State of Texas vs. Sony (cd trojan lawsuit)

Quote:Texas Sues Sony Over "Spyware" CDs
LAST UPDATE: 11/21/2005 5:24:21 PM
Posted By: Jim Forsyth
This story is available on your cell phone at mobile.woai.com.

The state of Texas today sued the giant record company Sony BMG, claiming the company's attachment of so called 'spyware filed' to CD's of more than fifty artists amounts to a violation of the new Consumer Protection Against Computer Spyware Act, which was approved by the legislature earlier this year, 1200 WOAI news reported today.

The lawsuit, filed by Attorney General Greg Abbott, seeks $100,000 for each violation, and considering that millions of CD's were shipped, means damages could soar into the hundreds of billions of dollars.

"Sony has engaged in a technological version of cloak and dagger deceit against consumers by hiding secret files on their computers," Abbott said.

Sony BMG, which is one of the world's largest music distributors, admitted last week that it placed embedded files designed to prevent the discs from being copied on millions of discs of 52 artists. But Abbott says when consumers try to play the CD's on their computers, they are required to click 'yes' on an agreement that they will not copy the discs, and that click installs 'secret files' on the computer hard drive which opens the computer to viruses.

Sony claims that it has recalled all of the discs, but Abbott says his investigators were able to purchase 'numerous titles' at an Austin record store Sunday night.

The lawsuit also alleges that a 'phantom file' is included on the disc which prevents the consumer from seeing the hidden files, making it difficult or impossible for the files to be removed.

Computer web sites have charged that the files also make a user more vulnerable to identity theft, something Sony BMG denies.

"Consumers who purchased a Sony CD thought they were buying music," Abbott said. "Instead, they received spyware that can damage a computer and subject it to viruses."