The Electronic Frontier Foundation reports that Sony has been shipping CDs that infect computers with a Rootkit. A rootkit is a set of programs or tools, generally installed by hackers, that run stealthily in the background. Sony’s rootkit, called XCP2 and developed by First 4 Internet, “protects” music from being illegally copied. However, the software also seems to prevent legal uses of the CDs such as listening to the songs on your iPod. It also reportedly slows down PCs and makes computers more susceptible to attacks. Unfortunately, the software hides itself, so you may not even know you are infected.

To Sony’s credit, you can distinguish which CDs have this software by the noting the “CONTENT-FILTERED” label on the left transparent spine of the CD case and the fine print on the back of the CD case. Although, I might take that back. Given the stealthy nature of the software, and the fact that Sony is unwilling to disclose a list of the CDs with this software installed on it, it seems that Sony is only disclosing as much information as is required. Privacy doesn’t just deal with the confidentiality of information, it also concerns the availability of your information. In this instance, Sony is abusing the inherent trust a consumer has in their newly purchased product.

To read more about this or to obtain a list of the known infected CDs, click here to read the EFF article.

Apparently, laywers in California has filed a class-action lawsuit against Sony to prevent them from selling CDs with this software on it. Furthermore, California is seeking monetary damages for its consumers. A suit in New York is expected to be filed later today.