Sony BMG plops down $4.25 million to settle with 39 states
Well that was quick. After forking over $750k to California on Tuesday to settle charges regarding its nefarious rootkit schemes, Sony BMG has brokered a similar deal with 39 more states in the US and A. Luckily for Sony, it looks like they've improved their per-state cost considerably, at a bargain $4.25 million for all 39 states, with Washington D.C. thrown in there to boot -- it is the holidays after all. Just like with California (and Texas, which settled with Sony on Tuesday as well), Sony BMG will additionally be giving refunds of $175 to consumers who file a claim that the rootkit damaged their computer in some way. Also included in the settlement is a pinky swear from Sony that they won't put any more copy protection software on future CDs that can't be easily located and removed from a computer. Sony BMG says it's pleased to reach the agreements. Aww, big hug.
