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ARTICLE · 09 DECEMBER 2005

Perspective: Sony BMG Faces the Music

Duane Morris LLP
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Sony BMG Music Entertainment, feeling the legal heat over the copy-protection software in millions of its music CDs, last week was sued in both Texas and California.

United StatesMedia, Telecoms, IT, Entertainment
Eric Sinrod
Eric Sinrod
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Reprinted with permission from CNET News

Sony BMG Music Entertainment, feeling the legal heat over the copy-protection software in millions of its music CDs, last week was sued in both Texas and California.

By exploiting a hole in the copy protection code, virus writers could modify an old Trojan horse to take advantage of the powerful, though inadvertent, shielding provided by the Sony software. Sony eventually announced that, as part of a review of its digital rights management strategy, it would suspend production of CDs that contain this particular copy-protection technology.

Too late to avoid the legal blowback. In Texas, the attorney general is seeking $100,000 for each alleged violation of the state's "Consumer Protection Against Computer Spyware Act." The California lawsuit is a class action that seeks compensatory damages, disgorgement of profits and punitive damages.

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