Sony BMG rootkit lawsuit

A lawsuit has been filed against Sony BMG over the recent discovery that Sony includes a rootkit on its music CDs.

The class action lawsuit filed against Sony BMG in California was filed by attorney Alan Himmelfarb on behalf of Californians who have purchased any Sony BMG CDs with the secret rootkit style software.

Sony BMG rootkit lawsuit First 4 Internet Alan Himmelfarb

The software, provided to Sony by British company First 4 Internet, cloaks itself so that it is invisible to the average user once installed on their computer, and, it is alleged, opens up a back door so that others can take advantage of the cloaking technology to put malicious software on the user's system. The Sony rootkit also is claimed to report back to Sony on the user's use of the Sony product.

In addition to the lawsuit filed by Mr. Himmelfarb in Los Angeles, New York attorney Scott Kamber is looking into filing a similar lawsuit in New York, and the Electronic Frontier Foundation is also looking into filing a lawsuit.

According to a statement by the Electronic Frontier Foundation ("EFF"), “We’re considering whether the effect on the public, or on EFF members, is sufficiently serious to merit a lawsuit.”

In the meantime, several anti-virus vendors have pledged to release software to remove the Sony rootkit, and the EFF has released a partial list of the CDs affected. They include Neil Diamond, Celine Dion, and Van Zant CDs.