[Infowarrior] - Sony BMG Settles Anti-Piracy CDs Charges

Wed Jan 31 00:00:18 EST 2007

Sony BMG Settles Anti-Piracy CDs Charges
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WASHINGTON (AP) -- U.S. regulators said Tuesday that Sony BMG Music
Entertainment agreed to reimburse consumers up to $150 for damage to their
computers from CDs with hidden anti-piracy software.

According to the Federal Trade Commission, which announced the settlement
with the big media company, its anti-piracy software limited the devices on
which music could be played to those made by Sony Corp. or Microsoft Corp.
It also restricted the number of copies that could be made and monitored
consumers' listening habits to send them marketing messages.

The FTC said the software also "exposed consumers to significant security
risks and was unreasonably difficult to uninstall."

The settlement requires the company to allow consumers to exchange through
the end of June the affected CDs purchased before Dec. 31, 2006, and
reimburse them up to $150 to repair damage done when they tried to remove
the software. It also requires Sony BMG to clearly disclose limitations on
consumers' use of music CDs, bars it from using collected information for
marketing and prohibits it from installing software without consumer
consent.

For two years, Sony BMG also must provide an uninstall tool and patches to
repair the security vulnerabilities on consumers' computers and must
advertise them on its Web site. The company also is required to publish
notices describing the exchange and repair reimbursement programs on its Web
site.

Sony BMG did not admit a law violation and the settlement is subject to
public comment for 30 days, after which the FTC will decide whether to make
it final.

Representatives from New York-based Sony BMG, a joint venture of Sony and
Bertelsmann AG, did not immediately return a call for comment Tuesday
morning.

In 2005, the company shipped more than 12 million compact discs on 52 Sony
BMG titles, each loaded with one of two content protection programs, and
about 7 million of those CDs were sold. The Digital Rights Management
software installed itself on consumers' computers without their knowledge or
consent.

Last month, the company settled similar cases with more than 40 states,
agreeing to pay more than $4 million and to reimburse customers.

Shares of Sony slid 19 cents to $46.80 in morning trading Tuesday on the New
York Stock Exchange, where they have traded between $37.24 and $52.29 in the
past year.