Sony BMG Music Entertainment, the world's second-largest record company, recalled compact discs with hidden copyright-protection software because of concerns about security risks the CDs may create on personal computers.
Customers can exchange any disc with the copyright protection software, called XCP, for a replacement copy without it, New York-based Sony BMG said on its Web site.
Once installed on a computer, XCP software can enable the monitoring of a user's activity and make the machine vulnerable to viruses.
The recall came after Sony BMG Chief Executive Officer Andrew Lack had championed copyright protections. Sony BMG, a joint venture created last year by Sony Corp. and Bertelsmann AG, produced about 4.7 million discs of artists including Celine Dion and sold 2.1 million of them. The recall comes as record companies are entering their strongest sales period ahead of the Christmas holiday.
Installed on about 50 recordings distributed by Sony BMG, XCP was designed to prevent illegal duplication by limiting the number of copies that could be made once a title has been installed on a personal computer. However, the technology could also be used to monitor the users' online activity and made PCs vulnerable to computer viruses.