Sony settles in rootkit class action suit

Sony BMG has proposed a settlement in the class action lawsuit concerning the XCP rootkit that many of its music CDs were installing on users' computers without their permission. If passed, the settlement would have Sony recalling all XCP CDs and replace them with non-DRM CDs, plus ensuring that all XCP CDs are "promptly removed from the market" by offering owners incentives in the form of three free downloaded albums or $7.50 in cash. Sony will not be recalling CDs with MediaMax DRM, which also installs itself on consumers' computers without asking permission, but they're offering to give owners of those CDs DRM-free MP3s of the CDs' contents, plus free download of one album. I'd have loved to see this make it to court, but it was pretty much a given that it would end in a settlement. Hopefully, though, the rest of the record industry will take notice that consumers aren't kidding around anymore about invasive DRM.

Tags: class action, drm, fiasco, law, mediamax, rootkit, settlement, sony, xcp