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- rileyjt, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Texas is seeking civil penalties of $100,000 per violation of the state's Consumer Protection Against Computer Spyware Act, which was enacted earlier this year.
(wow) - robERR, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Clearly the first of many lawsuits, in the USA and elsewhere. Let the justice system make this company pay a painful bottom-line penalty for its poor judgment and its disdain for consumers everywhere. Perhaps an age has dawned where corporate cover-ups and misdeeds will be almost impossible to suppress...and being a 'corporate nice guy' may actually begin to pay dividends...
- rileyjt, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4So 2 Million CDs shipped with XCP, 52 different titles.
-Cost to (attempt) recall of $2 million CDs
-Customer Service support to clean up 500,000+ infected machines.
-$100,000 per violation for spyware infractions (thats $200 Billion in potential legal costs)
-Pulling millions more unshipped CDs off the shelf and out of manufacturing, destroying them and re-manufacturing
-Having 52 titles unavailable during the prime holiday shopping season and alienating customers leary of buying the rest of your products.
Folks, we could be witnessing the end of the company. Most quarters Sony barely scrapes by with a relatively small profit - and that is primarily due to the success of the Playstation franchise. I seriously doubt they could withstand the financial costs of this mistep if the legal costs start piling up. - WHATWASTHEN, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Cool, we need more States to follow this example.
- pcgeek101, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2"Even if you figure there were 25,000 violations in TX, at the max Sony would be forced to pay $250,000. Not a whole lot of money..."
Check your math dude ... 100000*25000 != 250000 - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1We must take this chance to make sony pay billions in damages, or else we will be stuck with all kinds of DRM crap in the future. We must show the big corporations that they must take privacy invasion seriously or else.
- celeb, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1/me waits for elliot spritzer to file suit!
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Ok math whizzes..here's the quote from the article.
"Under Texas' Consumer Protection Against Computer Spyware Act of 2005, Abbott is seeking civil penalties of $100,000 for each violation of the law, attorneys' fees and investigative costs."
So that's ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS per violation plus costs. If you treat each and every pc infected with this nasty rootkit as a violation..in a state with the population of Texas, that's enough to bankrupt a company. Even a percentage on a settlement like this is serious cash.
I live in Texas. Anyone know where I can buy one of these cd's and get in on the class action suit? - got80s, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1It's nice that Greg Abbott has filling a lawsuit over this, but I'll never support the actions of someone who supported Prop 2.
- reqage, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"Hey Abbot!" - Robin Hood Men In Tights
Why just Texas? - GatorVIP, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I bet Sony will regret even thinking to attempt this step. I hope more states follow 'suit' (teehee) and make them hurt. If the music industry keeps trying to stifle technology development, they should go down in flames.
- Trjn, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"anybody else see the death of sony as a bad thing? what happens when there are no other major consoles out there besides microsoft? microsoft starts charging $75, $80, $90 per game, and they control a big part of the pc gaming market as well, so don't expect people just to go that direction"
You do remember the little company commonly referred to as the big N? Who has been involved in what, the last 5 generations of consoles AND dominated the handheld console market for years? Microsoft will never be the only people putting out a console, if Sony dies or not.
On topic though, tis good to know that more people are getting involved in showing their disdain and making Sony pay for this massive error in judgement.
It may not be the end of the company, I don't think you can kill Sony in Japan, but obviously the popularity of Sony in America, Europe and Oceania has plummeted, and they've scared people out of the idea of legitimately purchasing CDs from them and possibly others for a while.
Sure, the RIAA said they "reacted responsibly" by recalling and the like, but we still all know that if this never got out Sony owuld have just kept going and put it on MORE CDs, which is just ridiculous. I know this has been blown out of proportion, but if any company ever shows as much disdain for their customer like Sony has done with this, then I personally won't support them.
My downloading of PS2 games shall commence shortly, although that was always going to happen, their region encoding screws over Australians so the only way I can get my hands on some games that never got released here (Katamari Damacy anyone?) is to download or import.
People like to think that a company cares about them as a customer, even if they don't. But if a company openly shows that all it cares about it is itself? ***** them rectally with a elephant sized dildo. - NiX0n, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"A class action suit needs to be filed"
Well, that didn't take long.
http://digg.com/security/EFF_Files_Class_Action_Lawsuit_Against_Sony_BMG - NiX0n, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0w00t! burn in hell Sony!
A class action suit needs to be filed, and everyone who's been affected/infected by Sony should actively teach Sony a lesson. If an organization (i.e RIAA) can sue the masses, why not turn the table so that the masses sue an organization. Just my $0.02 - allarise, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0i love my state
that is...all of it except for Houston...and that whole West Texas area.
hahahahhaha I couldn't agree more. - Braulio, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0EVERYONE is suing them. Entire states are. The People VS. Sony...go The People!
- browell172, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Ok, what is with you people? How much do you think it will cost MY state to sue Sony for this crap. The law that they are using is for Anti-Spyware. You know... pop up adds, keyloggers. The Sony DRM is not spyware. It's just badly implemented DRM. Lots of CDs have DRM on them. They have to prove the SONY did this intentionally and the law they have to work with is weak. I'm all for Sony getting voted off the island too, but I don't want to spend a lot of money doing it.
- BygTex, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0My favorite part of this, is that it was done by a staunchly Republican AG. LOL @ Left.
Gig'em Abbot. - spectre_25gt, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Next headline:
God sues Sony BMG over Rootkit - cliffordsound, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0These bastards all deserve to burn for this crap!! To think that they have the right to invade our personal space is a complete lack of respect for consumers, and for that matter, humanity.
- klinean, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0this is why you 'don't mess with Texas'!!!!
- Arramol, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0It's a good day to be a Texan. Way to go, Abbott!
- scbysnx, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0WOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YES!! it'd be nice if this actually opens the music industry's eyes to consumer's dislike of their invasive anti competitive actions
- selcouth, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I love Texas.
- wiggin, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Don't mess with us...
- cybercorsair, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0ITs not Sony that should be sued it's the third party company that wrote the rootkit for them. Plus the Lame code in there was abig no no. Sony got blind sided on this one but then greed can blid the best of us.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Don't tell me, sony's attorney will be Costello, who is on sencond.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0i love my state
that is...all of it except for Houston...and that whole West Texas area. - pcgeek101, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"Maybe this is Sony's ploy to get some press coverage away from the xbox 360? Just shows how lame they really are."
ha .... hahahaha ...... hahahahahahahahahahahahaha. Nice ... press coverage. How about getting some POSITIVE press coverage? Negative press coverage gets you nowhere except lawsuits and lowered sales. People are out there *swearing* to never buy Sony stuff again, or at least in the near future. - quasipalm, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Yeah, Spitzer is the coolest when it comes to bitch slapping bad corporations. That guy is presidential material, I tell ya.
- pcgeek101, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0OMFG .... oh man ... PWND is the only thing that comes to mind "$100,000 per violation"
- jervana, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Doooooood, it's Texas.
Shoot Sony. Don't sue. - Gitarooman54, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Okay, so once Sony goes down the drain (crosses fingers), that still leaves all of those people with infected computers. Is another record label going to start manufacturing CD's with Anti-Sony programs? Then is another company going to manufacture Anti-*insert company here* Programs?
When will the stupid record labels just understand that we just want to listen to the music!!!
+Digg - nene7070, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0the thing is... i would have thought that the end of a major company would have upset me in some way... yet im not.... lol GO TEXAS!
- recursive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0>Even if you figure there were 25,000 violations in TX, at the max Sony would be forced to pay $250,000. Not a whole lot of money...
At a whopping $10 per violation. Sounds like a reasonable assumption. Yeah right. - mindsinker, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"I'm guessing you've never been to Texas? Don't be an ass unless you know what your talking about."
Werd.
They should distribute the money from the lawsuits to me. - Lobster, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Sony sure are naughty! Meanwhile . . . the virus known as MS is STILL collecting info, hiding government and commercial spy-ware and employing the arrogance that comes from the best lawyers. Yes make Sony pay (a language they understand) but do not pretend that other companies that are KNOWN and admit such behaviour are innocent and above the law. Microsoft have set a precedent. If you can get away with it - it is "legal". Texas "lawyers"? Wimps. Going after the nasty foreign company - whilst our own house we can not order . . . Criminal.
- rileyjt, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Yes, there will definitely be out of court settlements made by Sony at a fraction of the numbers they are sued for. The class action lawsuits are just getting started too - once these start to get established, every other state will follow suit. However, 1% of $200 Billion is still $2 Billion - combined with the recall and other costs associated with the rootkit fiasco, that is enough to put a Serious dent in the company's future.
- ,,|,_, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Sometimes, the balls-first Texas mindset pays off. 49 states and the woefully ineffective federal bureau of interstate commerce matters accepted Sony's empty apology and statement that they were going to focus their efforts to ***** up next generation technology instead.
1 state decided to teach them about consequences.
Sometimes, hail Texas...
/Texan by the grace of god.
//...but an Austinite - leftfoot, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"Damn, it's gotta suck for Sony to be sued by a bunch of hicks..."
I'm guessing you've never been to Texas? Don't be an ass unless you know what your talking about. - leftfoot, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I'm SO glad I live in Texas! GO ABBOT!!!!
- pcgeek101, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0So .. if I were to create a virus and release it, I'd be jailed for like 30 years, but if Sony puts a virus on half a MILLION computers, they get a slap on the wrist huh? Let's see how this turns out ..
- Galaeron, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Sony supports communism
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0SONY is SO OWNED
- guywithsocks, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0^ Best...rant...ever. GO AGGIES!!!!
- lindababy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Yeah, SunComm had better get ready because the are responsible as well and I've heard their name coming up more and more frequently in regard to the Sony debacle. Interestingly, I sent them an email about the DRM security issues and they assured me that there were none with their version of the Sony DRM software that they had included on Sarah Mclachlan's Afterglow Live. About 2 days later, I received this from them:
"Our records indicate that on Dec. 6, 2004 you sent us an email in connection with the purchase of a Sara MacLachlan CD, requesting a program to uninstall SunnComm MediaMax content protection technology. We are sending you this email because we have been notified of a potential security issue that may arise in connection with the uninstaller program.
To be clear, the security issue is not raised by the presence of MediaMax content protection technology on the music CD you purchased. The security issue may arise only when a user downloads the program to uninstall the MediaMax software files from a computer. Also, please note that this potential security issue is completely unrelated to the concerns surrounding the XCP content protection technology that you may have read about recently.
The likelihood that you have been exposed to any security risk by using the program to uninstall the MediaMax technology is minimal. Nevertheless, for your protection, we are sending this notice to provide you with instructions as to how you may remove the MediaMax uninstaller files from your computer, curing any associated security risk.
Follow these instructions to remove the original uninstaller files:
1. Using Windows Explorer, go to WINDOWSDownloaded Program Files
2. Locate AxWebRemoveCtrl
3. Right click on the file and select Remove from the pop-up window
4. The file is now removed from you computer system
If the file AxWebRemoveCtrl is not found in the above directory, then your computer is not affected." - lindababy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Needless to say, AXWebRemoveCtrl WAS found in that WINDOWS directory.
- bigj480, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I doubt they will have to pay $2,500,000,000. There will probably be some settlement. I wish these companies realized that they are fighting a losing battle and the only thing they are accomplishing is alienating their customers. Profits seem to be 100X more important than customer satisfaction nowadays.
- radda, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0YAY TEXAS!
I never thought I'd agree with somthing the government here did, but...
YAY! - joshthejest, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0YEAH! GO TEXAS!
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