XCP and Sunncomm MediaMax software contained on Sony BMG music CDs includes damaging secret rootkit technology that has potentially infected millions of computers around the world. Sony BMG has been asked to take appropriate steps to remove the offending CDs from the marketplace and to offer refunds for those already in place.
Although billed by Sony BMG as common digital rights management (DRM) software that is just for copy protection, it seems that it is really much more. The XCP, or extended copy protection, software utilizes "rootkit" technology that hides the software from users. The software creates a security risk for personal computers that allows hackers to hide damaging programs in computers that have Sony BMG's software in them. The software also secretly communicates with Sony's servers and can be used to send information back to the users' media player programs. The Sunncomm MediaMax software used on some Sony BMG CDs actually installs itself before the user is asked to agree to the terms of installation. For both XCP and Sunncomm software, the terms of the End User License Agreement (EULA) are asserted to be improper and without the proper disclosures for what is actually occurring when a user clicks on the button to "Agree" to its terms.
"The demand letter gives Sony BMG the opportunity to fix the problems it created with this software before a class action lawsuit is filed," according to Robert Green, a partner at Green Welling. Sony previously announced a "patch kit" that would reveal the software to users and recently announced that it would stop making CDs with the XCP software, but "there is a lot more it could do to fix the problems that it created for its customers," Mr. Green said.
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