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Two days after reaching $1.5 million settlements with the states of Texas and California over its knuckleheaded attempt to prevent "unauthorized" use of its CDs, Sony BMG agreed to pay another $4.25 million to an additional 39 states and the District of Columbia in what has become known as "the rootkit debacle."

In 2005, Sony BMG shipped more than 12 million CDs with two "copy protection" programs: First 4 Internet’s XCP (extended copy protection) and SunnComm International's MediaMax. Those discs installed programs onto consumers' computers, even if they declined the installation option, and then "cloaked" themselves in order to prevent detection.

Sony BMG had already settled a class action lawsuit in May; the settlements announced this week are the result of suits brought about by the states' attorneys general.

The states participating in the latest settlement are: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, Massachusetts, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming, as well as the District of Columbia.

As with the California and Texas settlements, individuals who purchased the infected discs are entitled to $175 in damages if their computers were damaged in trying to uninstall the DRM malware. Sony BMG has published a fact sheet and claim form on its website.