Though it might be near an end. Finally. SonyBMG reached yet another settlement yesterday in regards to the rootkit debacle of 2005, this time at a federal level.
As previously reported at length, the major record company faced litigation from all angles after it was revealed they had installed DRM systems onto a string of North American CD releases which secretly installed themselves onto music fans' computers, sharing information with the label, and potentially making those PCs more susceptible to virus attack.
Having already offered a refund and compensation package to affected customers, the major spent much of 2005 settling class action suits on behalf of those consumers in both the US and Canadian courts, and then at the end of the year were forced to settle separate action launched against them by the Attorney General of Texas, which led to action from Attorney Generals in the majority of US states, settlements of which will cost the major over $4 million.
But that didn't end action being taken against them by the Federal Trade Commission, who not only objected to the fact the DRM technology used by SonyBMG shared consumer information without permission and potentially affected PC security, but also that it restricted PC use of the album to Sony or Microsoft players.
The major's settlement with the FTC is very similar to that it reached with the State Attorney Generals last year. It will reimburse consumers who bought an affected CD $150, and replace the affected CD with a version without DRM installed.
Although agreeing to the settlement, SonyBMG has not admitted law violation through its use of the DRM. The FTC is due to decide whether the deal it has reached with the major should bring the case to a close after a thirty day public consultation period.
Needless to say, this whole thing has been hugely costly, in both financial and PR terms, for both SonyBMG, and the wider Sony Corp (most of the mainstream media continue to report the story by referring to the offending technology as 'Sony rootkit', even though it was developed by third party companies and, as I heard it, bought in by former BMG execs). Given that the use of the DRM was blatantly stupid on all sorts of levels, even before the potential virus threat was revealed, I do sometimes think major record companies should hire VPs Of Stupidity whose job it is to spot stupid decisions before they are made. Actually, I think I'd be quite good at that job. CV available on request.