Sony's legal issues

Sony's legal issues
Mark Rasch, 2005-11-14

Last month I wrote about a dispute between the Federal Trade Commission and a spyware distributor where the FTC alleged that an End User License Agreement, which essentially told downloaders that they were downloading spyware, was a false and deceptive trade practice. Two events cause me to revisit this issue. First, the FTC has gone after another spyware distributor, and second, Sony Corporation has caused the surreptitious installation of a rootkit-type program to enforce its digital rights management on its music CDs, claiming authority to do so under an End User License Agreement.

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Sony's legal issues 2005-11-14
fatman (2 replies)

Nice article but...

"and that you can't change, alter, or make derivative works from the music on your computer - all things you ordinarily could do under copyright law"

Are you sure about this? What about all the late 80s/early 90s lawsuits against certain musicians who had 'sampled' other mu...

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Re: Sony's legal issues 2005-11-15
Mark D. Rasch (2 replies)

Ah.. theres it the rub. You are applying COPYRIGHT law.. where you CAN sample, make fair use, etc. That would apply to the MUSIC. The SOFTWARE which gives you access to the music is covered by both copyright law AND the EULA, where (Sony would argue) you contractually agreed NOT to sample or make ...

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Re: Re: Sony's legal issues 2005-11-17
Anonymous

Actually, in the case ?Bridgeport Music et al. v. Dimension Films et al? the sixth circuit ruled that all sampling was illegal based on 17 U.S.C. § 114, which places a copyright not on the music but the very sound itself....

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Re: Re: Sony's legal issues 2005-11-17
Yvan Boily

Hmm. Interesting thought. What happens if I listen to a song on the radio, and sample that?

How do broadcast communications, copyright and EULAs interact?...

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Re: Sony's legal issues 2005-11-22
R Simard

From the article at that URL:
"...the recording ?100 Miles? was included on the sound track of I Got the Hook Up. Defendant No Limit Films, in conjunction with Priority Records, released the movie to theaters on May 27, 1998."

IANAL. Nonetheless, what seems sensible to me is that the offense her...

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Sony's legal issues 2005-11-15
Anonymous (2 replies)

"I just want to listen to the music."

Indeed. It so happens that the best stereo system in my house is my computer, which came equipped with surround-sound speakers. I am not interested in "ripping" my CD's to MP3, and I doubt I will ever own an iPod. And yet, now I'm afraid to play any new CD...

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Re: Sony's legal issues 2005-11-16
Anonymous

"Sure, I can, and do, refuse to install any special software on my PC (...)"
And can you go back to the shop you bought the cd from and claim your money back if you do not agree with the EULA? (Legally: yes) You had no chance to read it before you actually bought the cd and popped it in your cd-rom...

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Re: Sony's legal issues 2005-11-16
Anonymous (1 replies)

You could always just download the music off of a file sharing network. Oops, that's what the music labels were trying to prevent......

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Re: Re: Sony's legal issues 2005-11-17
Anonymous

You could also go to the store, purchase the music CD, then put the CD up and download the music from a file sharing network. Pretty sad that the pirated stuff is safer than what you get from the store nowadays....

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Sony's legal issues 2005-11-15
Anonymous (1 replies)

Sony's legal issues may extend beyond those previously described. There are discussions that indicate that the computer code used in this package may have been derived from code covered under the LGPL. If this is indeed the case, then Sony itself may be violating the copyright of others by deployi...

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Re: Sony's legal issues 2005-11-16
Anonymous

I think the issue you're reffering to is the code for the LAME encoder has been clearly identified to be contained in the Sony rootkit. LAME is licensed under the LGPL. There is NO LAME source code or credits identified in the rootkit. This violated the LGPL. So, when will the EFF file suit to prote...

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Sony's legal issues 2005-11-16
norgan

The problems is that we are now putting doubt in legitimate users minds, that means they may seek the already ripped versions from the net rather than go and buy a cd that may, for all intensive purposes, damage your computer, or at least the inner workings of your operating system.
DRM is great fo...

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Here's how you get the CD to play... 2005-11-16
Gordon Fecyk

http://www.pan-am.ca/antiwindowscatalog/?mode=product&id=80

WARNING: This link may be illegal under the DMCA. Even though a child could do this....

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Sony's legal issues 2005-11-16
dreq

So ... as a consumer, I indulge myself a supid question: why are we so idiots to buy products like these???
Why not legally "force" each and every company to publish the EULA separately, outside the package, so it can be read and agreed, before buying? And to contain EVERYTHING...
I like to know w...

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Sony's legal issues 2005-11-16
Alexey Vesnin

We all have one beutiful thing since we were born, but we're too often skippin' it in our regular life. This very thing is our mind. Do you enable your 'autoplay' option? Or do you run your personal firewall for 'permit all' policy? If you do - why you're amazed that some smart people are found one ...

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Sony's legal issues 2005-11-16
ChiRaven

It's ironic that the "bad actor" in this round of the intellectual property tech war was, in fact, the "white knight" in the last generation's fight.

Sony was the "good guy" in the landmark "Betamax" case that legalized private VCR taping of TV programming and led to the adoption of that generat...

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May be illegal in UK 2005-11-16
Anonymous

In the UK unfair agreements may be illegal. See http://www.dti.gov.uk/ccp/topics1/facts/untermsact1999.htm ... extract follows ...

? A consumer is not bound by a standard term in a contract with a seller or supplier if that term is unfair.

? Standard terms are those devised by a business in...

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Sony's legal issues 2005-11-16
Steve (1 replies)

EULA's, I believe are invalid and fail to qualify as contracts. Based on my rather limited knowledge of law, a contract has to be a mutual agreement between the parties. While one can argue that clicking on the "I agree" button constitutes some sort of "agreement" I don't think so. Further, the ven...

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Re: Sony's legal issues 2005-11-19
Mark Rasch (1 replies)

This is not true. EULAs are contracts, and are generally enforceable. See Pro CD v. Zeitlinberg case....

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Re: Re: Sony's legal issues 2005-12-01
Anonymous

Mark, I am sure you must be aware that there is no clear legal precedence when it comes to EULAs. The tone of your article suggests that the law is clear, but it is anything but. Given your stated qualifications you should know this.
...

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Sony's legal issues - EULA and DELL 2005-11-16
Anonymous (1 replies)

If EULAs are considered contracts even if you don't read them, what about this case:

DELL, I think several years ago (I don't know if they still are doing it) shipped computers whose BIOS had a EULA agreement requirement when the computer was first turned on, essentialy saying ONLY that "You have...

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Re: Sony's legal issues - EULA and DELL 2005-11-18
Anonymous

"He persisted, and finally the legal department returned his call, said they could not supply him with the EULA text, and that he should just click YES because that's what everyone does anyway."
Assuming that he has documentation of this statement and his attempts to find the EULA, then I'd think t...

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Sony's legal issues 2005-11-16
Steve

For those willing to write and/or leave comments preferably for the revocation of the Digital Millenium Copyright Act as a consequence of the Sony debacle:
-----------------------------------------------
F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr., Chairman
Committee on the Judiciary
U.S. House of Representativ...

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But what are the consumer's remedies? 2005-11-17
HavaCuppaJoe (2 replies)

Regarding enforcement of click-through EULAs, there's a question that I simply cannot understand; perhaps you can shed some light on it?

When is an EULA displayed? When you're browsing the shelves at CompuUSA? When you're listening to the CD on headphones at Border's?

Nope. I'll tell you w...

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Re: But what are the consumer's remedies? 2005-11-18
ZHaman

I have exactly the same questions, and its getting to feel like I need to take a lawyer with me to buy music. Don't think I haven't considered it.

Can I simply give the store a letter as I buy saying I decline all EULA's and the purchase of the item until I have read it?

As it sits, I am payin...

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Re: But what are the consumer's remedies? 2005-11-19
Mark Rasch (1 replies)

This is an interesting point I hadnt thought of. Court have found EULAs to be enforceable even AFTER purchase (it was in a case involving Gateway computers) because you had the option to return the product to demonstrate lack of assent to the EULA. In this case, you cannot return the product once...

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Re: Re: But what are the consumer's remedies? 2005-11-22
El Tonno

And what happens if I put the CD into a Linux machine (as long as these still exist, the next generation of hardware will probably make such homebrew systems unraunnable ;-P ) then I DON'T SEE the EULA. Does it say on the Digital Medium (which is not a CD btw) 'CAN ONLY LEGALLY BE PLAYED ON A Micros...

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Now, if anyone can help me get this CD to play. 2005-11-17
RIAA

Actually, no, no one can, as that might be against the DMCA, the EULA or even some implied contract terms you "agreed" to.

We just want your money, we don't want you to actually ever listen to the music you bought, lol.

(I'm not really affiliated with the RIAA, which in this day and age I actu...

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Sony's legal issues 2005-11-21
Anonymous

So, what are these money grubbing scum going to do next? How about language in the EULA that prevents me from allowing anybody else to listen when I am playing my "leased" copy of Sony/BMG music? Better keep that volume turned down, so nobody overhears. Or better yet, use (Sony) headphones. Wait...

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You Missed Something Big! 2005-11-22
Anonymous

When I purchase a Program or Music CD, I can not agree to the EULA until after the purchase is made and the product has been opened. Almost all stores have a policy of non-refundable software/music that has been opened.

However, if I disagree with the EULA and attempt to return the product to the...

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Validity of the EULA 2005-11-22
Stephan Schulz

Here is an interesting question. A contract requires an exchange of something. One of the things Sony purports to give you is the XPC software. But now it seems as if they did not have the right to do so, as the software is not theirs, but illegally derived from GPLed and LGPLed free software.

A...

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Sony's legal issues 2005-11-22
JCD

I think we not only need to talk to our legislature about these issuse but also the issue of what can legally be presented in online end user agreements and on boxed licensed software. Some agreements give the manufacturer the right to disable your software at a moment's notice, come inventory your...

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What recourse does a buyer have? 2005-11-22
Jaywalk (1 replies)

My problem is that there appears to be no fair way out of this once you've bought one of these things. Suppose you go to your local music store and buy a Sony disc to listen to at work. Until you get the shrink wrap off and load it into your computer, there's no way to tell that the EULA forbids u...

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Re: What recourse does a buyer have? 2005-11-22
Anonymous

I would say that you have a problem with the store and not with Sony.

--- CHAS...

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Sony's legal issues 2005-11-22
Capt Chas

The problem I see with those EULA's as legal contracts is they provide no way to determine if the person who clicked 'I agree' is of legal age to enter into a contract. If 'Little Suzie' allows Sony to corrupt mom's computer, I might try an argument contending that Sony was negligent. Contracts req...

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Sony's legal issues 2005-11-29
Thaddy de Koning

Seems that a from a legal standpoint far more important copyright and license infringement by Sony and its partner effectively could nullify any protection from the EULA:
I am referring to GPL infringements (VLC player) in the customized mediaplayer Sony installed, which as far as I know makes Sony...

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