Sony BMG – The Internet Strikes Back

The decision to use XCP to copy protect Sony BMG CD’s and the resulting backlash from internet based technical articles and the appearance of viruses using the XCP program to hide themselves from anti-virus software has forced Sony BMG to take the following actions:

• Suspending production of CDs with the XCP system onboard
• Recalling all the remaining XCP CDs from shops and has started an exchange program for customers who want a disc free of the controversial code
• Publishing a full list of the 52 titles that use XCP

The BBC’s most recent article on XCP states that:

“Although figures for how many people have installed XCP are hard to come by, respected net expert Dan Kaminsky has found evidence that the software is in use on more than 500,000 networks.”

Also the CDs that used XCP were only sold in the US and Canada but were available on import in Europe.
In addition to all this Amazon has contacted all customers who bought Sony BMG CDs that use the XCP anti-copy system and are offering them refunds, according to boingboing.net.