German Retailer to Pay Damages Over Sony BMG 'Rootkit' CD

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on September 14, 2009 - 9:35am.

New York - A German court has ordered a retailer there to pay compensation to an individual who claimed financial losses as a result of placing a music CD with faulty anti-piracy software from Sony (NYSE: SNE) BMG into his computers, TorrentFreak reported.

Sony settled charges in 2007 brought by the Federal Trade Commission over the incident, which saw the label distribute around 50 music CDs containing "rootkit" software that could open a user's computer to attacks.

The company agreed to provide U.S. consumers with replacement CDs, and to reimburse them up to $150 for any damage to their equipment.

Germany's Heise reports that a self-employed man sued the retailer for around $2,200, claiming a rootkit-infested Anastacia CD he inserted into four computers caused lost man hours dealing with virus alerts and restoring lost data.

The German court ordered the retailer to pay the plaintiff about $1,750 in damages.

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/ru6uo (TorrentFreak)

http://snipurl.com/ru74p (DMW previous coverage)