yet honest at the same time, which is why I subscribe to Rhapsody (and Yahoo, but that stuff is so buggy it is almost unusable) which now works on my Linux boxes and makes me very happy. I am punished to the tune of $15/month to feed my MP3 player all the music I want, so I'm not too upset. My parents, on the other hand, who are also honest people but not technically savvy could fall victim should they decide to play a CD in the computer, as unlikely as that would be.

I'm going to post something on my blog about DRM, warning my half dozen readers of the problem. If everyone here with a blog, a soapbox, or any other platform would post or say something, maybe we could educate people. Until this becomes something that Joe Average's technically savvy buddy talks about, Joe Average won't know or care about the problem.

Three Simple Steps

[mpapet]

1. Contrition
Sony Corp. says "sorry" for something they didn't really do with malice. After all, it's our music, not the consumers so there's nothing wrong with the steps we took.

2. Negotiate Good Deal
Sony gives away stuff that costs me little to nothing over a long period of time, that no one likely wants and put our version of "market value" on them. The States will like it or they'll see you in court until Sony gets your Administration voted out of office.

3. Profit
The PHB's get their bonuses for proper crisis management and get back to business.

I'm sick and tired of all of the clamor surrounding this stuff. Especially on /. Good corporate citizen Sony gets back to DRM'ing and nothing changes. Nothing!

Digital Rights Management Protection Act

[PCM2]

Haha! Michael Geist is a cut-up. When I first read the topic I thought, "Damn straight it does, Michael! You tell 'em." Then I RTFA'ed and I realized he's saying this opens the door for a law protecting us from corporations.

Holy Dudley Do-Right, Michael! What country do you live in -- Canada?

This certainly does open up the door for a Digital Rights Management Protection Act. Here's how: Sony goes crying crocodile tears straight to Congress. It petitions every congressional representative in its pocket to draft a new law that indemnifies corporations from any damages resulting from software that gets installed on a customer's computer when he/she makes use of a company's product. Those same representatives, wiping their mouths, will get up on TV and proclaim to the world how this new legislation will protect us all from the frivolous lawsuits that are driving up the costs of everything, depriving Americans of their God-given low low prices.

Because this lawsuit against Sony only serves to point out the failures of our legal system, don't you see? Sony was trying to innovate with new technology and got slapped down by evil, profiteering lawyers. The corporations must be protected!

Why only Sony?

[necro2607]

"The settlement includes a host of restrictions on future Sony DRM use"...

Sony DRM use? Why only Sony? Are all other companies guaranteed to maintain ethical & reasonable DRM implementations?

If they're going to come up with some big guidelines on DRM usage they should apply to any/all DRM implementations. Maybe such stuff can stop maniacal levels of DRM before it's too late..?

Re:Why only Sony?

[benjamindees]

Sony DRM use? Why only Sony? Are all other companies guaranteed to maintain ethical & reasonable DRM implementations?

In case it isn't obvious, this settlement only applies to Sony because they are the ones being sued. I would expect other businesses to take this as a sign that they can get off the hook easily for breaking into people's computers and vandalizing their software.

Not nearly enough

[Dachannien]

For real protection against egregious DRM, fair use rights must be protected. DRM isn't really about piracy prevention, after all - it's merely a red herring. If content companies were only interested in piracy prevention, the Blu-Ray spec would be finalized by now.

The real reason for DRM is control over the consumer, ranging from hardware or software lock-in to captive audience advertising. Fair use lets us escape such abuses by allowing us to time- and space-shift content, allowing us to move legally-purchased content to other playback devices and to skip unwanted advertising. The DMCRA would be a good start - if anything, this proposed DRMPA should be added to that legislation.

Besides, the complaints regarding Sony's DRM are the same as the complaints surrounding a lot of spyware and viruses. Why should Sony's status as a multibillion dollar corporation cause it to be painted with a different brush (and have different laws applied to it) than, say, Claria?

FREE DOWNLOADS IS NO PENALTY!

[maxxdogg]

These companies ASSUME that file sharing is evil...and therefore a proper punishment would be to post free files on those networks. That is completely bogus! Actually, it is great advertising for Sony and their products. It is not a punishment at all...it's an incentive.

Perhaps ENRON should have been forced to provide free ENRON bumper stickers at gas stations as a penalty for their coroporate wrong-doings. Maybe Microsoft should be forced to give free software to students as a penalty for abusing their monopoly. Oh yeah...they almost got that deal, remember.

I'm not usually a fan of class settlements, but...

[JoeShmoe]

After reading the linked document, there are a lot of interesting points. While none of these points are watershed moments in consumer rights, I think that they are really going to make Sony grit their teeth. Consider:

1) Sony now has to release "clean" CDs with NO content protection...which means that they are effectly out of the DRM business for at least two years. That's going to make their music execs hopping mad.
2) Not only do consumers get their DRM CD replaced at no charge with a non-DRM CD (something they could not have gotten before anyway), they also get either a) $7.50 b) a free CD from a list of at least 200 or c) three free albums from a downloadable service. That certainly better than the whopping $5 coupon I got back from the RIAA settlement. This is probably the least offensive section.
3) Sony has to make "all resonable commericial efforts" to allow the above downlodable albums from iTunes. Youch. That's pretty much an admission that Sony's own music service is crap and iTunes is the definitive standard for downloadable music. Boy, what fun Apple's PR group could have with that! This has really god to piss Sony off. Now they essentially HAVE to crawl to Apple and negotiate some deal to offer Sony customers the ability to download Sony music...for free...in UNENCRYPTED MP3 FORM...from Apple's music service.

The final part is that Sony has to restore people's computers back to the pre-rootkit way. Of course, we have to assume they can do this properly. If this part of the settlement gets screwed up, then all the free downloads in the world won't make up the cost of repairing or reloading a PC. So, potentially, this settlement might be letting Sony off. But really, what could we expect? While it's possible that there are some people out there who had their computer crash or die because of this software, let them opt out and get a settlement in small claims or some other method. The vast majority of the people would be happy just to have all traces of the software removed (safely) and some bonus music for their troubles.

So, I have to say...of all the settlement offers, I think this one by far is the best one I can remember. Especially from the standpoint of sending a message. You can damn well bet that Sony (who will I'm sure accept this because they publicity of this issue going to trial is their worst nightmare) is going to have some heads roll over this, and combined with pressure from upset Sony artists, might actually usher in a new crop of executives who are more willing to listen to the pro-consumer voices in their hardware divisions instead of heeding the horrible advice from their content divisions.

-JoeShmoe
.

More information available at SonySuit.com

[marklyon]

There is much more information available at SonySuit.com, including information on how you can pursue your own litigation against Sony BMG.

The Titanic Toddler Problem

[Crash Culligan]

There's one problem at the root of all of this. And Sony's rootkit hijinx and crappy advertising techniques, Microsoft's monopolistic practices, and the despicable actions of dozens of other megalithic companies are all symptoms of it. Look at the common factor among all cases (size), and you'll see:

Modern justice lacks scalability.

Think about it. We have these immature, almost psychopathic corporate constructs wandering the landscape. They're greedy like children, live in their own world like children, and have an unnatural knack for breaking things like children. They're gigantic, amoral, know only enough to get into trouble, and don't think much about consequences. And why should they? In this case, it's taking a whole gaggle of government lawyers bearing class action suits to spank them, and even then they're doing a poor job of it. Admittedly, it might help if the government didn't dote over them so, tsking at them for running roughshod over their toys (customers), but ever so happy with them when they perform vital household duties like collecting information and marketing government policies.

The death penalty exists for individuals who are convicted of crimes. (Note: guilt never enters into it; the only important aspect is the conviction.) For corporations, legal contrivances that they are, the best the government can do is dissolution. The last time they did that was the breakup of Ma Bell, and we know what happened there: the individual enterprises have each grown up in their own special, horrid ways.

And the mallet needed to properly smack them down and make them stay down we can't trust in the government's hands. So how do you spank a toddler that big?

Re:The Titanic Toddler Problem

[ajs]

Simple: rewrite (or amend) their corporate charter.

Whose? Sony Corporation of America? Sony Electronics Inc.? Sony Entertainment Inc.? SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT (50% ownership)? Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc.?

Sony Corporation, headquartered in Tokyo? I'd like to see the U.S. court that could re-write a Japanese company's charter!

Which head of the hydra would you like to cut off (and watch regrow) first?

Re:The Titanic Toddler Problem

[Rob the Bold]

They're gigantic, amoral, know only enough to get into trouble, and don't think much about consequences.

Friends, I don't think there's anything we can do. Kind of like the Twilight Zone with the kid with the gnarly powers. All we can do is try not to provoke them. They own the government. You and me, we can't come up with the kind of cash it takes to buy congresspresons.

Perhaps the good news is that there are multiple sociopathic toddlers. Maybe we can get 'em to fight among themsleves to their mutual deaths. Probably just end up with one really big, really mad kid.

Hopping mad... for a while

[rewt66]

Sony now has to release "clean" CDs with NO content protection...which means that they are effectly out of the DRM business for at least two years. That's going to make their music execs hopping mad.

Maybe by the end of the two years, they will have figured out that non-DRMed music sells better than DRMed music. Maybe this settlement forces them to run the experiment that shows them that they can make more money if they don't act like the other music companies.

Think they're bright enough to see the trend in their data?

Outraged? File for exclusion from the settlement!

[MacDork]

How many retards out there won't get the incremental-cost-to-sony "free" downloads or rebates? How many people will stop buying their stuff? None. Its a trial balloon - and Sony now knows what the market will bear.

I wouldn't call them retards. I'd say uninformed... anyway the key is on page 17 of the settlement.

D. Defendants' Limited Right To Withdraw From Settlement
Defendants have the right to withdraw from the settlement, if the number of timely and valid requests for exclusion from the Settlement Class exceeds 1,000.

1000 requests for exclusion is a pretty low bar guys. If only those qualified reading slashdot filed for exclusion, you could pull this off. Sony should be in a lot deeper shit that this settlement provides. Filing a request for exclusion from the settlement class should send a message to these people... I'm as mad as Hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore! If the settlement is approved by the court, everyone here should file for exclusion. Don't let them get away with a slap on the wrist this time. I personally would not be happy until someone responsible for this at Sony was facing criminal charges.

Fuck "Protection"...

[YuppieScum]

What's needed is a DRM Prevention Act.

I cant boycot MS...School wont let me do it!

[a_greer2005]

I am about to take a CIS capstone cource that DEMANDS the use of a Microsoft press book on Visio, and a license to use Visio at home...

The school is making me give MS money, along with the money that they get from our tech fee, what can I do? how can one in my position tell MS that I hate their shenanigans without flunking a class for not buying the book?

Re:I cant boycot MS...School wont let me do it!

[YuppieScum]

Pick a different course, or a school...

The settlement I want!

[Anonymous Coward]

The settlement *I* want with Sony is unlimited backdoor access to all the computers in their entire corporation and total indemnity for any illegal actions I might use them to commit. I will also need to get files with the personal information of all their employees to be used in "customizing" my software.

Um, no.

[flamingweasel]

1) Sony now has to release "clean" CDs with NO content protection

No, they just have to "stop manufacturing SONY BMG CDs with XCP software ("XCP CDs") and SONY BMG CDs with MediaMax software ("MediaMax CDs")." The settlement doesn't seem to say anything about no content protection. I'd wager those products will undergo a namechange, a 6 month retool, and then be back to being installed the first time Timmy puts his new [insert corporate rock band here] "CD" in his computer.

3) Sony has to make "all resonable commericial efforts" to allow the above downlodable albums from iTunes....Now they essentially HAVE to crawl to Apple and negotiate some deal to offer Sony customers the ability to download Sony music...for free...in UNENCRYPTED MP3 FORM...from Apple's music service.

There is not a chance in hell these will be mp3s. I will eat my hat if people can download Sony's music as mp3s from iTunes. No, consumers will get to trade the "bad" DRM-laden files for some other DRM-laden music files. Lucky them.

I think this one by far is the best one I can remember. Especially from the standpoint of sending a message.

Yeah. They have to release a fix for their rootkit (already done), trade real CDs for the rootkit installers (which they've already been doing), and they have to send out some gift certificates to iTMS which can only buy Sony music (which, if I remember correctly, of the $1 75 cents goes to the label). Yep, they're really hurting now. Doing what they were already forced to do, and keep consumers using DRM'd files.

...might actually usher in a new crop of executives who are more willing to listen to the pro-consumer voices in their hardware divisions instead of heeding the horrible advice from their content divisions.

Bwaaaaaahahahah! Oh man, that was a good one. "Pro-consumer." Hahahhaa.

WTF is with #8???

[interactive_civilian]

8. Only collect limited personal information necessary to provide enhanced CD functionality

Very serious "WTF??" happening here. Enhanced CD functionality? How many people buy music CDs for anything more than the ability to listen to the music on them?

Match copyright infringement penalties

[mcubed]

Shouldn't Sony at least have to compensate purchasers with the amount those purchasers would have to pay if an infringement judgement was issued against them? The maximum penalty for copyright infringement is, I believe, $150,000 per song. If someone buys a rootkit CD with 10 songs on it, that person should be entitled to a maximum of $150,000 per song, for a total of $1,500,000.

I mean, isn't the crime Sony has committed at least as serious as infringement? Why should the penalty be any less?

We need 1000 people to opt out - now

[Animats]

This settlement is terrible. Almost everything Sony is agreeing to, they've already done to avoid prosecution in New York and Texas. In exchange, they get unlimited relief from lawsuits from everybody whose systems were damaged by their program. That's a giveway.

One of the terms of the settlement is that if more than 1000 people opt out of it, the deal goes bust. There's going to be an opt out form soon. Check it out, and take the opt-out option.