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This really makes me feel glad I don't listen to any music being published by Sony, seeing it installs stuff worse than spyware on my computer.
There's a few interesting posts underneath the blog, I'll quote a few.
This really makes me feel glad I don't listen to any music being published by Sony, seeing it installs stuff worse than spyware on my computer.
There's a few interesting posts underneath the blog, I'll quote a few.
INAL, but this appears to be illegal in the State of California, punishable by a $1000 fine per computer affected.
California Business & Protections Code Section 22947.3, Paragraph C:
A person or entity that is not an authorized user, as defined in Section 22947.1, shall not, with actual knowledge, with conscious avoidance of actual knowledge, or willfully, cause computer software to be copied onto the computer of a consumer in this state and use the software to do any of the following:
...
(c) Prevent, without the authorization of an authorized user, an authorized user's reasonable efforts to block the installation of, or to disable, software, by doing any of the following:
(1) Presenting the authorized user with an option to decline
installation of software with knowledge that, when the option is
selected by the authorized user, the installation nevertheless proceeds.
(2) Falsely representing that software has been disabled.
This is some horribly written legislation (difficult to parse), but it appears that you must be able to specifically decline to install software (regardless of EULA conditions).
Hi,
If this is a British company, or one which operates from the UK then they may have fallen foul of UK law, specifically the Computer Misuse Act 1990 as follows:
"3.-(1) A person is guilty of an offence if-
he does any act which causes an unauthorised modification of the contents of any computer; and
at the time when he does the act he has the requisite intent and the requisite knowledge.
(2) For the purposes of subsection (1)(b) above the requisite intent is an intent to cause a modification of the contents of any computer and by so doing-
to impair the operation of any computer;
to prevent or hinder access to any program or data held in any computer; or
to impair the operation of any such program or the reliability of any such data.
(3) The intent need not be directed at-
any particular computer;
any particular program or data or a program or data of any particular kind; or
any particular modification or a modification of any particular kind.
(4) For the purposes of subsection (1)(b) above the requisite knowledge is knowledge that any modification he intends to cause is unauthorised.
(5) It is immaterial for the purposes of this section whether an unauthorised modification or any intended effect of it of a kind mentioned in subsection (2) above is, or is intended to be, permanent or merely temporary.
"
It would seems that this law would apply to any UK citizen who's PC was affected by this software. It would be interesting to see what the consiquences of this would be for the company in question.
Kind Regards
Simon
