FC: California woman sues CD company over user-tracking technology

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

The complaint is here:
http://www.techfirm.com/mccomp.pdf

********

From: ira () techfirm com
To: <declan () well com>
Subject: Lawsuit filed against Cloaking Company and Record Company
Date: Thu, 6 Sep 2001 14:22:40 -0700

Declan,

Enclosed is a link to information about a lawsuit that we filed today
against a Record Company and Sunncomm in which we alleged unfair business
practices and privacy violations related to Sunncomm's "Cloaking"
technology.

http://www.techfirm.com/mcrel.pdf

If you have any questions please let me know.

Ira P. Rothken
Rothken Law Firm
415-924-4250
ira () techfirm com
www.techfirm.com


Fahrenheit Entertainment and Sunncomm are Sued for Violating Privacy Rights
of California Consumers and for Unfair Business Practices
Consumers are given no warning on the CD package that they cannot listen to
CD music on their family computers anonymously
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SAN RAFAEL, Calif., September 6, 2001
A California woman sued Fahrenheit Entertainment, Inc. and its label Music City
Records today on behalf of the General Public of the State of California, 
to enjoin
them from selling music compact discs that have been designed, programmed, and
implemented to defeat the rights of consumers that include misleading 
advertising,
defective notices, and invasions of privacy. The suit alleges that 
Fahrenheit and
Music City never disclosed on the shrink-wrap of certain "impaired" CD(s) that
consumers couldn't listen to music on their computers anonymously. If left
unchecked, this will be the start of an era where consumers will be coerced 
to give
up their privacy to listen to music on their computers.
The lawsuit was filed in California Superior Court - Marin County. The 
lawsuit, entitled
DeLise v. Fahrenheit Entertainment, Inc. et al, alleges that Fahrenheit 
failed to disclose
that unlike millions of Music Compact Disc(s) ("CD") sold before it that 
Fahrenheit's CD
entitled "Charley Pride – A Tribute to Jim Reeves" will not work on 
standard audio CD
players found on millions of personal computers, that electronic music 
files made
available for download pursuant to purchase of its CD are proprietary in 
nature, that
such electronic music files will not work on portable MP3 players, and that 
the CD
includes a proprietary electronic music scheme in conjunction with Sunncomm 
(also
named in the suit) technology that tracks, stores, and disseminates 
specific consumer
personal identifying information, listening data, and downloading habits to 
entities
beyond the control of the consumer. There is no practical way to opt-out of 
the data
collection or destroy the data once it is collected.
"Fahrenheit, in our view, has an obligation to the General Public to 
truthfully and
adequately inform them, before the CD sale is made, about what they are 
taking from
them as a condition of playing the music CD on a family computer, namely 
personal,
private information. Consumers have a right to privacy and to be free from 
false and
misleading advertising, protected by the laws of the State of California. 
It is our view
that Fahrenheit and Music City do not disclose the privacy intrusion and other
limitations with specificity on the CD container since it would likely hurt 
sales. If the
defendants want to implement Digital Rights Management technology they have 
to do
so responsibly so the consumer can make an informed decision about buying the
burdened CD" said Ira Rothken, an attorney representing Karen DeLise, on 
behalf of
the General Public of California.
The Plaintiff is requesting an injunction against Fahrenheit and Sunncomm, 
stopping
them from tracking consumer habits and requiring the Defendants to provide 
adequate
notice of the privacy intrusions and CD deficiencies.
If you wish to discuss this case or have any questions please contact 
Plaintiff's lead
counsel, Ira Rothken of THE ROTHKEN LAW FIRM at 415-924-4250 or via e-mail at
ira () techfirm com. The law firm web site is located at http://www.techfirm.com.
CONTACT: ROTHKEN LAW FIRM
Ira P. Rothken, Esq., 415/924-4250




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