Remember the DRM that found its way onto a number of Sony BMG's CDs and started root-kitting PCs? Remember that four weeks later another piece of DRM on Sony discs exposed users to hackers? Of course you do, nobody's going to forget that string of disasters any time soon. And it seems Sony BMG hasn't forgotten either, because its now suing the company that provided it with the latter piece of software.
SunnComm (now Amergence Group) produced the MediaMax DRM software that created an attack vector through which hackers could hijack a DRM infected computer. The resulting lawsuits set Sony BMG back a few bob, paying $5.75m to settle a bunch of the cases.
It comes as no surprise, then, to learn that Sony's legal beavers have turned their attention towards the creators of the software. Out-law.com has an excerpt from an Amergence statement, in which Amergence details some of the claims in Sony's suit. Amergence says Sony's claim is that MediaMax "was defective and that the small Phoenix-based company has a contractual obligation to indemnify the entertainment giant against consumer actions which Amergence believes resulted primarily from 1) Sony's under-tested release of a competitor's technology, and 2) BMG's 'final authority' input in determining the functional specifications of the MediaMax copy protection."
Sony's seeking $12m in damages for the whole debacle, but even if it wins, it'll take more than that to repair its image in the eyes of many. And of course, as a result of the mess, lots of people now realise how hideously stupid the concept of DRM in its current form truly is.
HEXUS links
Out-law.com story.
