Sony Pays for Rootkit Debacle in California

Finally, Sony has had to pay for its rootkit debacle in California. Sony BMG, a part of electronics giant Sony has been asked to pay a fine of $750,000, and also $175 as reimbursement to every buyer who bought Sony’s CDs that had foisted on them anti-piracy software that used rootkit technology. The anti-piracy software was based on digital rights management software.

The background to the whole lawsuit was the fact that Sony sold CDs that had anti-piracy software. The anti-piracy software itself was fine, but the problem lay with the technology it used. The software used rootkit technology, which kept the files hidden, so users were unaware while buying the CDs of the existence of the software on them.

The rootkit software installed itself automatically on the user’s software when the person played the CD, and uninstalling it was a problem. The $175 was, in fact, charged towards reimbursement for damages incurred while uninstalling the software.

The main problem was the fact that the rootkit software remained hidden. Besides, it was not really as savvy as it was hyped up to be. Authors of Internet worms, basically hackers, could easily exploit the software by merely typing the characters $sys$ in front of a file name.

The charges slapped against Sony in the complaint included ‘unfair and unlawful business practices’, ‘unauthorized access to computers’, and also ‘false or misleading advertising’, something that is bound to taint the generally clean image that Sony has managed to project over the years.

In the words of Bill Lockyer, attorney general of California, "Companies that want to load their CDs with software that limits the ability to copy music should fully inform consumers about it, not hide it, and make sure it does not inflict security vulnerabilities on computers.”

The official count of the number of people who actually bought the software has been placed currently at 450,000. There is no official count yet of the number of people that actually used the system and are, therefore, eligible to receive the compensation being offered. That number should become clearer over the next few days.