MacDork's Journal: Courts accept Sony settlement

The court has approved Sony's proposed settlement in the class action lawsuit taking place in New York state. The settlement [PDF] grants those who purchased one of the affected CDs a rootkit-free replacement CD and either a) $7.50 USD cash payment and a free DRM'ed CD download or b) three DRM'ed CD downloads. Customers who purchased MediaMax CD's will be entitled to one additional DRM'ed CD. Sony has also reserved the right to back out of the settlement "if the number of timely and valid requests for exclusion from the Settlement Class exceeds 1,000." Although plenty of coverage has been given to security holes opened by the rootkit, it seems Sony is being let off scot-free for committing computer trespass. Since the MediaMax software installs itself even if the customer declines the EULA, it seems it would be rather difficult for Sony to claim in court that customers agreed to be spied on. A single instance of computer trespass is a Class E Felony in the state of New York. There are an estimated 20 Million CDs in circulation. "At least 568,200 nameservers have witnessed DNS queries related to the rootkit", and yet months later no one has launched a criminal investigation into what information Sony may have surreptitiously stolen from its victims. Additionally, it's well documented that Sony has committed copyright infringement by including GPL'ed software without adhering to the license. In the face of such grievous, numerous, and willful violations of US law, where are all the politicians who are tough on crime? Does such a massive breach of computer security pose national security risks to a country dependent on its high tech infrastructure? I wouldn't be surprised if more than a few people would like to file for exclusion until the persons responsible at Sony face criminal charges. For those interested, the EFF is providing instructions to members of the class who would like to file for exclusion from Sony's NY settlement. Those filing for exclusion might also want to contact NY Attorney General Eliot Spitzer and let him know exactly why your filing was made.