Sony to Settle Spyware Suit with Downloads?

modemac writes to tell us the Seattle PI is reporting that a judge has 'tentatively' approved a settlement against Sony BMG that would give customers free music downloads as compensation for the recent flawed 'rootkit' software on many new CDs. From the article: 'According to terms of the settlement, Sony BMG will let consumers who bought the CDs receive replacement discs without the anti-piracy technology and will let them choose one of two incentive packages. The first package lets consumers who bought XCP CDs to obtain a cash payment of $7.50 and a promotion code allowing them to download one additional album from a list of more than 200 titles. The second package permits them to download three additional albums from the list. The court papers said Sony BMG would try to offer Apple Computer Inc.'s iTunes as one of the download services available to the consumers.'"

Comments

Ah yes, let DRM make up for DRM

[Anonymous Coward]

In other news. Sony's HMO offered to make up for HIV tainted blood with a new cure that only causes cancer.

Strangely absent from the list, however...

[georgewilliamherbert]

...was Bittorrent...

Re:Strangely absent from the list, however...

[TubeSteak]

http://ts.searching.com/torrent/478519/Trey_Anasta sio_Shine_2005
http://ts.searching.com/torrent/502496/Switchfoot_ Nothing_Is_Sound_FLAC_bySpiff
http://ts.searching.com/torrent/8476/Natasha_Bedin gfield_Unwritten_2_4_Pop_www_torrentazos_com
http://ts.searching.com/torrent/273422/Shelly_Fair child_Ride_2005_VBR
http://ts.searching.com/torrent/490112/Neil_Diamon d_12_Songs_2005
http://ts.searching.com/torrent/254223/Amerie_Touc h_2005
http://ts.searching.com/torrent/396926/Sarah_McLac hlan_Bloom_Remix_Album_Advance_2005_RNS
http://ts.searching.com/torrent/279994/Kasabian_Ka sabian_2_5
http://ts.searching.com/torrent/438875/My_Morning_ Jacket_Z_2005
http://ts.searching.com/torrent/268511/NEW_Susie_S uh_Susie_Suh_2_5_Alternative_www_torrentazos_com
http://ts.searching.com/torrent/502395/Goapele_Cha nge_It_All_2005
http://ts.searching.com/torrent/281173/A_Static_Lu llaby_Faso_Latido
http://ts.searching.com/torrent/433119/NEW_Celine_ Dion_On_Ne_Change_Pas_FR_Retail_2_5_Pop
http://ts.searching.com/torrent/257583/Acceptance_ Phantoms
http://ts.searching.com/torrent/309406/The_Coral_T he_Invisible_Invasion
http://ts.searching.com/torrent/427042/Chayanne_Ca utivo_2_5_Latin
http://ts.searching.com/torrent/385000/Our_Lady_Pe ace_Healthy_In_Paranoid_Times_Advance

I used this list http://slashdot.org/~xtracto/journal/121088 and posted all the ones that torrentspy had.

/biggest waste of time ever

Re:Strangely absent from the list, however...

[danwesnor]

A link to the agreement was posted on /. a week or so ago. The best part of it: Sony will promise not to do it again - for the next to years. After that? Open season.

Re:Strangely absent from the list, however...

[click2005]

After that it wont matter. We'll be forced into using DRM locked hardware, operating systems and portable devices. Standard DRM will be fine. Even discussing non-DRMd music will probably be illegal.

Slap on the wrist

[MikkoApo]

If a guy gets a 11 billion fine for sending spam, Sony ought to get a bit more for dangering its customers' computers.

Re:Slap on the wrist

[Anonymous Coward]

7.50 doesn't even cover the cost of the CD. Sony ought to be paying the full cost of the CD, PLUS damages incurred by the rootkit software, PLUS extra to set an example.

Re:Slap on the wrist

[Fnkmaster]

Agreed, 7.50 is baffling. Average expected cleanup costs alone are higher than that. Then there should be cash returned for the CD's origianl value. And there should be a punitive amount paid to an appropriate charity organization (like EFF, for example) of roughly an equal order of magnitude to set an example that an experienced music and technology company should know better.

I would guesstimate that this number is too low by about an order of magnitude.

Re:Slap on the wrist

[blueflash2o]

they also get a replacement cd

Re:Slap on the wrist

[FusionDragon2099]

The spammer doesn't contribute to your campaign fund, so he gets to be the example.

Re:Slap on the wrist

[Anonymous Coward]

Right... Brilliant. And that would bankrupt the company putting thousands of people out of work.

Re:Slap on the wrist

[Weezul]

I'd take away Sony's ability to own any intellectual property within the United States for a period of 10 years.

Re:Slap on the wrist

[Anonymous Coward]

The same counts for the war on drugs.

Re:Slap on the wrist

[JesseMcDonald]

I like the idea, but how would you go about enforcing it? What's to stop Sony from just licensing all of their IP from "Sony R&D" (hypothetical), an otherwise unrelated corporation? Then Sony wouldn't actually own any IP, but the overall effect would remain unchanged. When sentencing a corporation, you have to remember that the corporation isn't actually a real person; if the punishment is too stringent, then the owners will simply disband and you'll be left with nothing to enforce the sentence against. I'd personally rather that they made the sentence binding on the corporation's shareholders, as they are part-owners in the corporation and direct its operation to an extent determined by the number of shares they each own.

Example: Company A has 1000k shares of stock outstanding, owned by persons B (200k shares), C (300k shares), and D (500k shares). A has assets worth $13.2m. The stock (par) value is thus ($13.2m / 1000k) or $13.20 / share. As is, if a court order against A requires payment of $13.2m or higher, then all the shares devalue to $0.00 and at most $13.2m can be paid in damages before the corporation goes bankrupt. However, if the shareholders are held directly responsible, then the difference between the damages and the $13.2m in assets would be held against the shareholders directly, as an outstanding debt. If the company does $30m in damages to customers, then the balance of $16.8m ($16.80 / share) would be paid by the owners and directors of the company. As it is, if the company is crippled, or bankrupted, then those shareholders can always take their money elsewhere, starting the cycle all over again.

So much for making monetary damages work. Regarding your proposal: if you really wanted to ban Sony from owning IP, you'd have to ban their current shareholders (the owners of Sony) from holding stock in any corporation that controls or licenses IP, and from holding/licensing it themselves. Only then could you be sure that the company wouldn't just be re-created under a new name.

Re:Slap on the wrist

[Anonymous Coward]

In many municipalities, trespass fines are on the order of $1000. I would be content with $100 being paid, after taxes and fees, to each plaintiff. 20 million violations, that's $2 billion, and maybe $1 billion in legal fees. That is what would happen if prosecutors had a spine.

Re:Slap on the wrist

[Ragingguppy]

Agreed... I'd say sony should pay the open source developers who's open source software they used to create the rootkit in the first place. I mean really they did use GPL'd software in a closed source application and denied the public access to the code. I'd say thats illegal as well. What about the developers who's software they ripped off. That rootkit hurt alot of their customers but the open source software was used for illegal matters. I think the costs of repairs, punative damages, and the cost of CD's doesn't cover it.

Re:Slap on the wrist

[gad_zuki!]

Lets face it, lawyers who get caught up in big class-settlement types are more of the ambulance chsing kind. They can't negotiate well and most members of the settlement group will settle for anything. So they just work with Sony for the least expensive settlement the judge will allow. And here it is! The lawyers get paid, the plaintiffs get some token crap, and everyone wins.

Ideally, the damages should include time spent cleaning their rootkit off windows machines. What would best buy charge for that? Or the local computer shop?

Also, American legislators really need to take a look at the Sony company. If this was a US company it probably would have been found guilty of various antitrust actions. A content company which also makes players, which also makes DRM, which also makes CDs, which also signs artists, which also makes game systems, game systems with blu ray players, etc. I don't usually tow the "big buisness sucks" line, but Sony tends to make Microsoft look like Richard Stallman, yet there is little to no outrage.

Re:Slap on the wrist

[evilneko]

But see, how many desktops do you see at CompUSA with anything other than Windows or OSX installed? When you go to Best Buy or Circuit City, how many stereos do you see with a name other than Sony? Microsoft faces far less significant competition in its primary market than does Sony in any of the markets that Sony plays in. Microsoft is even one of Sony's significant competitors, in one particular market.

Re:Slap on the wrist

[Weezul]

Yes and no, I like the iddea of elimionating limited liability for corperations, i.e. making stock holders liable, but also allowing the courts to reasign all the debt to the executives & board members who made the decissions, so that ordinary people don't get screwed. But its not true that corperations can necissarily avoid big punishments.

However, its actually quite easy to make the "no IP" restriction extremely painful. If you merely voided all Sony's current copyrights, Sony CD prices would crash as the market flooded with competitors, effectively ending the revenue stream they abused.. it might decrease the price of other companies CDs too. Voiding their patents too would leave them defenseless vs. patent sharks, effectively decorperating them. Such punishments would have a profound positive impact upon behaviors of other corporations.

Of course, the major problem is that Sony isn't person-like at all, it more resembles a government. So it should be treated as a government. Companies shold have to establish their legitimacy like democrasies, either by being so numerous and compeditive that consumers have endless arbitrary choice, or by allowing everyone, not just the sstock holders, to vote.

Re:Slap on the wrist

[JesseMcDonald]

Of course, the major problem is that Sony isn't person-like at all, it more resembles a government. So it should be treated as a government. Companies shold have to establish their legitimacy like democrasies [sic], either by being so numerous and compeditive [sic] that consumers have endless arbitrary choice, or by allowing everyone, not just the sstock [sic] holders, to vote.

<sarcasm>Just like real governments allow non-citizens to vote, right?</sarcasm> Assuming that changes were made to eliminate limitations on the shareholders' liability, then corporations would be nothing more than purely voluntary organizations; unlike a government, no one is forced to do business with them. Their customers "vote" by choosing whether or not to buy from them, which in the end will determine Sony's future more surely than anything the shareholders might do. The shareholders have the right to vote on corporate issues because they are part-owners in the corporation; they are only exercising control over the use of their own resources, the same as any individual would.

The only ones hurt by Sony's recent debacle were the ones who voluntarily purchased Sony's products. IMHO they have just cause to seek recompense for the cost of the defective "audio" CDs, and for any damage that those defective discs caused to their property, provided that Sony actually tried to pass off these crippled discs as regular audio CDs (which I'm not entirely sure of). If the discs were labelled as DRM'd, then caveat emptor. They should have read the labels more thoroughly. Perhaps they'll be more careful where they spend their money next time.

Changing topics a bit, I do agree that voiding all of Sony's existing IP would be a major blow to the company, but that isn't what you proposed the first time. Your original proposal was that Sony should be prevented from owning IP in the future, which is rather more difficult to accomplish in practice. Either way, it's not a bad idea, provided that they actually did something wrong (as mentioned above). It may be a bit excessive, though, since the actual damages from their deception were probably significantly less than the proposed punishment.

The Value of an Album

[JackTripper]

$7.50 + 1 album, or 3 albums Where X is an album: $7.50 + (1 * X) = 3 * X $7.50 = 2 * X X = $7.50 / 2 = $3.75 Value of a full-length album according to Sony: $3.75

Re:The Value of an Album

[saskboy]

The going rate for reinstalling Windows from scratch to repair a destroyed CD system and remove a rootkit is at least $75US. Didn't Slashdot tell us before that people were paying $125 to remove spyware? Why doesn't Sony have to live up to that standard, it wasn't just that their CDs were broken, it's that they BREAK computers too.

And this doesn't even take into account punitive damages.

Re:The Value of an Album

[TubeSteak]

Well, since the offerings are "from a list of more than 200 titles." I think it'd be fair to assume that Sony is going to be offering up albums from their catalog of music.

If that's the case, then the music only costs them whatever cut the music store(s) would normally get per track/album.

In iTunes' case, Apple gets 4 pennies per track. The artists get 8%~14%, so even if Sony 'values' each album at $3.75, on iTunes, Sony is never going to payout more than 18% of the value.*

My guess is that Sony tacked on a free album to their $7.50 offer to pull onboard anyone who isn't on the online music gravy train. The 3 album offer is probably cheaper for them.

Either way, Sony doesn't lose much money on this.

*I realize I'm assuming the costs of albums are somehow related to the costs of individual tracks, but the idea is to set a ceiling on Sony's possible losses.

Re:The Value of an Album

[nacturation]

This is for those who, like me, had a difficult time parsing the non-standard math notation -- is 2 * X X equal to 2 * X^2 or something?

In compensation, you either get 3 albums -OR- $7.50 + 1 album. We'll assume the value offered is considered by Sony to be equivalent. Let's do the math in plain English:

So 3 albums = $7.50 + 1 album.
2 albums = $7.50
1 album = $3.75

Thus, the value of 1 album according to the above assumptions is $3.75.

Re:The Value of an Album

[Anonymous Coward]

Um, it was not 2 * X X, it was the same 3 statements you just noted but without breaks and with X instead of the word album. You just did not put the breaks in the correct place (the first X is the end of one statement as the second X is the start of the next):

1) $7.50 + (1 * X) = 3 * X
$7.50 + (1 album) = 3 albums

2) $7.50 = 2 * X
$7.50 = 2 albums

3) X = $7.50 / 2 = $3.75
album = $7.50 / 2 = $3.75

Re:The Value of an Album

[nacturation]

Um, it was not 2 * X X, it was the same 3 statements you just noted but without breaks and with X instead of the word album. You just did not put the breaks in the correct place (the first X is the end of one statement as the second X is the start of the next)

Thus, the preview option when commenting.

Slap on the wrist

[Anonymous Coward]

Jesus, this is a slap on the wrist...

How Sony should really make up for it

[Anonymous Coward]

Give anyone infected with their rootkit immunity from prosecution for copyright infringement for the next several years.

I find it hilarious...

[Anonymous Coward]

.. when companies get "punished" with free publicity and zero-cost restitution. This seems to happen a lot with software companies breaking laws.

Do courts not realize that software and digital downloads have essentially no per-unit cost to producers?

Re:I find it hilarious...

[KarmaMB84]

It's a settlement to avoid having a judge tear the company to pieces in court. The lawyers will agree to give the customers nothing of value as long as they get their big fat checks from Sony. That's how class action suits always work.

Odd how the accounting works

[Anonymous Coward]

The first package lets consumers who bought XCP CDs to obtain a cash payment of $7.50 and a promotion code allowing them to download one additional album from a list of more than 200 titles. The second package permits them to download three additional albums from the list.

So when they let you download two additional albums, the combined value is $7.50. When you get them from a friend, they are suddenly worth $75,000.00.

Re:Odd how the accounting works

[Surt]

No no, it's when you give them to 2 friends that they are worth $75000. Because then they give them to 2 friends, and they give them to 2 friends, and they give them to 2 friends, and they give them to 2 friends, and they give them to 2 friends, and they give them to 2 friends, and they give them to 2 friends, and they give them to 2 friends, and they give them to 2 friends, and they give them to 2 friends, and by then you're responsible for giving the music away a thousandfold.

Re:Odd how the accounting works

[TubeSteak]

So when they let you download two additional albums, the combined value is $7.50. When you get them from a friend, they are suddenly worth $75,000.00.

Which is why you can remove yourself from the class action and sue Sony's ass for fun stuff like damages.

But first, 1,000 people have to withdraw

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.

The post (from the previous article) I found that info in

So.... Sony isn't going to see any criminal charges, but you can definitely have a go at trying to get more blood out of them.

Re:Odd how the accounting works

[Anonymous Coward]

Therefore Sony's not your friend

Re:Odd how the accounting works

[micheas]

A slightly more informative link. http://www.eff.org/IP/DRM/Sony-BMG/settlement_faq. php

At first I was unhappy with the settlement, but then I got to the following section:

I think my CD drive was seriously damaged by the XCP or MediaMax software. Do I have to give up my claims against Sony BMG for this injury?

        No. The settlement does not release claims for:

                * damage to a computer or network resulting from interactions between the XCP Software or the MediaMax Software and your computer (e.g., damage to your hard drive);
                * damage related to your reasonable efforts to remove the XCP Software or the MediaMax Software; or
                * copyright, trademark or other claims arising from the development of the MediaMax Software or the XCP Software, or any uninstallers or updates thereto.

        You may still sue Sony BMG for any such claims, whether or not you choose to take advantage of the settlement benefits. As part of the settlement process, Sony BMG agreed to waive its unconscionable New York forum selection clause and $5 limit on damages, so you can take them to your local small claims court for your damages. EFF will be developing a web page explaining how to use the small claims process to bring a lawsuit against Sony BMG.

I am not a lawyer, but I would like a small claims slashdotting of sony for this.

Remove the root kit, for someone that got toasted, send them a bill, attach the small claims form to the bill: Imagine the pain of forty thousand small claims actions against them.

So, if my reading is correct, only if the damage is greater than small claims court do you want to opt out. otherwise we can try for the first small claims slashdotting.

Re:Odd how the accounting works

[TubeSteak]

Ouch... that is really going to hurt Sony.

Sony BMG agreed to waive its unconscionable New York forum selection clause and $5 limit on damages

For the people who don't know what that means... Sony is not going to be able to enforce those two portions of their EULA.

I'd like to know if "unconscionable" was the EFF's wording, or... because Unconscionable (with regards to a contract) is like asking for someone's first born child.

There is zero (0) chance that they're going to be able to send out lawyers to deal with every single small claims suit filed across the country. The net result is going to be a shit-load of default judgements against Sony (assuming people know to sue).

Re:Odd how the accounting works

[Jozer99]

Makes sense to me.

Re:Odd how the accounting works

[denebian devil]

Not only that, members of a class action can choose to "opt out" and sue Sony directly if they desire. Though it probably would not be easy to do for an average individual. http://www.eff.org/IP/DRM/Sony-BMG/settlement_faq. php#10 I don't like this settlement. How do I opt out? If you don't want to participate in the settlement and get the settlement benefits, and you want to keep the right to sue Sony BMG on your own about any of the claims that this settlement resolves, then you must take steps to opt out. If you want to exclude yourself from the settlement, you must send a letter by mail clearly indicating your name, address and telephone number and stating that you "request to be excluded from the Settlement Class in the Sony BMG CD Technologies Litigation," and you must sign the letter. You also must state the title of the XCP CD or MediaMax CD that you bought, received or used. More information about opting out will be included in the settlement notices that will go out by February 15, 2006. Important Note: You must opt-out by MAY 1, 2006.

Re:Odd how the accounting works

[Garnaralf]

Just remember this...

Many, if not most, state's laws say that in small claims court, the parties are not represented by a lawyer. This means they would actually have to send a company rep to small claims.

That might make things interesting.

But I do see alot of default judgements happening.

Re:Odd how the accounting works

[arekq]

Are you sure? My understanding is that in small claims court, you are not required to hire a lawyer, but may do so if you want to, at least for New York and Chicago:

http://www.courts.state.ny.us/courts/nyc/smallclai ms/general.shtml

A claimant or defendant may hire an attorney if they choose to do so, but it is not necessary.

http://www.ag.state.il.us/consumers/smlclaims.html

Is an Attorney Required? In small claims court you can handle your personal or business legal matters without an attorney; however, you can hire an attorney to represent you if you wish. If the other party has an attorney, your chances of winning might be better if you also have an attorney.

Re:Odd how the accounting works

[Esion Modnar]

Imagine the pain of forty thousand small claims actions

So death by (forty) thousand small claims courts? I like it!

Re:Odd how the accounting works

[laughingcoyote]

It depends on the state. My father recently sued a company in small-claims in Denver, and when the company rep. brought a lawyer, the lawyer was asked to leave. In many states, the person being sued MUST personally represent themself, or an actual company representative represent the company. There are a LOT of default judgements for failure to appear in small claims court, for this reason-quite often, the company just doesn't bother showing up.

Re:Odd how the accounting works

[Harker]

What he means is that if nobody from Sony, whether a lawyer, or just some schmuck with a briefcase of information, shows up, the court decides against them.

H.

Re:Odd how the accounting works

[Harker]

I for one, seriously hope people take this step if they had to pay someone to clean up their computer.

I had one person who called me on this when it first came out, and after doing the research on what happens, I told them it would be better off waiting for a clean uninstall option. They chose to pay someone else $120 to reinstall windows for them (I would have done it cheaper). I have since passed this information on to them and advised them to force Sony to pay for it.

H.

Re:Odd how the accounting works

[innocent_white_lamb]

What happens if the person you are suing happens to be a lawyer? If I take Dewey, Cheetham & Howe to small claims court for whatever damage I figure they did to me, who comes to the hearing on their behalf if lawyers aren't allowed into the room? The janitor?

Re:Odd how the accounting works

[laughingcoyote]

Well, while I'm not a lawyer myself, my guess is that if the lawyer is -also- the defendant (or are themselves the plaintiff), that status takes precedence. At that point, however, they're not there as someone's lawyer, they're representing themself, just like you are.

Re:Odd how the accounting works

[Anonymous Coward]

>> (assuming people know to sue) If you get the chance to take Sony to small claims court, be sure to name the current head of Sony. As named, he won't bother to show up, but Sony will be unable to send a flunky in his place (which they could do if you simply lay a claim against Sony). I've never had to do such a thing and I'm sure laws differ from state to state, bu that's the basic gist of what you should do.

Sony installs a rootkit...

[undeadly]

when someone just plays a CD the user bought, and the user gets just about nothing in compensation? More importantly, this is not a deterrent for other/same company to pull the same stunt again.

Re:Sony installs a rootkit...

[MikkoApo]

If autorun is enabled the rootkit is installed even user doesn't approve the license. Funky.

It's Something

[BigDork1001]

Well it's something but what about people who are on dial-up or have no Internet access at all? Not everyone out there who owns a computer has screaming-fast broadband. I didn't RTFA (I know, shocking) but I hope they plan on offering the content some other way for those people.

Re:It's Something

[Anonymous Coward]

Even dialup can download an album in a reasonable amount of time, unless you have seriously awful dialup.
No access is probably still a valid concern though. (another non-rtfa'er here)

Nice treat.

[msid]

That's quite a good payback" in my opinion.

Re:Nice treat.

[Anonymous Coward]

That's quite a good payback" in my opinion.

To compensate for infecting customers' computers with their malware, Sony is to pay in data, at no cost at all to themselves? This is like ordering them to pay in Slashdot posts. That's not how damages are supposed to be paid. It's farcical.

Re:Nice treat.

[msid]

Well, don't do the crime if you can't do the time they say :)

Bad Justice

[neostorm]

Why do we continually let wrong-doing companies settle lawsuits by giving away advertising? This same thing happened with Microsoft back when their "punishment" was to give several school districts copies of Windows and other MS Software. This action isn't reprimanding the company at fault, but giving them more customers instead.

I wish lawsuits could only be settled with cold-hard-cash or *serious*, displayable change in company policy to avoid future indiscretions.

Re:Bad Justice

[mtenhagen]

This is a settlement probably offfered by sony. The other option is that sony will fight in court and millions of dollars will be wasted.

I would say consider this as warning where sony gets away easy. Otherwise only the lawers will win.

Re:Bad Justice

[timeOday]

It's ridiculous. When a school kid breaks into some computer to snoop around, companies claim damages of tens of thousands of dollars because the hacker *might* have changed something. The courts just lap it up. But when Sony does something worse (not just poking around, but installing a backdoor) it's $7. When you think about all the inconvenience and expense of rebuilding a rooted box, $7 is absurd. What does giving permission to copy a few music files cost Sony? Nothing. All the cynical predictions about Sony getting off scot free were 100% correct.

Re:Bad Justice

[PocketPick]

And to make matters worse, these albums are likely to suck.
Remember This: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5226945/

Unless there's high demand for 'Entertainment Weekly's Greatest Hits of 1971' this is just going to be another inventory clean-out.

Re:Bad Justice

[oGMo]

Why do we continually let wrong-doing companies settle lawsuits by giving away advertising? This same thing happened with Microsoft back when their "punishment" was to give several school districts copies of Windows and other MS Software. This action isn't reprimanding the company at fault, but giving them more customers instead.

Ah yes, because by downloading music from iTunes or receiving a valid copy of the CD you paid for, you are now a Sony/BMG customer who must purchase more Sony gear to play those songs, and will ultimately be locked in by your choice should you choose or need to buy more music in the future.

Oh wait, no you're not. Music isn't a platform, Sony/BMG isn't a monopoly, and this at worst is allowing the customer to get exposure to other artists which they may or may not follow in the future, and who may or may not even be Sony/BMG artists.

I wish lawsuits could only be settled with cold-hard-cash or *serious*, displayable change in company policy to avoid future indiscretions.

So, $7.50 isn't cold hard cash? This is probably a $15 CD we're talking about. They're refunding everyone half the cost, providing a valid copy, and allowing them to download some tracks from an online music store. That sounds fair to me.

Displayable change, however, I agree with. Hopefully this will be costly enough, both in money and PR, to prevent anyone from doing it again.

Re:Bad Justice

[Saxophonist]

Actually, that Microsoft settlement was rejected at least some judges for some states:

• Cnet article
• Microsoft Monitor

At least some judge had some sense.

Re:Bad Justice

[hackstraw]

Why do we continually let wrong-doing companies settle lawsuits by giving away advertising?

Dunno. Why do "we"?

I remember a long time ago when some Americans got pissed at a company and simply raided their supply of products and threw them into a harbor.

Read all about it here.

Re:Bad Justice

[Aranth Brainfire]

"$7 is absurd. What does giving permission to copy a few music files cost Sony? Nothing."

Since, you know, Sony BMG didn't lose any customers to this scandal. And they didn't lose any sales to people who are getting a free album or three. And there aren't enough people out there who buy Sony BMG CDs that would multiply up seven dollars to the tens of thousands of dollars range. And they're not losing any money at all to the amount of work they have to put into enforcing this plan they have.

Re:Bad Justice

[st0rmshad0w]

What you say is true, but the point is the average person who had to pay to get thier system rebuilt should be adequately copensated since it was Sony BMG's fault.

My system is pretty complex. If I had to pay to get it redone, it might run $300-400. The courts telling me that Sony only owes me $7.50 and a crappy album is going to make me start looking for a gun (figuratively).

Its ABSURD and the main reason I hate class-actions, it short changes the individual claimant.

Every single person in the suit should have just filed a small claims case for cleanup costs and a little more for time and trouble. It would really hurt song BMG more than this stupid settlement.

Re:Bad Justice

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah. But no one wants to spend 6 years in Gitmo for the pleasure of dumping a bunch of low cost, easily replaced, plastic coasters into the ocean

Re:Bad Justice

[A beautiful mind]

Yeah. Americans didn't like ARM that time in the past.

They didn't like how Analog Rights Management was done - by the british.

Re:Bad Justice

[RobertLTux]

pleasure of dumping a bunch of low cost, easily replaced, plastic coasters into the ocean ---- and anyway could somebody think of the (ocean dwelling) children!! really dumping bunches of polycarbonate discs into the ocean is Evil Bad and Wrong

Re:Bad Justice

[the_bard17]

That sounds fair to me.

For installing an exploit onto your system?

Twist the situation around... imagine installing an exploit onto Sony's internal network, without their permission, then get caught. Wanna bet the judge is going to let you off with a $7.50 punishment?

Didn't think so.

Re:Bad Justice

[Anonymous Coward]

"Wow, those guys were like, terrorists." - statement of a teenager upon reading this.

Re:Bad Justice

[10101001 10101001]

You're only partially right. Sony also makes plasma TVs and a lot of other high cost electronics. Dumping a few hundred plasma TVs into a harbor (or preferably off a high cliff into a barren area) would cause considerable loss. Sure, that might cause a somewhat conflicting message, but the whole intent is mainly to cause harm to the company involved. Of course, you could also try destroy CD production plants of Sony. That'd not send mixed signals.

Oh, and do note that I'm not suggesting to actually carry out such action. I think boycotting Sony is the better answer.

Re:Bad Justice

[Anonymous Coward]

Yes, but the difference is, in this day and age, such an act would probably construed as terrorism.

Re:Bad Justice

[smchris]

Why do we continually let wrong-doing companies settle lawsuits by giving away advertising?

Minnesota suit didn't. But, if not shrink-wrap software or a complete PC, it had to be something a clueless user could plug into the box -- no video cards and the like. Massa Gates bought us a refurb '02 scanner, a cheap inkjet and a couple Cheapbytes keyboards with Tux replacing the Microsoft keys.

Hey, it's something.

Re:Bad Justice

[MidnightBrewer]

Actually, it's $7 x 20 million XCP disks, or $140 million, plus they have to give away at least one more album for free, which is a potential additional $7.50 x 20,000,000 = $150 million in sales they're giving away for free. Sure, they have a lot more money than that, what they did is irreprehensible, and I for one wish they were forced to pay something more realistic per user, but the problem lies with the class-action lawsuit model, not the judge. If an individual could afford to sue Sony and actually win, then they'd get more as an individual.

Re:Bad Justice

[MidnightBrewer]

Oops! They also have to pay shipping to and from each customer wanting to exchange their CD, which is going to add another few million to the bill.

Re:Bad Justice

[Plunky]

So, $7.50 isn't cold hard cash? This is probably a $15 CD we're talking about. They're refunding everyone half the cost, providing a valid copy, and allowing them to download some tracks from an online music store. That sounds fair to me.

er, two things.. firstly, what did it actually cost Sony to produce and distribute? A darn sight less than $7.50 is likely.. secondly, it is worth $15 only to somebody who wants to buy it! There is no absolute value that can be assigned to a thing like this no matter what they would like you to believe..

Appears to be reported by the *Associated Press*

[xmas2003]

Minor nit: Submitter says "the Seattle PI is reporting" but the referenced URL appears to just be a reprint from the Associated Press with no byline.

I don't doubt this story is accurate, but AP has had some pretty sensational blunders recently, so important to provide correct attribution and know how it was sourced.

Speaking of that, I'd love to know who originated this sound of freedom story ... and shake their hand ... priceless!

Just Wonderful...

[Anonymous Coward]

Give them the ability to download DRMed music files(iTunes) instead of having them on a DRM'd music disc? I am sure these Judges do not understand technology whatsoever.... morons

j

what kind of settlement is this?

[manavendra]

First of all, I don't understand what a "tentative" agreement to settlement means.

Second, TFA says more than 20 million CD's with MediaMax were sold. this "tentative" settlement and the $7.50 compensation, is clearly biased since how many of these buyers would go back to the store to claim their compensation?

Lastly, if >20 million CDs were sold, that's a *large* number of affected PC's. Sony might claim it has provided a "one-click" un-install software, the bug would still linger around for a lot longer

Flawed justice, anyone?

Re:what kind of settlement is this?

[glitch23]

Second, TFA says more than 20 million CD's with MediaMax were sold.

Nothing that the CDs possessed were sold. It was the CDs themselves.

Re:what kind of settlement is this?

[Anonymous Coward]

Lastly, if >20 million CDs were sold, that's a *large* number of affected PC's.

Well, obviously not all of those were played in Windows PCs, but let's think about it from Sony's point of view: most of those CDs that went into a computer were being ripped into MP3s so they could be illegally distributed over the Internet. Who legitimately listens to music on their computer for crying out loud, doesn't anyone have a stereo anymore?

Just another in a long line of...

[jskline]

This really is just another in a long line of crap being pushed on the consumers by the lawyers who are the ones making the "real" money.

I supposed most of you have forgotten that for all those machines infected with this parsite, it will cost the user about $150 per machine to have it removed or the machine reloaded and the equivalent of that in your valuable time if you are doing it yourself.

Where do these bozo's get off with this one is beyond me!!

Lawyers

[pjh3000]

At least maybe the lawyers would get screwed a bit. Would they then get payed in downloads?

Settlement bad for plaintifs

[SmoothTom]

Sony is facing no penalties and is not being made to 'repair' PC
(or other 'puter's) their ill-thought out DRM may have damaged.

When I buy a CD I want not only the recorded music at the highest quality
available to me, but I want the artwork and other extras that come with that CD.

(This doesn't mean that I don't D/L music from eMusic, Magnatunes, and
iTunes, it just means that when I purchase a CD I do so for a specific
set of reasons.)

I have been to the Sony site and the Sunncomm site several times each, and have
attempted to get any sort of reasonable response from both Sony (no
responses at all) and Sunncomm (one seemingly automated response saying
they will contact me.

I don't need any fancy settlements and I DON'T want an MP3 - the quality of
an MP3 is NOT the same as the quality of a standard CD track.

Personally I would be satisfied with a replacement CD with no added
software on it, and removal software that would leave my machines'
installed software exactly as it was prior to Sony/Sunncomm (with the
possible exception of modified dates and such, of course).

I don't want some 'Sony Surprise' in the months or years down the road that
will cause problems with any use I may wish to make of my computers.

Below is my last e-mail to Sunncomm, and their only response to me:

From: _______@____-______.com
Subject: Unable to get response from Sunncomm support
Date: December 9, 2005 3:46:14 PM PST
To: investor@sunncomm.com, support@sunncomm.com
Cc: _____@_____.org
________________
I run several Macintosh computers on my home LAN, and one of
them is also the center of my entertainment system.

Since I have a number of Sony/BMG CDs that may have dumped
Sunncomm files onto my system(s) I have been trying to get
information from your support folks to remove those files
from my system(s) and undo any and all changes Sunncomm may
have made to standard OS and application software on my
system(s).

Thus far I have received absolutely no response from
Sunncomm support.

If nothing else, please provide me with a list of files
potentially left or changed by Sunncomm so that I can take
my own measures to restore my system(s).

(Note: Your FAQ information for Macintosh computers is
severely lacking, and in some places incorrect.)

Thank you for your time and attention,
[signed]

Their response to me:

From: techsupport@sunncomm.com
Subject:
Date: December 9, 2005 4:12:01 PM PST
To: _______@____-______.com
________________
Thank you for contacting us. A SunnComm Tech Support
representative will respond to your email
shortly.

So far, there has been no further response from Sunncomm
since that 09DEC autoresponse saying they would get back to
me shortly.

(I seriously doubt that I have any of the Sony distributed
software on any of my machines, because I do
NOT allow unauthorized installs to take place, but I
would still like to have the information from them to
allow me to verify this is the case.)

Anyway, the "settlement" appears to be simply a way for Sony
to protect themselves from protracted legal hassles at
the cheapest cost to them. It is NOT in the best
interest of any of their customers who may have had
their system software damaged by the software
distributed by Sony.

-- Tomas

Re:Settlement bad for plaintifs

[blueflash2o]

well you get a replacement cd with the downloads also

Re:Settlement bad for plaintifs

[SmoothTom]

"well you get a replacement cd with the downloads also"

Not if one has an original CD with only Sunncomm DRM code on it - those folks just get to D/L an MP3 copy of it, and nothing else - not even removal of the DRM software installed and running on their machines.

(This is the DRM stuff that installed software even if one clicked Hell No! when asked if the software could be installed on Mac OS X machines...)

--
Tomas

Re:Settlement bad for plaintifs

[Mike Peel]

Why not just contact Sony directly?

Re:Settlement bad for plaintifs

[blueflash2o]

sorry i missed that part

Re:Settlement bad for plaintifs

[SmoothTom]

Possibly because I already have but they haven't bothered to answer?

Yeah! That's it! ;o)

The only response I have been able to get from either Sony or Sunncomm is the one automated response from Sunncomm saying they would get right back to me, back in early December.

Personally I'm not that worried, but the "support" from Sony has been considerably less than stellar. :o(

--
Tomas

So in conclusion...

[BTWR]

Lawyers get millions and millions

Users get to split the rest amongst themselves, giving them a whopping $7.50. Wow... that's almost the price of a large Chicken Lo Mein!

Go Justice System!

Re:So in conclusion...

[harlows_monkeys]

(1) There are a lot more users getting $7.50 than there are lawyers getting millions. From the point of view of discouraging similar behavior in the future, that $7.50 to users is going to be a bigger stick than than the fees of a few lawyers.

(2) Lawyers who handle these kinds of suits put up a lot of money up front, out of their own pockets. If the suit doesn't get certified as a class action, of if they lose, they are out that money. That happens a lot. In general, class action lawyers do OK, but not a lot better than other lawyers. You just never hear much about all the cases where they don't get anything.

Re:So in conclusion...

[st0rmshad0w]

The point shouldn't be to discouage future behavior, that should be a secondary effect of MAKING THINGS RIGHT to the people effected. $7.50 isnt making it right. And it might add up to more than lawyer fees, but it should be a realistic reimbursement to each person, say cost of a system reload, since the point should be to make things right to the people who sustained damages.

---::Place Advert Here::---

[drrngrvy]

The first package lets consumers who bought XCP CDs to obtain a cash payment of $7.50 and a promotion code allowing them to download one additional album from a list of more than 200 titles. The second package permits them to download three additional albums from the list.

So those would be Sony titles then? Hmm, yes. Get one free, then maybe you'd like to buy another, sir? *cough...cough*

Lets see..

[Dvondrake]

Let's see.. Sony plants spyware on computers --> Sony tries to fix it by giving people music.. I don't see how music can settle for a spyware attack. Let's put spyware on Sony's computers and see how they like it. :P

Re:Lets see..

[heavy snowfall]

They should pay for the time required to remove it for each and every install. (as if they know they are infected..)

From the Drug Dealers' Handbook

[Quirk]

Rule 1: The first taste is always free.

Rule 2: Replace bad product with good product.

The underlying rule would seem to be, keep them coming back for more.

Who gets punished?

[MrAndrews]

I haven't seen it written anywhere yet, but one question I've seen raised is who pays for this blunder? Let's say that I'm an artist who had that DRM on my CDs. My cut of the CD sales is already tiny, but now what they're saying is that I not only have to give back the money I earned from the original sales, but I'm also going to have to give away another CD's worth of money, too. A proper punishment for Sony would be to need to guarantee payments to the artists for every copy of every CD, even if it was called back because of DRM. Otherwise they're just passing the hurt on to the artists.

Re:Who gets punished?

[TheGavster]

If I were the artist, I'd be suing Sony for damages over the bad press from the DRM'd CDs ... it's harder to find out if it's a Sony/BMG disc than to find out if it's by one of the artists whose discs were DRM'd.

Re:Who gets punished?

[jefu]

Who pays?

Possibility 1 : The consumer - not the ones getting the $7.50 each, but all the rest. The price of CD's would just get bumped a bit - done over the next year or so no one would notice much and the corporate budget would balance.

Possibility 2 : The artist - just add a small surcharge to the cost of producing their next albums. The alternative to paying it would probably be to lose the contract, so who would complain.

Possibility 3 : Sony Employees in general - delay raises and bonuses for a bit and everything will be just fine - they can always blame it on their reduced profits for the year. Reduced because of the payout, of course.

Possibility 4 : Shareholders - lop a penny or so off dividends. Wall Street might notice, but they're probably going to be so lost in admiration for a corporation that got away with it yet again that they'll swarm all overthemselves to load up on Sony.

Possibility 5 : Sony Higher Management - reduce bonuses or salaries for those directly responsible and their managers? Sorry. Can't do that - after all these are the people that make the company profitable (never mind the consumers, artists and general employees).

You pick.

That's stupid

[Anonymous Coward]

You're not legally responsible for what your friends (or your friends' friends' friends') do with the songs.

Re:That's stupid

[click2005]

But you did not legally have the right to copy it or loan it to a friend (i think their EULA goes that far nowadays) so you are responsible.

Just as Sony is legally responsible for the damage caused because of their rootkit....

Oh hang on, this settlement just about says they did nothing wrong... i'm confused.. how is this a pubishment? (especially as it'll probably be old albums nobody wants. I wonder if they have the 3 tenors.)

Why doesn't the legal system just stop filing lawsuits against companies. Its just wasting everyones time. Save people money, blow the budget on a party.

200 titles

[overshoot]

I can see it now. Not one of those 200 titles has any artists who were ever in the top 40, much less the top 10 -- and that's since the 50s.

Instead, it's unaltered copies (scratches and all) of 78RPM stuff (in Japanese) from the post-WWII period.

Has Sony set a price?

[O'Rabbit]

It seems to me that Sony, in their settlement, seems to have set a price on the value of the data on their music CDs.

The choice of packages is:

1. one free download plus $7.50, or
2. three free downloads.

Doing the math says that each downloaded album is therefore worth $3.75 by their own reckoning.

On the other hand, that suggests that there are three and three-quarter songs worth downloading on their albums, by iTunes pricing...

Re:Has Sony set a price?

[KDR_11k]

On the other hand, that suggests that there are three and three-quarter songs worth downloading on their albums, by iTunes pricing...

In most cases that would be a gross overestimation.

What value root?

[Progman3K]

People who've had their identity stolen because of a rootkit exploit installed by sony will no doubt be very happy to hear that all their woes can be solved by downloading sony's crapmedia.

Re:What value root?

[Anonymous Coward]

How the hell is this a troll? It's a damn good point; music doesn't repair your credit score or put the thousands of dollars back in your pocket when some kid gets all your info off your computer cause Sony thinks you don't have any rights.

So my time is only worth an album?

[19061969]

Well, considering that if I did buy this CD (which I didn't) and it installed a rootkit, the costs don't add up.

COnsider:

Cost of CD $7.50
Free albums worth of downloads $8.00 (whatever it is).

Total claim back $15.50

My time to re-install Windows to get rid of their rootkit, let's just say one hour to be generous and that's not including preparation time (digging out the CD's) and bother of having alien software on my machine.

1 hour consultancy for necessary repairs $250.00

I reckon they're getting off easy.

Think

[michelcultivo]

It is to see what will cause if you install something onto user computer without his permission. Maybe this is not the first time that a company does this.

Well

[Trip Ericson]

So they have to give away copies of their IP for free. That costs them... nothing! What a penalty! Next time I murder someone, I want to be able to just promise never to do it again and be let go!

Re:Well

[Anonymous Coward]

Next time? Surely you mean first time... ?

Justice for managers vs. justice for kids

[msbsod]

So, Sony managers get away with unauthorized sabotage of an countless computers, while a kid is being charged with a felony for bringing down a school computer system? Talk about justice.

Too lenient...

[Anonymous Coward]

A) this fiasco borders on fraud -- most people thought they were buying an ordinary audio CD that would work like any other, not something that would infect their computer permanently. Most people wouldn't even consider the possibility. These discs are a look-alike that have less features (e.g., you *can't* copy it onto your iPod) for the same price. They are a pseudo-Red Book Audio CD knock-off that Sony sold with the hope people wouldn't know or care about the difference.

B) had it been anyone else, they would have been prosecuted for all kinds of computer-invasion-related crimes. Their equipment would be confiscated and they'd probably have to meet bail requirements.

C) the RIAA and MPAA, at the urging of companies like Sony BMG, have been lobbying for harsher treatment of people committing illegal copying. Why should ordinary people be lenient at all when we are told that, should we download music files or copy music, we are guilty of stealing and should owe thousands of dollars of restitution, if not be thrown into jail? Furthermore, there is NO acknowledgement that some kinds of copying (e.g., of a disc I bought and paid for) fall under "fair use" and, therefore, are NOT illegal. I haven't downloaded any music I haven't paid for or that wasn't free with the permission of the people who made it.

D) This whole thing occurred because Sony BMG, while protecting their legitimate copyright interests in this music, didn't care about the implications of destroying consumer's ability to legally exercise their fair use rights, or Sony wouldn't have deployed this stuff in the first place. They were reckless. And it isn't specific to a flaw in this protection method -- other methods degrade the quality of the data, and use all sorts of other stupid tricks. If they don't care about the implications of turning otherwise legal users into criminals if they circumvent these protections, then why should I care that they didn't *mean* to cause this degree of a problem?

E) Comments by Sony management's early in the process were pathetic. Most people don't know what a rootkit is, so why should they care? Right. Most people don't know what DRM is, but they do care when it prevents them from using the product the way they did for every other audio disc they purchased.

Let Sony roast in the legal flames for a while, until they are good and crispy. Until they acknowledge the underlying reasons this fiasco occurred, and commit to not deploying any kind of DRM that stomps on fair use rights or consumer's equipment, I say: NO MERCY. Persecute them to the full extent and penalty the law permits, just like they advocate for others. I don't care about the money or the free tracks, I want to see their policy change, and I want to see establishment of a deterrant that causes other companies to consider the same. It is high time the public stopped the erosion of their side of the bargain that is copyright.

A message from SONY

[Anonymous Coward]

Sorry 'bout installing that nasty software without consent, we really crossed the line there. Draconian DRM is good for consumers and to proove it we generously gonna give away something for free. If you been affected by our rootkit, we now offer you reduced freedom and convienience for free. We'll really get U next time, we promise. 'till then enjoy the DRM U brainless morons!

One question: settling for more DRM?

[Alsee]

I have one question. People are getting un-DRM-restricted versions of the music that they bought, but... Sony is to offer people one to three additional album downloads. Under the terms of this settlement is Sony permitted to supply more DRM crippled crap for these? There is discussion of making them iTunes album downloads, which does seem to indicate that is their plan.

I for one would scream bloody murder and write a letter to the judge that it would be intolerable for Sony to "remedy" and "compensate" the victims of Sony's DRM by dumping more DRM crap on them. The class actions lawyers would hardly be acting in the class-member's interests in permitting such a travesty settlement. If neccessary I would opt out of this settlement and push for a second independant lawsuit. And yes, class members specifically have the right to reject any unsatisfactory settlement and to persue a second case.

-

Re:One question: settling for more DRM?

[superpulpsicle]

There will never be a remedy cause the DRM cycle never ends.

Not Good Enough

[Greyfox]

Unless the download is a video of their CEO comitting seppku. It doesn't surprise me when corporate execs behave with no honor here in America, but I was hopeful that Japanese guys would have a higher standard. Given the great shame that entire debacle has brought the company, some people very high up in the company should own up to the mistakes and take the honorable way out. I might even be inclined to forgive SONY if that were to happen.

My regime would require samurai honor code for public servants and corporate upper management. You wouldn't be able to weasel out of your responsibilities by donating the bribes you got from someone to charity once he got caught and was going to sing like a canary, either! No sir...

Re:Not Good Enough

[Anonymous Coward]

Not happening when you have Howard Stringer, an American, as Sony CEO.

Don't worry...

[Kye-U]

Sony will suffer in the long-term perspective. Think of their reputation and the severed trust between Sony and its consumers. Personally, I think they deserve it. This is a good example of the saying: "Don't screw around with your customers."

Ultimately, better than "winning" a class action

[MPolo]

Most of the big class action suits end up paying the individual members of the suit a pittance once the lawyer fees are paid, and that after years of court battles. This settlement cuts the lawyers out of the equation, replaces the evil CD and gives the damaged person either 3 "free" (probably DRMed) digital albums or a small check and one download. I don't think these people were going to get more from the U.S. justice system -- the damages, while significant to the individuals ($100-150) would have been eaten up all but entirely by the lawyers. What's more, it's instant gratification.

It may not be just, and the "punishment" may not fit the "crime", but it's realistically the best to be expected.

Re:Ultimately, better than "winning" a class actio

[Anonymous Coward]

The best that can be expected?
Yeah, I'm sure that'll fly when you or I commit a criminal act right?

Music from SOny for FREE? Call the RIAA!!

[MadRat]

Clearly they are breaking the law offering free music. *chuckles*

^Wrong^

[TubeSteak]

The terms of the class action allow you to sue Sony in small claims court for damage to your computer/network.

read this post
http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=173284&cid =14418213

There are about a dozen +5 Insightful comments parroting the same thing.

In small claims court, you don't need a lawyer.
Just to cut off the "but the lawyers make all the money" comments.

This really proves a point...

[HellYeahAutomaton]

It's easier to gain forgiveness than to get permission.

Prosecute

[SecurityGuy]

Sony shouldn't be able to weasel out of this at all cheaply. I want the value of my time per hour x the amount of time it would have cost me to deal with it, if I wasted my money on their crap.

Once the financial harm is erased, someone needs to go to jail for this obvious breach of federal law. No slap on the wrist, no couple dollar fine, no free music. Somebody spends a few years behind bars.

SecurityGuy

Mastercard

[CriminalNerd]

A XCP music CD: $22
An average iTunes song download: $0.99
Getting yourself a XCP-free computer: $500 ~ $3000
Enlisting a lawyer for your cause: $300+
Finding out that you will not get a refund on your computer but instead get a couple of downloads: priceless

For everything else, there's Mastercard. Possibly accepted by lawyers.

So...

[Paperghost]

....anything up to about 40-odd dollars = one potentially hosed PC suffering from endless BSODs. Great bargain!

SonyBMG deserved to disappear for this.

[crovira]

If you treat ALL your customers like they are criminals, and damage their shit in the process, YOU are acting criminally.

They deserve to die and have their back catalog turned over to the podsafe music network.

FUCK 'EM...

Oh the Irony

[segedunum]

DRMed digital downloads as compensation for a terrible piece of DRM software that screws your computer. Hilarious.

NEXT TIME?!?

[Anonymous Coward]

maybe you should be more carefull next time you admit to murder... ;P

Open letter to Judge...

[TheRealStyro]

Dear Judge [insert name here]. I have read that you have tentatively approved a settlement for lawsuits against [insert evil company name here]. The proposed settlement has struck me as being very generous to [insert evil company name here] for the infection of millions of computers with software that causes numerous security and stability issues. So I thought I would write this letter to try to convince you to increase fines & fees against [insert evil company name here] as well as produce actual useful compensation for the owners of computers that have been infected.

Imagine yourself in the following situation. You are the proud owner of a fine specimen of canine pedigree. In fact, to call it a dog would be a great insult. It is the love of your life and you have carefully trained it to be obedient & loving. You want it to live a long life so you feed it some food that is advertised as being very good for the health. Initially your pet loves the new food and everything is great. Then one day your loving pet starts getting violently ill & lethargic. You read that others pets that have eaten the same food are also sick. You contact the company and due to the public outcry they will send out an agent to help your pet. The company agent eventually comes out and after inspecting your sick pet he declares that he knows of a simple fix to get your pet moving again - he then takes a short run and kicks your poor pet in the rear. As your pet goes running off howling he claims the animal is now well and leaves. Soon after, you realize your pet is gravely ill and you must put it down. As you and other pet owners are discussing the outcome, you become outraged at such a heartless and cruel response from the company and start a large lawsuit. After months of talks and discussion you read a Judge will approve a settlement. You are thinking that the painful death of your beloved pet will not be in vain and that the evil company will be punished severely. Then you read the settlement agreement - the company will give you a free feral cat as well as one of two 'incentive' packages. Package one is $5 and 200 pounds of healthy cat food. Package two is your choice of three flavors of large boxes of healthy cat food. Needless to say you are again outraged and wish no end of poxes and plagues on the person and families of the Judge and company CEO.

Now, honorable Judge [insert name here], I ask you to please reconsider the flawed proposed settlement against [insert evil company name here]. The victims of this tragedy deserve so much more compensation, and [insert evil company name here] deserve so much more punishment.

Thank you.


The preceding is a fictional letter that would be sent if my computer(s) had been infected and I lived within the jurisdiction of this Judge.

The company written in the second paragraph of this article is in no manner representative of any company existing, having existed or existing in the future. In fact, the whole second paragraph is just an interesting fictional story inserted into a fictional letter for no reason at all save for extending said letter.

Re:Open letter to Judge...

[jefu]

Of course the second paragraph is completely fiction and refers in no way to anything like this

Re:Open letter to Judge...

[TheRealStyro]

Yikes! No, no reference to anything at like that at all. Wow. Flew right under my radar. Sorry to anyone if I touched a nerve.

Differential Punishment

[grondak]

If one of us dropped a rootkit on Sony's computers, we'd go to jail.
If Sony does it to us, they can mea culpa and smile? Did they buy out the Mentos plant so they could get away with ANYTHING?

Since the rootkit installs even when you decline the EULA, Sony needs to be prosecuted under the same laws we enforce upon script kiddies. All of them. There is no compensation that a 15 year old kid can give Sony (how about a download, Sonycorp?) that would stop them from pursuing civil and criminal lawsuits, and there should be nothing Sony can do to avoid the same discussions in open court. People at Sony made a really bad decision, and they should pay for transgressions in the same way a 15 year old kid would: with hard time.

Re:Differential Punishment

[mikek3332002]

If one of us dropped a rootkit on Sony's computers, we'd go to jail.
Just say it was a DRM system and get off on a precendent

How will the users download

[a_greer2005]

the setttelment tunes with all that shitware? and where are the CRIMINAL procecuters?

Sony will try their best!

[CODiNE]

Will we allow iTunes downloads? Ummm... We'll TRY!

Whatever. They just don't want to pay full consumer prices for 3 CDs worth of music and Apple won't give them a discount.

OK, who's actually filed?

[Anonymous Coward]

Who has actually followed through with their "outrage" and made the effort to file in small claims court, or try to push for an actual criminal charge for computer hacking? The rootkit qualifies as malicious hacking, so there's an angle to explore, but you'd have to convince your local prosecutor to actually make the charges. Who's going to spend the time explaining this to some flatfoot prosecutor? How long before he laughs you out of his office? What judge is even going to understand this if you file in small claims?

My prediction, way less than 1% of the potential claimants will do jack squat about this. I'd be real surprised if more than a dozen slashdotters followed through, and if two of them succeed. General public, they aren't even aware of it. Most people can't name their senator, one supreme court judge, don't know what DRM is, are quite happy to use windows malware because that's all that exists in their world, and pay folding money for it, think their computer hardware is "broken" when something doesn't work, so they certainly aren't aware of anything Sony did. They aren't being told about it, and even if they were they wouldn't care if it involves doing more than one thing that takes longer than thirty seconds and doesn't require them to take away any quality time from listening to other so called music or playing a vido game or watching a movie or pro sports. People by and large don't even care when they are used, abused and ripped off anymore.

In short, this settlement is beyond a joke. Until they start breaking up corporations immediately once it has been found they engaged in criminal acts, and making the stockholders eat it, lose everything, and throwing the managers and decision makers in jail, corporate malfeasance is how modern globalist business is done. It's "the system". So called "fines" are window dressings for the soap opera that passes for the justice system now. It's just a publicity stunt bone they throw out at the less than 1% of the public that is left who really care about things. Follow the clue trail, all fines imposed on any large corporation will be made up with their next crap they sell. YOU are paying Sony's fines, directly or indirectly, whether you bought a bogus CD or not. They'll cook their books or just raise prices on something else, it won't matter to them, they will just pass along the cost of doing business. They EXPECT to pay bribes-fines- once in awhile to various "legal" entities. They budget for it in advance.

Way to go EFF!

[cove209]

gg eff, way to stand up to 'em!

not

Additional downloads: Simpsons analogy

[ettlz]

From the episode where Apu gives Homer food poisoning (SNPP):

Homer. Woo hoo! Cheap meat! [picks it up] Ooh, this one's open. [starts eating it]

Homer is carted off to the hospital with food poisoning; he later returns to the Quick-E-Mart for reparations.

Homer. Your old meat made me sick!
Apu. Oh, I'm so sorry. [gets a pail of shrimp] Please accept five pounds of frozen shrimp?
Homer. [holds one up, sniffs it] This shrimp isn't frozen! And it smells funny.
Apu. OK, ten pounds.
Homer. Woo hoo!

Hmm...

Incentive packages are absurd!

[Anonymous Coward]

Damages and restitution for comminting a crime come in the form of coupons and incentive packages for the victims?
Act now and we'll throw in a free jutsu knife just for filing a claim!

What about my time?

[nurb432]

What if i removed it myself? I charge money for my time for a customer.

Re:What about my time?

[HiThere]

Well, write up yourself a bill. Don't hide that this is your billing yourself for professional services, but make it clear that this is what you would charge others. Be reasonable. Add an addendum billing yourself for the time it takes you to prepare the case for small claims court. Then take it to small claims court, ask for reimbursement for time spent, and see what happens. At worst you'll be out a bit more time. It seems quite likely that you'll get at least part of it awarded as a default judgement. And if they DO defend, you'll have cost Sony more than they've saved.

Artists?

[PhotoGuy]

So, do the artists get their normal royalties for these downloads that Sony is giving away (as small as they may be)???

So a rootkitted system is only worth $7.50?

[Tetravus]

Sounds like it's time to gain unauthorized access to Sony's internal networks. I mean, if a compromised system is only worth $7.50 + one Justin Timberlake CD in civil fines and no criminal charges at all then how can a hacker lose?

I liked my writeup better...

[MacDork]

I submitted the same story. I think mine was slightly more informative than a simple rehash of settlement terms. It's still pending, but since now that it would be a dupe.... :-/

Re:I liked my writeup better...

[amazon10x]

It's still pending, but since now that it would be a dupe.... :-/

since now that it would be a dupe your chances of getting it accepted have just increased ten-fold

Re:I liked my writeup better...

[cant_get_a_good_nick]

and me without mod points... ;)

Printing their own money for settlement

[erroneus]

I'm sorry, but I thought these "penalties" were supposed to penalize the perpetrator???

If ever I am found guilty of something like this, I hope I will also be allowed to print my own money with which to make reparations. Who determines the 'value' of said compensatory downloads? Who? The criminal? The Accused?! Damn! And for community service, I would like to insist that my services are so valuable that I should be credited 10 hours for every minute I work.

While "giving away" free downloads, seems like a cute way out, it would seem eventually that even HAVING songs in a binary transferable format on your computer or CD or whatever device will make you at least suspect of being a horrible criminal.

This is just wrong wrong wrong.

Attorney sold out his clients

[baomike]

He gets his fee, they get a pittance.

they still don't get it

[smash]

So they're going to give away something that costs them virtually nothing to appease people who's machines they invaded? Plus, the people invovled clearly don't want downloaded music, or they wouldn't have bought the spyware infested CD in the first place.

I'd be telling them to get fucked.

This "offer" entirely misses the point - I'd press for criminal charges laid against whoever authorised the use of this invasive software - plus compensation in terms of MONEY (lost time due to machine downtime, plus cost of repairs, plus compensation for the inconvenience) paid to those who had to have their machines rebuilt due to this trash - plus fines to the company to prevent this happening again.

smash.

what about the recall??

[snoig]

I've been working at a friends record store to help him out over the holidays. I asked him if he had heard from Sony and told him abou the entire DRM fiasco and he know nothing about it. He talked to his distributor and the distributor has heard nothing about it. In the mean time, the broken disks are still on the shelf.

Dupe? How about a DRMPA?

[The Andersor]

It seems ScuttleMonkey and CmdrTaco need to communicate a little better...

Posted previously by CmdrTaco on December 29th:

"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."

In fact, the previous post delves deeper into the issue by suggesting that this might be that start of a bigger DRM Protection Act, much more valuable than just reporting (a week later) the proposed settlement. I like the closing line of Geist's argument the best...

"Rather than pushing for protection for DRMs, it is apparent that we need protection from DRMs and DRMPA would be a smart step in that direction. Such a statute would be the best legacy of the Sony rootkit fiasco."

i4i & 2th_4_2th

[fastgood]

The Judge should make Sony drink their own bad whiskey and go blind.

Order the rootkit installed on 3000 of their own computers, making sure there is no protection.
Oh, and they should be spread across servers, corporate desktops, and retail shipping VAIOs.

We need a special section just for Sony...

[Hosiah]

With a meter counting the time between Sony screwings. Like those signs in the office "We have gone 'XX' days without a work-related injury". The flurry is getting overwhealing.

Monday: "Sony releases new patch which installs the fix to the the rootkit-uninstaller's rootkit, but makes user's head explode."

Tuesday: "Sony lawyers suggest compensating angry customers with Milkbones - 2 apiece. The Milkbones are stale and infested with wheat weevils."

Wednesday: "Sony CEO attempts offer of soul to Satan in exchange for way out of this PR nightmare; Satan turns them down, quoted as saying 'If I wanted to work THAT hard for THAT much risk, I woulda stayed with the Big Guy.'"

Thursday: "Warez sites banning anybody found with Sony files on their hard drive. Viruses flee in terror from Sony-infected computers. Pay-porn sites return 401 for Sony-infected machines."

Remove the self-promotion option

[Nerdposeur]

A better punishment would be to make them buy the offended customer some albums from a competitor's label. Doesn't matter whose, as long as the ownership isn't tied in any way.

Re:GOOD Justice

[SuneSpeg]

Its hard to think about 4000000 s0ny rootkit cd's thrown in the harbour, and not gain erection !

Is this a safe CD?

[PW2]

Someone gave me a Sony/BMG CD as a gift recently. (Kenny Chesney CD) -- Is there a complete list of infected CDs? I'm afraid to play this one in my PC (the only CD player in the house)

Re:Is this a safe CD?

[trout0mask]

Considering the amount posted on this in the last month or so, it's kind of astounding that there exists a slashdot reader who doesn't know this.

Anyway, google ->

This is not a complete list and Sony-BMG continues to refuse to make such a list available to consumers. Consumers can spot CDs with XCP by inspecting a CD closely, checking the left transparent spine on the front of the case for a label that says "CONTENT PROTECTED." The back of these CDs also mention XCP in fine print. You can find pictures of these and other telltale labeling at http://www.eff.org/IP/DRM/Sony-BMG/.

From EFF

and the artists get...

[cbc1920]

How much do you think Sony will compensate the artists for these millions of downloads? I'll place my bet on a big fat $0.00.

I thought "coupon" payments were no longer allowed

[ishmalius]

I seem to remember a few years ago that there was some movement in the legal world to forbid such settlement payments. This is where items of no discernable value except for the arbitrary number given to them by the transgressor themselves are used to weasel out of a true payment. The name comes from the normal practice of issuing coupons toward the purchse of more products from the evil corporation.

This problem was not about bad CD's, but about potential or real damage to customers' computers. A more appropriate settlement would be to cover the cost of a technician fixing the flaw or reinstalling the OS.

Album Value

[Jetboy01]

$7.50, or 3 additional albums

Did I read that incorrectly, or are Sony indirectly admitting that their albums are worth only $2.50 each when offered as a download?

And what of the other problem?

[Xaggroth]

Well that's all well and good, but what about the rootkit? You can't remove it very easily without screwing windows up. And THEY have not done anything as of yet to take it off.. just the cloaking portion which, in by no means really helps those whose information is still being tracked by this rootkit..

Remember, this is just one suit, not everything

[SEE]

1) The Texas AG case is not settled by this.
2) The settlement still leaves room for members of the class to sue for damages to their computer.

Don't think of this as Sony getting off. Think of this as a first payment on what Sony is going to go through.

Well, all I can say

[Firehed]

is that I hope people are smart enough to reformat their hard drive to get rid of the otherwise-unremovable crapware *before* downloading the new copies of the albums. I doubt it, but it would make me feel a little better inside knowing consumers are at least mildly intelligent about this kind of thing.

Of the corp.s, by the corp.s, and for the corp.s

[Atario]

Sony and their rootkittery is just one symptom of a much larger problem.

iTunes DRM

[Anonymous Coward]

So... what Sony is essentially saying is, yeah, we sold you a bad product. Here's 1/2 the price of that product and a free album. Oh, and just so you know, the album you'll be downloaded will also be DRM-protected.

Gee, thanks Sony.

They really did get off easy. Either way, their music is under DRM.

"Justice would work a little better if she wasn't a whore to the heavyweight corporations."

Stop complaining

[rgoldste]

Don't complain. You're getting something for nothing. And you've done nothing the whole time the suit was active.

This settlement doesn't affect your right to sue Sony independently and recover your total damages. You can opt out of the settlement and bring your own lawsuit, with your own attorney, before the settlement is approved. Note that this will either require you to pay for your own lawyer (quite expensive when Sony's lawyers are on the other end) or find a lawyer willing to take your case on contingency (collecting a third of whatever you win, IF you win).

Alternately, you could hire your own attorney and try to intervene on the class action, arguing that the current class counsel is not representing the class' interests. You could try to convince the judge that the settlement is far too generous to Sony, and that plaintiffs deserve more. But it's a bit late in the game for that.

Or, you could decide that the risks of litigation aren't worth it, and take the settlement. I'd say you already did that, in choosing not to get involved in the lawsuit in the first place.

Registration required?

[The Cisco Kid]

Why do I suspect that in order to actually use the code to obtain the 'free download', one would have to 1. Use the download service's proprietary software, 2. Register as a customer with the download service, including providing CC# and other private information, and that 3. The 'free download' will be DRM-crippled anyway.

For this to even BEGIN to be considerable as a reasonable settlement, the 'free download' would need to be provided as a standard http or ftp download, with no proprietary software or registration required, and be in a non-DRM'ed format. Otherwise, its net value would be $0 (or even negative, if registration with a CC was required)

200 titles?

[Unknown_monkey]

Is there a list of all the CDs that the rootkit was included on? I want to make sure that none of my CD's that I have don't have this, without putting them in my computer to have it compromised first.

And 200 titles? How many are in the Sony BMG music label pool? Sony owns 50% of BMGmusic dot com from what I could find. BMGMusic dot com says "Browse our entire catalog or search over 14,000 music titles." Of course, some have to come from other labels, but 200 compared to 14000???????
At Sony Connect-dot-com, I couldn't find a list of total titles, but it seemed like more than 200. And for their downloads, will we have to use their connect player with its' DRM?

Hmm, Japanese corp, rootkit, digital Pearl Harbor?

[MacDork]

The post (from the previous article) I found that info in [slashdot.org]

You might want to check out MacDork's latest journal entry too ;-) (Yes, my write up got beaten by this one... but mine is still pending, so I'm hoping for a dupe at least...)

So.... Sony isn't going to see any criminal charges, but you can definitely have a go at trying to get more blood out of them.

I wouldn't say criminal charges are out of the question... It's just that we can't get any public officials to investigate the fact that an entity controlled by foreign nationals has seized control of hundreds of thousands of computers in our technology dependent nation. Wouldn't it be ironic if the *Japanese* were the one's to bring about the much hyped "digital Pearl Harbor" after our politicians' stirring pledges of "Never Again!" during that other great war...

Male NIST Agent: "What's this we hear about a rootkit on music CDs?"
Sony Japan: "Everyone in your town have Big A-meh-akin Penis"

<Sony Japan rep sees female NIST agent>

Sony Japan: "What I mean to say is every MAN in your town have very big penis!"
Female NIST Agent: "He's changing the subject, he's probably just lying. I'll bet his penis is bigger than yours."

<Sony Japan rep drops pants. Male NIST agents all smile broadly.>

Male NIST Agent: "I'm sure it's just a copyright protection thing, nothing to worry about."

I'm not satisfied until...

[MacDork]

At first I was unhappy with the settlement, but then I got to the following section:

Yeah, that's great and all, but can you point me to the section where they promise to cooperate with felony computer trespass investigations? No? How about the section where they promise to make available copies of all data/information stolen from their victims' hard drives to the investigating authorities and then purge all such information from their own records? Oh, no section for that either huh? How about the section where they will offer a public apology for hypocritically violating the GPL and committing copyright infringement in the name of *preventing* copyright infringement? You're joking, no section for that either?? Well, this settlement just sucks. I'd still file for exclusion if I were a member of the class.

Sony's similar to an ugly girl

[DietCoke]

At work, $7.50 equals the amount of time that I'd spend maybe running a manual update on a system. A rootkit? Just for the simple act of ending up with one on your system gets you a 1.5 hr billing, minimum.

Sony's kind of like the girl who has parents that have always told her that she's beautiful, when in fact she's a complete dog. She believes she's beautiful, sets her standards way higher than she should, and treats those around her like they aren't worthy of her time.

Sony believes that their products are beautiful (they aren't - especially those fugly Viaos), and believe that their standards are better (they aren't - when was the last time you saw a company's PC inventory Sony-only?) Lastly, Sony treats those who buy from them like they aren't worthy... ie "It's our right to fuck up your PC, you were probably stealing from us last year"

Point is, Sony can kiss my ass. They should kiss your ass. And that's the least of it. This settlement should be killed.

Here's some irony for you: turn the letters for Sony around. What else can they spell?

NOSY.

Re:Sony's similar to an ugly girl

[jskline]

Sony used to be a great company. They WERE the innovators of electronic technology both in consumer and commercial/broadcast markets. Now; they are nothing much over the junk you find in K-Mart's, Target's and other retailers selling highly marked up junk.

I at least can remember Sony the way they used to be. I still have my *original* Sony TPS-l2 walkman; the first and original in this country. It even has a very low serial number indicating it was very early production.

I agree that Sony spent way too much time trying to make the VIO computers look "special" and apart, but they are actually worse off then much of their competition out there. I know someone who's gone through 4 VIO desktop machines in 2 years. He desparately wants to get rid of it now and get a "real" box. I told him to search around on his box for the root kit and we can opt out of the class action suit and go for a direct suit to Sony for a full and complete refund on the machine's original purchase price, the expenses incurred to ship it in for service all those times, and last but not least, a modest fee for being subject of dissemination of personal data by a rogue program installed by Sony! Yea... thats the ticket!! :-P

Future Court Defense?

[mvea]

If Sony really believes they can settle a rootkit installation snafu with offering downloads, then they must be smoking something good. Although, I can't blame them for trying - the more they downplay the actual impact of an exploitable rootkit, the less it will cost them in the end. The price of a few downloads is far less than financial damages per computer as would be necessary. What goads me the most is that if the legal system accepts this as legitimate. Would that set an established precedent that hackers can use in court? IE, the crime was the installation of a rootkit without authorization so Joe Hacker can now refer to Sony vs. The People and settle for about $20 flat. The decision makers need to understand WHAT a rootkit is and the effects of having one on a computer mean for a user - OmniNerd: Rootkit Analysis.

"unconscionable"

[djw]

IANAL, but I'm about to marry one.

"Unconscionable" in contract terms is not about morality -- it simply means that the clause doesn't belong there by any stretch of the imagination. In other words, if party A drafted the contract, then it's totally unreasonable to expect party B to have foreseen that clause appearing in it, or to have signed the contract had they known the clause was there. The New York venue clause is an example because, when you're buying a CD, you simply don't expect to have to go to another state for justice if it blows up your computer. In other words, if a reasonable person knew about that little detail in advance, they would never buy the CD. (For the sake of argument, I'm making the rather large assumption that purchasing a CD constitutes acceptance of any sort of contract other than a simple sale.)

Courts generally will not enforce unconscionable terms. But note that this doesn't excuse you from reading what you sign, or from being held to what you sign (given that the other side can show that you gave willing and informed consent). Generally, the more of a clue you seem to have, the less likely a judge will be to let you use this kind of defense. And if you're a lawyer yourself, forget it! This aspect of contract law can seem really unfair to smart people, but there you go.

Re:Hmm, Japanese corp, rootkit, digital Pearl Harb

[falsified]

What?

Interesting hack...

[Anonymous Coward]

See if you can round up a copy of a rootkitted CD and install it in a Sony office computer. If you get caught, declare legal precedent for $7.50.

If you get busted for more, everyone opts out and re-sues Sony for the difference, so Sony *has* to take it.

hmm... =)

hehehhehe

[benow]

heheheheh, rofl. That's perhaps polar opposite to what was intended. A stone is rounded by the current of the stream wether it is wanted or not.

The value of a CD

[Anonymous Coward]

So, SONY admits that the value of a CD is (less than) $7.50? Hopefully iTunes can LOWER their prices dramatically now.

Re:MOD THE TROLL DOWN!!!

[Jaseoldboss]

1. The getthefacts website doesn't work on Firefox1.0.4 on Fedora4. The text in the Flash banner is offscreen! You would have thought that a site designed to help migrate people from Linux to Windows would actually work on Linux in the first place!

2. Mod what down, you replied to the article you muppet...

My remaining two MP3 downloads are available....

[DeanOh]

I received Patty Loveless "Dreamin' My Dreams as a gift. As part of the SONY BMG exchange program, I'm in receipt of notonly a new non-DRM CD, but a link to download MP3 versions of the album three times. I got the one time I needed. The other two download opportunites remain. The link contains options for both a zip file of the entire album and individual tracks.

Anyway, it's here for the first two lucky readers who may be interested...
http://xcpexchange.sonybmg.com/fs/GI/xr/18RwRLuyfC LedN9hVzEOxw**/

What the hell is going on?

[[cx]]

Why is Sony being slapped on the wrist? They commited a crime, punish them! Just because a company CAN offer a service, doesn't mean it should be collateral for the punishment which they should have been handed. This is a joke.

A good precedent this sets is instead of actually being punished for a crime, you get some kind of deranged community service in which you still might profit from and gain unnecessary promotion from. It's good to know corporations won't be punished if they can offer to repay people. After all commiting a crime isn't about punishment it's about repaying the victims, right. So if I go and steal somebodys car, I won't have to go to jail, I can just pay off the car I stole.

Absolute bullshit, Sony should have to do one of these "plans" they made up, AND be punished AND be fined for purposely knowing the rootkit was capable of being used for exploits AND have to pay fines for all the computers they infected with their root-kit. Bar None.

They knew what they were doing, if Sony can't claim to be held responsible for their actions maybe there should be a review team to review all their public cd releases and create a waiting period for them before they are released to the open market to ensure they don't try these tactics on the public again.

The root kit was a total bullshit move, they knew it from the start and should be punished like any other pre-meditated crime, not just let off to perform community service.

It should be paying for the crime, repairing the damage and giving back to the community in response for betraying them with such a vile thing as the rootkit.

[cx]

Music for music?

[HalAtWork]

Giving us more music, from a music company, as a penalty for exposing our personal information and personal property to intruder attack, seems more like they are giving us advertisement for their product rather than compensating us.

Re:My remaining two MP3 downloads are available...

[Anonymous Coward]

Remaining .zip files are gone..but there are remaining .mp3 versions of each track....

http://xcpexchange.sonybmg.com/fs/GI/xr/18RwRLuyfC LedN9hVzEOxw**/

Legitimacy

[Weezul]

I still think its basically an issue of legitimacy, not a simply philosophical issue.

I fully agree that eliminating limited liability has strong potential to resolve a number of problems, and limited liability itself may be "inherently wrong." But it simply isn't true that people "vote with their money" when companies are even vaguely monopolistic, say less then 20 choices, or when consumers can't easily find guides listing the pros & cons of the various choices. So you also need either (a) a powerful method to prevent monopolies or (b) a means to treat those monopolies like side governments (ideally partially de-monopolizing the real government too, but that is another issue). I favor both (a) and (b) as I'm not confidant that monopolies are avoidable.

Anyway, an essential part of (a) is eliminating IP period. BTW, You can also try a progressive corperate income tax, sales tax, or VAT" (i.e. bigger companies pay a higher precentage of their income / higher sales tax), at minimum it moves anti-trust & anti-collusion casess to tax court, where real money is at stake.. and it probably eliminates the individual income tax too.

Voiding Sony's IP is only seems excessive for Sony due to Sony's size, but keep in mind that Sony wanted to install this backdoor on *everyones* computer; once you take intent into consideration voiding their existing IP isn't excessive.

As for the 10 years thing, no reasonable judge would just let them sell all the existing IP to themselves, you'd need fair-ish auctions. You could even just auction off a contract which grants exculsive rights for 10 years, and returns those rights to Sony at the end. You'd see tons of minor labels spring up, it'd still be an improvement, dispite the fact that each has unfair monopoly powers.

A fitting punishment

[Cro Magnon]

Sony should be forced to label their CDs with a skull and crossbones, and a warning that Sony CDs may bork your PC.