Although it seems like Sony BMG has been
paying for its
devious inclusions on certain records for quite some time, it looks like the joint venture will now be coughing even
more dollars to compensate those affected. US regulators have now said that the company "agreed to reimburse consumers up to $150 for damage to their computers from CDs with hidden anti-piracy software," which comes on top of allowing customers the
ability to exchange the album if they so desire. Moreover, Sony BMG must now "provide an
uninstall tool and patches to repair the security vulnerabilities on consumers' computers" for another two years, and if its hand hadn't been slapped enough, it can no longer "collect information for marketing purposes" nor "install
software without consumer consent." Great, we're elated that someone up there understands that this
DRM gauntlet isn't the way to go, so why are we
still fighting the
agenda in
so many other areas?
