Sony sued over DRM "rootkit"

Here we go again. Sony may have thrown a bone to angry consumers by opening up its DRM rootkit to virus-protection vendors, but that hasn't stopped at least some customers (or their lawyers) from deciding that Sony has infringed their rights. So, the only surprising thing about the fact that Sony is being sued over the DRM is the locale of the lawsuit: it's not in the litigation-happy US, but in Italy, which is typically known for more, shall we say, direct, ways of dealing with problems (OK, that's two national stereotypes in one sentence, for those of you keeping score at home). The lawsuit, from ALCEI (Italy's EFF), charges that Sony's DRM amounts to a virus, which is installed in a way that's "surreptitious way and not transparent." The irony, of course, is that the DRM has been in place for months, but the rootkit issue only came to light recently, thanks to Mark Russinovich, a systems expert with a flawless understanding of Windows' internal workings and questionable musical tastes.