SonyBMG are a few steps closer to getting closure on the whole 'rootkit fuck up' (to give it its legal name). A Canadian court yesterday approved a formal settlement to bring to an end various bits of litigation being pursued against the major. The deal agreed is rather similar to that agreed in the US courts earlier this year.
The court in Ontario approved a settlement deal which will see the major offering $8.40, a replacement CD and free downloads to the hundreds of thousands of customers who bought affected discs. User data acquired by the record company via the technology will also be destroyed. Details of the settlement and how to apply for compensation have been posted on SonyBMG's Canadian website.
As previously reported at rather considerable and possibly tedious length, the so called rootkit software was developed to stop users from ripping music off CDs and sharing them with friends or via P2P networks. However, it was soon discovered that the software also made users' PCs more susceptible to a virus attack and, because the rootkit software was similar in form to a virus itself, it was almost impossible to remove once it had automatically installed itself.
As soon as the scale of the problem was realised, SonyBMG quickly withdrew the affected CDs, provided a new bit of software to enable users to remove the rootkit software off their machines, and offered a compensation package similar to that subsequently agreed in the courts. Nevertheless, various lawsuits were pursued against them relating to the debacle.
Welcoming the court approved compensation package, lawyer Harvey Strosberg, who represented customers in the Ontario class action, said: "This was a case that was always about behavioural modification and I think that this was a good result for the Canadian public". Jason Young, who represented the Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic in the case, added: "What we're hoping is, that ... Sony BMG will have learned its lesson". SonyBMG said it was "delighted" with the latest court decision.
The Ontario settlement will apply in all of Canada, except Quebec and British Columbia. There separate court hearings will assess the compensation package in Montreal and Victoria later this month.