Sony gets 'root kit' all clear

THE OUTFIT that jacked spyware onto thousands of computers, Sony, has been rigorously slapped on the face with a wet bus ticket by the US courts.

Sony installed illegal rootkit spyware software onto its music CDs with the aim of stopping music piracy. When it was discovered it initially denied doing anything.

However when faced with a class action by the State of New York, Sony agreed to remove the offending CDs from the shelves.

Later it proposed an out of court settlement where those who had bought the CDs would get $7.50 and the rights to download one album online.

According to Associated Press, the New York judge has approved this settlement and Sony is free to leave court.

However other than the poetic irony of the rootkits costing Sony more content, there is the small matter of the damage that the spyware did to the computers in which it was installed.

Many users complained that they lost functionality and, in some cases, had to re-install their hard-drives. That is worth a little more than $7.50 and free download.

The courts also seem to have a bit of a double standard. If a spammer, or a hacker, installs spyware into another's machine they are looking at prison time and a huge fine. Sony will be unlucky if this settlement costs it more than a million dollars. The PR fallout is, of course, priceless.

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