Hurray for Texas!!

A petulant and reluctant Sony, clearly resenting the circumstances, finally issued a recall on CDs that many technical commentators basically called spyware (such as the famous Mark Russinovich, the NT mag guy everyone admires.) The discs installed low level files in Windows operating systems designed to prevent CD copying and ripping, and then used some sloppy code to prevent the files from being detected.

So people who thought they were going to listen to music as they put CDs in their drive bay were instead installing a root kit without consumer's knowledge, and doing it in a way that hackers could come in and exploit. Meanwhile the program, according to EFF staff who've launched a class action suit, would be "spying on their listening habits with surreptitiously-installed programs."

The tactic is so bad that anti-spyware programs have been modified to detect and remove this incredible invasion of privacy. Sony's music discs are being treated like a leprous computer infection.

So Texas has decided to sue Sony for distributing spyware. Good for them! If Sony is unwilling to accept the chastizing of its own customers, maybe Texas can teach it some humility.

Texas Sues Sony Under Anti-Spyware Law

(Here's the technical description of what Sony did.)