The Austin Chronicle: News: AG on Sony Spyware: 'Cloak-and-Dagger Deceit'

The Austin Chronicle: News: AG on Sony Spyware: 'Cloak-and-Dagger Deceit': "

BY JORDAN SMITH
Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott last week filed a groundbreaking lawsuit against Sony BMG Music Entertainment, alleging the company secretly installed an invisible 'spyware' program onto millions of music CDs, in violation of state law, leaving consumers and their computers vulnerable to identity thieves, hackers, and viruses. 'Sony has engaged in a technological version of cloak-and-dagger deceit,' Abbott said. He filed suit under the state's new Consumer Protection Against Computer Spyware Act of 2005, which went into effect in September and bans concealed tracking software. The software – reportedly intended as an anti-piracy measure – was installed on 4.7 million CDs released by Sony under 52 different titles. The CDs are designed so that they will not play through a computer until the user acknowledges a user agreement, which, when accepted, causes the surreptitious installation of undetectable spyware tracking files."

DMCA comments published

DMCA comments published The DMCA, one might recall, is that draconian law purchased by the major media conglomerates to extend their monopolies on music and movies right into your personal life, a step on the path to universal pay-per-use.

It's the law Russian programmer Dimitri Sklyarov was arrested for having allegedly broken -- even though he wrote his program in Russia, where it was perfectly legal. His employer, Elcomsoft, was recently tried instead under the criminal provisions of the DMCA and... they were acquitted.