Sony software program called spyware

can Critics: track CDs’ PC user’s piracy behavior protection

LOS ANGELES — Sony BMG Music has a ? restorm on its hands.

The label, in a bid to combat piracy, contracted with a British ? rm to copy protect several music CD titles. The problem: Playing the CDs on a PC requires installation of a software

program that tech security experts say can be classi ? ed as spyware, and that can’t be uninstalled without Sony’s permission.

The blogosphere has been in overdrive this week, as Sony has tried to calm consumers. The software restricts unauthorized copying, but it also contains a hidden ? le that security experts say can track consumer behavior.

“ This is spyware, pure and simple,” says Sam Curry, vice president of security software maker Computer Associates.

Sony put a downloadable patch on its website to make the formerly hidden ? le no longer invisible, but that has done little to put out the ? re.

In Italy, the Association for Freedom in Electronic Interactive Communications advocacy group has asked the government to investigate Sony’s use of the software, known as a rootkit. Sony says the ? le is there for copy protection, not to collect information about customers.

Sony says 20 CD titles use this form of copy protection, from British ? rm First 4 Internet, but it won’t saywhich titles. The Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonpro ? t civil- liberties group, identi ? es 19 on its www. eff. org website from artists including Neil Diamond, Van Zant, Celine Dion and Switchfoot.

Most CDs play simply on computers through media player programs such as Musicmatch or Apple’s iTunes. But these CDs from Sony BMG aren’t recognized by those programs. To play them, users must ? rst agree to Sony’s terms and download an included software program.

First 4 Internet CEO Mathew GilliatSmith concedes that the software is put on PCs “ to make it more dif ? cult for the consumert o ? nd the protection ? les.”

Sony spokesman John McKay says the company “ moved very quickly to address concerns” by putting the patch on its website right away, at cp. sony bmg.com/ xcp.

But Curry says the patch doesn’t solve the problem. The software is still spyware, he says, because the ? les can’t be uninstalled without going through a laborious process. Some bloggers have complained of the software slowing down PCs. “ The behavior of this is bad on all counts,” Curr y says.

Sony BMG says it plans to have all major newreleases copy protected in 2006.

Separately, a computer security ? rm said Thursday it had discovered the ? rst virus that uses music publisher Sony BMG’s controversial CD copy- protection software to hide on PCs and wreak havoc.

Under a subject line containing the words “ Photo approval,” a hacker has mass- mailed the so-called Stinx- E trojan virus to British email addresses, said British anti- virus ? rm Sophos. “ This leaves Sony in a real tangle. It was already getting bad press about its copy- protection software, and this new hack exploit will make it even worse,” said Sophos’ Graham Cluley.