Re: Sony rootkit sparks legal onslaught

["PageRox" <PageRox93>]

Wow, Li, that's a bombshell!
I had wondered for some time why my Green Day American Idiot CD will NOT play
on my computer, it just brings up a splash screen that takes you to their
website. Since I can't find the disk (teenagers!) I don't know if its a Sony
disk.

I KNOW Blizzard is pissed--they are a good gaming company, we play Diablo II
here and everyone enjoys the graphics etc.

This is huge. And that 'ironic twist' is not surprising to me, I'm no longer
surprised at the antics of corporate America, sadly.

I hope my many trojans are not a result of this heinous behaviour of Sony/BMG.
If so, I wonder if there will be a nation-wide class action suit since so many
people play Warcraft and Diablo, not to mention the rest of the Blizzard
lineup.

Thanks for this, Li--I'll be looking into it!

XO-Glenna/Seattle
  ----- Original Message -----
  From: Li Lightfoot
  To: Babel
  Sent: Thursday, November 10, 2005 3:51 PM
  Subject: Sony rootkit sparks legal onslaught


  Sony rootkit sparks legal onslaughtClass action lawsuit filed against
company's antipiracy software that allegedly enables World of Warcraft
cheating.
  The tangled web woven by music giant Sony BMG is getting bigger by the
minute.

  The label is already facing a class action lawsuit in California over its
use of copy-protection software on its CDs that hides itself when the CD is
played on a Windows-based PC.

  And now at least two other suits are on the way, one in New York and another
in Italy. The legal and PR nightmare stems from Sony BMG's use of a particular
type of digital rights management copy-protection software on at least 20 of
its CDs. Those CDs include Trey Anastasio's Shine, Celine Dion's On ne Change
Pas, Neil Diamond's 12 Songs, Amerie's Touch, Pete Seeger's The Essential Pete
Seeger, and Ricky Martin's Life. Partial lists of CDs are at Slashdot and the
Electronic Frontier Foundation.



  The software in this case, designed to prevent a user from copying a CD more
than twice, was created by First 4 Internet. It is called a "rootkit," and
once a CD is loaded onto a computer, a watchdog program is installed, and then
hides itself deep in the core of the operating system.

  That's where the trouble begins, first uncovered by programmer and blogger
Mark Russinovich. A side effect of the software is that it can be used to hide
any files with a certain string of characters in the file name. Already
reports have surfaced of World of Warcraft hackers using the program to make
their cheats impossible for Blizzard's Warden anti-cheating program to
detect.



  The California suit, filed last week in Los Angeles Superior Court by a
Southern California attorney on behalf of all California consumers "who
purchased or acquired one of the rootkit-installed CDs," claims Sony BMG broke
three state laws--the Consumer Legal Remedies Act, the Consumer Protection
against Computer Spyware Act, and the California Unfair Competition
law--according to the filing.



  It asks the court to force Sony to stop selling any more CDs containing the
rootkit and seeks compensation for damage already incurred by users. The suit
centers on the matter of user notification and the rootkit's removal. The
filing claims that the license agreement that pops up when a protected CD is
loaded does not indicate the potential damage caused by the software.

  The agreement says, "The software is intended to protect the audio files on
this CD. It will reside on your computer until it is removed or deleted." It
does not say that the software hides itself.



  The California lawsuit also charges that the agreement does not say that the
computer will be damaged--the CD player becomes inoperable--if the user tries
to uninstall it.

  Sony has since released a patch that makes its software visible again. Sony
has also sent the rootkit-cloaking information to antivirus software companies
so they know to look for it.

  The company has also said it has abandoned the rootkit strategy, but not, of
course, the use of other forms of DRM copy protection.



  In a related and considerably ironic matter, Sony has been providing a
work-around at the same site that lets you copy the protected songs to a
portable music player.

  The California lawsuit was filed before even more problems emerged. Virus
maker Sophos reported today that it has spotted an e-mail going around that
tries to exploit the controversial file-hiding abilities of antipiracy
software embedded on some of Sony BMG's music CDs.

  So unless the owner of one of those CDs has already downloaded Sony's patch
to make the software visible again, and antivirus software companies beat
virus creators to the punch, some music fans have been hit with a Trojan horse
virus as a result of listening to a legally purchased CD on their computers.



  More suits are expected to follow the California filing.



  A second nationwide class action lawsuit is expected to be filed against
Sony in a New York court this week, and the Electronic Frontier Foundation in
Italy has filed papers with the Italian police alleging Sony is guilty of
"illicit acts" and calling for an investigation.

  Another Italian consumer group, Altroconsumo, sent a cease-and-desist letter
to the Italian division of Sony BMG, the group announced. The letter asks Sony
to not distribute the rootkit CDs in Italy.

  Sony BMG did not return calls seeking comment.
  By Jim Welte -- GameSpot Posted Nov 10, 2005 2:29 pm PT