Sony is suing the Amergence Group, which was previously called
SunnComm International. In 2005 software from SunnComm called
MediaMax was included on some Sony BMG CDs. Designed to limit the
number of copies of a disc that were made, it reportedly caused
widespread problems with users' computers.
Security experts said that the MediaMax software created a
directory on computers which could allow hackers to hijack a
computer.
Sony BMG now says that the Amergence Group violated its deal
with Sony because its software did not perform as it was meant to.
The lawsuit accuses it of negligence and unfair business
practices.
The storm over the MediaMax vulnerability in 2005 followed just
weeks after a scandal about another piece of DRM software on Sony
BMG CDs. Software from UK firm First 4 Internet called XCP was
found to install a 'rootkit' on systems.
This is a way for the software to have access to the core of a
computer's operating system, and is a style of program usually used
in hacking. This was condemned by users and computer experts as
unsafe and as exposing a user's computer to hackers.
Sony was investigated by some US state officials and its DRM
software was the subject of class action lawsuits. Sony paid out
$5.75 million last autumn to settle several cases. In a previous
settlement it agreed to pay users $7.50 per CD and to undergo
independent audits for its DRM software in the future.
Amergence said that the problems faced by consumers were not its
fault.
According to a statement from Amergence, Sony BMG's suit
alleges, among other things, that SunnComm's CD copy protection
component, called MediaMax, "was defective and that the small
Phoenix-based company has a contractual obligation to indemnify the
entertainment giant against consumer actions which Amergence
believes resulted primarily from 1) Sony's under-tested release of
a competitor's technology, and 2) BMG's 'final authority' input in
determining the functional specifications of the MediaMax copy
protection."
