July 12th, 2007
Sony BMG Sues Over MediaMax Copy Protection
By Michael Santo
Executive Editor, RealTechNews
In 2005 there were quite a few issues over Sony CD copy protection. Although the one that drew the most attention was the rootkit-like XCP copy protection, there was also the MediaMax copy protection, that installed even when declined, for example. Yesterday Sony sued the company that developed this software, saying it was defective and cost Sony millions.
Sony BMG filed a summons in a New York state court against The Amergence Group Inc., formerly SunnComm International, which developed the MediaMax CD copy-protection technology.
The music company accuses Amergence of negligence, unfair business practices and breaching the terms of its license agreement by delivering software that “did not perform as warranted.” Source: Houston Chronicle
We Say: The original dust-up was in 2005 … two years later and this story still isn’t over … and Amergence Group shot back, suggesting that the lawsuits against Sony BMG over CD copy-protection stemmed primarily from the XCP copy protection. 
Freud says:
If you remember back to when this mess happened, Sony’s management was dismissive of complaints and had to be beaten over the head with a stick before they took corrective action. I can’t wait till the internal memo’s and email from both sides hit public records during this litigation. Then we’ll see who knew what… and when they knew.
July 12th, 2007 at 9:33 pm
Nasty Old Geezer says:
The ideal outcome is that SunnComm loses and is forced out of business by the loss — but Sony does not collect enough to cover their losses and also suffers more embarrassment and the general boycott of all Sony products grows a bit wider.
DRM is idiotic, but forced software installs without consent is, IMO, a criminal act. People at SunnComm and Sony should be in jail over this.
July 13th, 2007 at 5:35 am
Luzo Orbit says:
Mediamax may not have any money to pay a legal action. Their system has fallen over and users are abandoning them for lousy customer service. This warning is being posted by a frustrated customer. See:
http://mediamaxusers.blogspot.com/
July 16th, 2007 at 9:51 pm