Sony pays out on DRM fiasco

SONY BMG Music Entertainment agreed to pay punters up to $150 for damage to their computers after Sony DRM wrecked them last year.

According to the Associated Press, the agreement, which was announced by the Federal Trade Commission, comes as a result of a few words the FTC had with Sony after the DRM scandal last year.

Sony installed anti-piracy software in a bid to limit the devices on which music could be played. It restricted the number of copies that could be made and monitored consumers' listening habits to send them marketing messages.

However as the FTC said the software was a huge security risk and was a devil to uninstall. When punters tried to remove the DRM it often stuffed up their computers completely.

Under the settlement Sony will allow consumers to exchange through the end of June the affected CDs purchased before December 31, 2006, and reimburse them up to $150 to repair damage done when they tried to remove the software.

Data collected by the DRM is not allowed to be used and Sony has to promise not to do it again. For the next two years Sony BMG also must provide an uninstall tool and patches to repair the security vulnerabilities on consumers' computers and must advertise them on its Web site. Sony still says it did nuttin illegal.

More here. µ