Tentative Agreement Reached in CD Lawsuit

Back in November, it was revealed that Sony BMG Music Entertainment had placed some controversial copy protection software on many of its CDs without revealing this fact to consumers who purchased the discs. When these CDs were placed in a computer, the “spyware” would write invisible files to the hard drive, which could potentially leave users vulnerable to viruses and other security hazards. Not surprisingly, lots of class action lawsuits were filed and eventually consolidated into one case. Now it appears that Sony has reached a tentative agreement whereby it would recall the CDs containing the copy protection software and inaugurate a program where consumers could trade in their XCP discs for a non-protected CD, MP3 downloads of the affected albums, or some combination of the two. The company would also be required to release software that would remove the original copy protection and all the hidden files. The courts should rule on this shortly.