Class action lawsuit filed against Sony for removal of OtherOS!

[garyopa]

Well, the first class-action law-suit has been filed against Sony, because since April 1st, 2010, Sony has tried to disable all Linux functions on Playstation 3 devices via a firmware upgrades, starting with v3.21.

If customers refuse to update, Sony does not allow them essential system and social network functions, and of course new games will NOT be playable.

On April 27th, Californian citizen Anthony Ventura and a group of customers filed the first class action lawsuit, excerpt:

"This class action seeks to redress Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc.'s intentional disablement of the valueable functionalities originally advertised as available with the Sony Playstation™3 video game console. This disablement is not only a breach of the sales contract between Sony and its customers and a breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing, but it is also an unfair and deceptive business practice perpetrated on millions of unsuspecting consumers."

Attached to this post, is the PDF filed in the US courts! Thanks to http://www.playedstation.net for the news!

[yoshi314]

i hope sony gets smacked hard for it. i really do.

but when there is big money involved - you know how it might turn out.

[Ex-Cyber]

i hope sony gets smacked hard for it. i really do.

but when there is big money involved - you know how it might turn out.

I don't think I've ever seen a company get "smacked hard" in a class-action suit. It seems to usually end with a settlement where the company provides free or discounted products to the class members as compensation for damages.

Anyway, expect Sony to claim that people who upgraded to 3.21 already agreed to the loss of functionality via the clickwrap license (which software vendors virtually always claim overrides or is part of the original contract of sale), that providing a downgrade or reinstating Other OS in a new version is technically infeasible, and that they aren't obligated to support old firmware versions on PSN or new games.

[amp2006]

well its Sony's product so i think they have rights to do with their products.

[JNABK]

Im sure Sony has already foreseen the possibility of a Class action suit and tucked a sum of money away before they ever made the Update 3.21. They are just going thru the formalities now.

[noetikos]

where can i sign up?? i hope that sony re-enables access to PSN and to newer games with older firmwares. i wanna see sony get smacked really hard.

[Peppers]

Neato

[yoshi314]

well its Sony's product so i think they have rights to do with their products.

http://laforge.gnumonks.org/weblog/2..._linux_removal

The PS3 was originally advertised as being able to run Linux, and I know a number of people who have bought it for exactly that reason. Removing that feature after the purchase is thus significantly reducing the value of the product to many of its users.

i think that sums it up the best - removing feature that attracted people to the product is totally wrong. sony should either restore it or issue refunds for loss of functionality.

[misetusa]

well its Sony's product so i think they have rights to do with their products.

eh, no they don't and no it's not. A ps3 owner's ps3 is not "sony's product", it's 100% theirs, to do with what they like. By your logic, sony could sell you a tv, then a few months later, come into your house and take it off you, because it's "their product", and let's say, disable the colour function on your tv, leaving you with a black and white tv, even though it was sold to you as a colour tv, and that's the only reason you bought it.

[Riku98523]

Sony will give them money or something and the suit will be dropped