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New York Joins Sony CD Investigation

By Martin H. Bosworth
ConsumerAffairs.com

December 1, 2005

Sony • Sony: Dust Voids PlayStation 3 Warranty • Sony BMG Settles FTC "Rootkit" Charges • Sony BMG Settles Root-Kit Suits for $4.25 Million •: Sony BMG Settles California Case • PlayStation 3 Takes the Field • PlayStation 3 Brings Big Bucks on eBay • Court Approves Sony BMG CD Settlement • Sony Reaches Tentative Settlement in Spyware Cases • New Charges Against Sony's Use of Stealth Software • New York Joins Sony CD Investigation • Recalled Sony CDs Still On Sale • Consumer Group Sues Sony BMG • Texas Sues Sony for Violating Spyware Law • Sony Withdraws CDs With Copy-Protection Software • Sony Slammed for Hidden CD Software • Sony Loses Playstation Suit • Digital Camera Buyers Give Kodak, Sony High Marks • Sony Agrees to Stop Payola Payments to Radio Stations • Sony Playstation 2 Defective, Class Action Charges --- Complaints • Playstation 2 • Playstation 1 • Cameras, Camcorders • Computers • Computer Monitors • Computer Rebates • Home Electronics Rebates • TVs • WebTV

Sony BMG's bad month is now officially a bad year. New York Attorney General Elliot Spitzer is investigating the possibility of filing yet another lawsuit against the electronics giant over its CD copy-protection software.

Spitzer sent investigators posing as customers to New York retail stores and record outlets to verify that Sony had recalled the CD's containing the software. The investigators were able to find copies of the CD's on the shelves of Best Buy, Wal-Mart, the Virgin Megastore, and other retailer outlets, according to BusinessWeek.

"It is unacceptable that more than three weeks after this serious vulnerability was revealed, these same CDs are still on shelves, during the busiest shopping days of the year," Spitzer said.

Spitzer had previously locked horns with Sony over its usage of "pay for play" tactics to get radio stations playing Sony artists. Sony agreed to major "corporate-wide" reforms and to enforce internal compliance of its promotion practices.

Spitzer isn't the only one getting into the ring with Sony. A class action lawsuit filed against Sony and First4 Internet, makers of the "rootkit" software that was installed on users' machines, is enlisting the services of Windows systems expert Mark Russinovich.

Russinovich is credited with exposing the dangers of the "rootkit" to the public, including its crippling of users' computer systems and the holes it opens for outside hackers to control computers.

The class action suit alleges that, "It is probable that millions of consumers have played these discs on their PC's and thus compromised their systems without knowing it. Today, several viruses have been reported that exploit the weakness that [the rootkit] created. Millions of users are at risk from these viruses that destroy software and steal personal information."

Even the District of Columbia is filing a lawsuit to get the Sony CD's off the shelves. D.C. resident Nicholas Xanthakos filed suit on behalf of the District on Nov. 30th, using the city's consumer protection code to act as a "private attorney general," according to the Hollywood Reporter.

The Sony "rootkit" scandal has reignited the war between consumers and media companies over the rights of buyers to share content via CD copying or file sharing.

Everyone from Microsoft to the Department of Homeland Security has come out against Sony's practices, particularly the lack of disclosure of the rootkit's effects on computers, and the corporation's slow response to consumer complaints.

When questioned about the rootkit by NPR, Thomas Hesse, president of Sony's global digital entertainment division, made the now-infamous statement, "Most people, I think, don't even know what a rootkit is, so why should they care about it?"

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