Archive for September 13th, 2006

The Missing Sony Exhibit

The Canadian Sony rootkit class action settlement heads to court next week amid mounting questions about the deal.  The EFF calls attention to a number of missing provisions, including no security reviews and no ongoing obligations to provide uninstallers for the rootkit.  There is also a financial hit in Canada, with Canadian consumers receiving roughly ten percent less than U.S. consumers due to currency differences.

By far the biggest difference, however, is that the U.S. agreement is subject to injunctive relief linked to actions brought by several U.S. agencies and attorneys general.  The Canadian agreement, by contrast does not include such relief.  The justification for this difference is contained in Exhibit C, the only key settlement document that Sony has not provided to the public

I have now obtained a copy of Exhibit C, which is an affidavit from Christine J. Prudham, Vice President, Legal and Business Affairs of Sony BMG Canada (Prudham is the same person who appeared today at the Copyright Board discussing how Sony BMG Canada released just 16 new Canadian records last year).  The affidavit seeks to explain why Sony BMG Canada believes it is appropriate to grant Canadian consumers fewer rights than their U.S. counterparts.  While there is the suggestion that Canadians would benefit indirectly from a U.S. injunction, the heart of the argument revolves around a series of copyright-related arguments that are utterly without merit.

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September 13, 2006 10 comments News

ExhibitC

ExhibitC.pdf

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September 13, 2006 Comments are Disabled General

EFF on the Sony Settlement

There is a storm brewing regarding the Sony rootkit settlement in Canada.  EFF places the spotlight on several shortcomings along with the mysterious missing Exhibit C.

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September 13, 2006 Comments are Disabled News

CRIA at the Copyright Board

The Copyright Board of Canada is currently conducting hearings on a proposed online music services tariff and I dropped by the hearings this morning to hear the conclusion of the questioning of CRIA Graham Henderson.  Henderson, who was joined by Sony BMG counsel C.J. Prudham, had several noteworthy things to say about file sharing lawsuits, P2P usage in Canada, and the growth of online music sales.

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September 13, 2006 6 comments News

30 Days of DRM – Day 26: Investigation of Concealed Code (Circumvention Rights)

Consultations on anti-circumvention exceptions in the U.S. and Australia have raised at least two circumvention rights that involve the right to circumvent to access concealed information contained in software code.  In the U.S., there is a specific exception for circumvention to access the list of websites contained on "block lists" […]

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September 13, 2006 2 comments News