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Sony BMG Settles Over CD DRM

Posted by samzenpus on from the sorry-about-that dept.

aurispector writes "Sony BMG Music Entertainment will pay $1.5 million and kick in thousands more in customer refunds to settle lawsuits brought by California and Texas over music CDs that installed a hidden anti-piracy program on consumers' computers. The settlements, announced Tuesday, cover lawsuits over CDs loaded with one of two types of copy-protection software — known as MediaMax or XCP. Although it's great to see this as a victory for consumers, I can't help but wonder about the next wave of DRM schemes."

10 of 225 comments (clear)

  1. And Thousands more by ePhil_One · · Score: 4, Funny
    So not only $1.5 Million in fines, but THOUSANDS more in refunds? So this could cost Sony a total of $1.503 Million dollars? I was going to invest in Sony stock until I noticed that lst little caveat, raising the punishment a potential two or 3 tenths of a percentage point.

    Sony is Doomed.

    --
    You are in a maze of twisted little posts, all alike.
  2. And by "thousands more" they mean... by rob1980 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Thousands of unsold copies of some long-forgotten Mariah Carey album.

  3. Meanwhile in a secret Sony Research Lab... by vivin · · Score: 5, Funny

    Sony Suit: Well guys, looks like our DRM scheme tanked. But $1.5 is nothing. Muahaha. That's lunch money for me. What new stuff do you have?
    Researcher John: Well, we got this thing where we can put in subliminal messages into the music that our customers buy. Stuff like "P2P and Piracy rapes your mom!" or "Buy more sucky and/or mediocre music!" or "Mike is a fag!"
    Researcher Mike: Shut up John!
    Sony Suit: Oh that's good stuff! Anything else?
    Researcher John: Well, Mike has another idea.
    Researched Mike: (holds up cute puppy) We can threaten to kill this cute puppy if they pirate stuff!
    Sony Suit: EXCELLENT! (pets cute puppy) Woo's a cute puppy-wuppy! Woo's gonna die to pwotect our intewests!! Oooohh!! Sooo cute! Yesyouare!! Yesyouare!!

    --
    Vivin Suresh Paliath
    http://vivin.net

    I like
  4. Re:Not the DRM, the rootkit. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    "iTunes, RealPlayer and several other apps prove that it's possible to implement DRM without buggering the host OS." ...man, Sony's got to feel bad now. You basically stated that RealPlayer can write software better than they can... ouch.

  5. Don't be so critical by DietCoke · · Score: 2, Funny

    I mean, they did agree to pay $1.5 Milllllion dollars!

    Now please excuse me, I need to count the 15 pennies that I'm now entitled to.

    Fuck Sony.

  6. Re:Tagged Peanuts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Is that the going rate for ethics and morals? Count me in! I'll even throw in my soul.

  7. Re:The Best Democracy Money Can Buy by Mex · · Score: 2, Funny

    Sir, I am in Mexico and even here, 175 dollars is not "A decent amount of money".

  8. Re:This is sad. by bazorg · · Score: 2, Funny

    Now all we can do is have the Slashdot effect move outside the borders of teh intarweb. eveytime you see someone considering buying something from Sony, spread some FUD aloud so all shoppers hear you.

  9. Re:DRM = Digital Restrictions Management by Faylone · · Score: 2, Funny

    I guess it still fits, it's mutilating our rights after all.

  10. Re:My solution to prevent being a victim... by Yetihehe · · Score: 2, Funny

    Or buy as many PS3 as you can and convince your friends to buy one. PS3 is worth more than it costs, so Sony is paying for every PS3.

    --
    Extreme Programming - Redundant Array of Inexpensive Developers