"The protection software simply acts to prevent unlimited copying and ripping from discs featuring this protection solution," Sony BMG said in a statement posted on its site last week. "It is otherwise inactive. The software does not collect any personal information nor is it designed to be intrusive to your computer system."

Neither Sony BMG nor First 4 Internet have responded to multiple requests for comment from SecurityFocus.

Consumer advocates and attorneys have rushed to disagree with Sony BMG's portrayal of the program and its effect on computer systems. Firing the first shot the day after initial accounts of the aggressive copy-protection program were published, attorney Alan Himmelfarb filed a class action lawsuit against Sony in Los Angeles County Superior Court for three violations of consumer and business codes.

"Once installed on the system, the rootkit hides itself by cloaking all associated files, labeling certain operational files with misleading names, and assumes a continuous resource-depleting - and copy prevention - monitoring of the computer system in perpetuity," the complaint stated. "The rootkit program cannot be uninstalled without damage to the system." On November 4, the legal battle spread to the international arena. The Italian digital rights group Associazione per la Libertá nella Comunicazione Elettronica Interattiva (ALCEI) filed a criminal complaint with that nation's Economic and Financial Police Division to investigate whether Italy's consumers were affected by the Sony BMG cloaking technology and, if so, whether the company, and any other music company, violated national laws and should be prosecuted.

"Sony has, of course, the right to protect its own assets, but in our opinion, this right cannot be stretched up to the point of using measures that damage someone else's goods," Andrea Monti, chairman of ALCEI, said in an e-mail interview with SecurityFocus.

According to Monti, the criminal complaint could lead to prosecution of the person or company responsible for the rootkit included on Sony BMG's CDs. Italy's copyright laws, however, have been amended several times since passing in 1941 to favor the entertainment and software industries, he said.

At least three other firms are preparing class-action lawsuits as well. New York attorney Scott Kamber is preparing a case against Sony BMG on behalf of multiple clients. San Francisco-based law firm Green Welling will be filing a lawsuit against Sony to recover damages caused to consumers by the media giant's copy protection scheme, said Robert Green, a partner with the firm. A number of people have contacted the firm after the Sony BMG software, or their attempts to remove the software, damaged their systems, Green said.

In addition, Chicago-based law firm Cirignani Heller Harman & Lynch will be filing a class-action law suit, said Ethan Preston, an attorney working with CHHL. <hr class="PageBreak" "Taking my lawyer hat off and putting my consumer hat on, it is deeply unfortunate that such a large and hithertofore respected corporation would do this and make it so difficult for their users," Preston said. "To make installing this program akin to a strip search when you are checking out of the county jail - it shows there is a deep rift between these media giants and their consumers."