Tell you what, let's dwell on SonyBMG's rootkit problems a bit more, shall we? While the major label is discussing out of court settlements with some of the people who sued at the end of last year over the major's use of the dodgy copy-protection software which made users' computers more susceptible to virus attack, two new lawsuits last week arrived with the major's legal department.
The first comes from the Canadian law firm the Merchant Law Group and is reportedly seeking damages for everyone in Canada who bought a CD containing either the initial rootkit software made by First4Internet, or the other problematic copy-protection technology made by SunnComm. That's $100 million in damages in total. Phew.
The second comes from a Mississippi law student called Mark Lyon who claims his PC was damaged by the rootkit software that came on a SonyBMG CD he bought.
The latter seems likely to be resolved with the aforementioned out of court settlement that SonyBMG is already negotiating with other claimants. The Canadian case, however, may require some more involved legal shenanigans on the part of SonyBMG's legal team. Perhaps they could bribe the lawyers at Merchant Law Group with the promise of a free PlayStation 3 ahead of release.