Following the news that SonyBMG may face criminal charges in Italy over the use of that dodgy anti-piracy software, now the major is facing a lawsuit in California, while reports suggest more litigation may be launched in New York any day now and digital rights group the Electronic Frontier Foundation is also investigating the possibility of launching legal action.
As previously reported, the major label has come in for increasing criticism for their use of the so called 'rootkit' style copy protection software ever since Windows expert Mark Russinovich revealed that the software acted like a virus, could harm computers and was all but impossible to uninstall once it had found its way onto your computer.
The Californian lawsuit aims to stop SonyBMG from selling protected CDs in the future, as well as seeking compensation for those consumers who inserted CDs containing this particular anti-piracy tool into their computers. According to the Washington Post, the lawsuit claims the major label broke three Californian laws in using the technology.
Meanwhile the EFF, while considering their own legal action, has released a list of CDs it says have the offended anti-piracy software installed. So if you've been playing any of these on your PC recently your computer may well be infected. While the risks of having the software installed on your computer are so far theoretical, you might want to download some new anti-virus software - which is pretty much the only way to uninstall it. The CDs in question as follows:
Trey Anastasio - Shine
Celine Dion - On Ne Change Pas
Neil Diamond - 12 Songs
Our Lady Peace - Healthy In Paranoid Times
Chris Botti - To Love Again
Van Zant - Get Right With The Man
Switchfoot - Nothing Is Sound
The Coral - The Invisible Invasion
Acceptance - Phantoms
Susie Suh - Susie Suh
Amerie - Touch
Life of Agony - Broken Valley
Horace Silver Quintet - Silver's Blue
Gerry Mulligan - Jeru
Dexter Gordon - Manhattan Symphonie
The Bad Plus - Suspicious Activity
The Dead 60s - The Dead 60s
Dion - The Essential Dion
Natasha Bedingfield - Unwritten
Ricky Martin - Life