Lawsuit Filed Against Sony BMG Over Sony Rootkit 11/10/2005 - 924 views, 2 Comments
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A lawsuit has been filed against Sony BMG over the recent discovery that Sony includes a rootkit on their music CDs. The class action lawsuit filed against Sony BMG in California was filed by attorney Alan Himmelfarb on behalf of Californians who have purchased any Sony BMG CDs with the secret rootkit style software. The software, provided to Sony by British company First 4 Internet, cloaks itself so that it is invisible to the average user once installed on their computer, and, it is alleged, opens up a back door so that others can take advantage of the cloaking technology to put malicious software on the user’s system. The Sony rootkit also is claimed to report back to Sony on the user’s use of the Sony product. In addition to the lawsuit filed by Mr. Himmelfarb in Los Angeles, New York attorney Scott Kamber is looking into filing a similar lawsuit in New York, and the Electronic Frontier Foundation is also looking into filing a lawsuit. According to a statement by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (”EFF”), “We’re considering whether the effect on the public, or on EFF members, is sufficiently serious to merit a lawsuit.” In the meantime, several anti-virus vendors have pledged to release software to remove the Sony rootkit, and the EFF has released a partial list of the CDs affected. They include Neil Diamond, Celine Dion, and Van Zant CDs. Recommended reading:
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Read more:
» State of Texas Sues Sony BMG Over Music CD Rootkits
» Sony Caves on RootKit, Pulls CDs, Offers Exchange Program
» Sony BMG Pulls Rootkit - Sony BMG Statement on Pulling Rootkit
» Sony BMG Settles Lawsuits Over First4Internet XCP Rootkit and MediaMax Security Hole
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Comment by Craig Hughes — 11/10/2005 @ 9:46 am
Another Sony/BMG album is MARY MARY by the artists MARY MARY. Don’t buy any Sony Products until they stop this practice of installing rootkits on unsuspecting buyers.
Comment by joe — 11/11/2005 @ 8:19 am