Anti-Class Action Lawsuit ToS Prompts Class Action Lawsuit Against Sony
The recent Terms of Service change that Sony initiated with the latest version of the PlayStation 3 firmware has been challenged in federal court.
This latest lawsuit was filed in South Carolina on behalf of PlayStation 3 owners who had purchased the console before September 2011, according to GameSpot. The new suit alleges unfair business practices due to a clause buried in a multipage document Terms of Service. The new clause requires users to mail Sony a physical letter in order to opt out of the safeguards that protect Sony from class action lawsuits due to service interruptions and other problems.
The clause that protects Sony from future class action lawsuits reads as follows:
NOTE: THIS AGREEMENT CONTAINS A BINDING INDIVIDUAL ARBITRATION AND CLASS ACTION WAIVER PROVISION IN SECTION 15 THAT AFFECTS YOUR RIGHTS UNDER THIS AGREEMENT AND WITH RESPECT TO ANY “DISPUTE” (AS DEFINED BELOW) BETWEEN YOU AND SNEI, SONY COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT INC., SONY COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT AMERICA LLC, THEIR AFFILIATES, PARENTS OR SUBSIDIARIES (ALL ENTITIES COLLECTIVELY REFERRED TO BELOW AS “SONY ENTITIES”). YOU HAVE A RIGHT TO OPT OUT OF THE BINDING ARBITRATION AND CLASS ACTION WAIVER PROVISIONS AS FURTHER DESCRIBED IN SECTION 15.
The lawsuit also alleges Sony hid the clause amongst a 21-page form, and also failed to post an easily accessible version of the form online – despite having done so with past user agreement updates.
Late last month a similar lawsuit brought against Sony over the April 2010 removal of the ‘Other OS’ feature was dismissed. Will this new suit have the same outcome? We’ll find out in due time. Legal matters usually take several months, or years to be resolved. I’m sure this won’t be the first time we hear about this lawsuit.
20 Responses to “Anti-Class Action Lawsuit ToS Prompts Class Action Lawsuit Against Sony”
Sony will win this.
So the OtherOS crybabies are back for some more class action goodness.. Now, if they accepted this TOS on their systems by updating then doesn’t that mean they couldn’t sue to begin with?
If they did accept it and get the update then sony has record of it. I hope sony can come out and prove that they couldn’t sue to begin with. That would be sweet.
This isn’t about OtherOS crybabies. This is about a company dictating what you can do when THEY screw up. That’s not “pretty sweet.” Of course, it is unlikely this would ever fly if anything serious happened, like major instances of fraud or clear signs of negligence. However, it is troubling that these companies are always implementing more and more CYA policies.
The only ones who care about not being able to sue are the ones that already made up their mind to sue. We need LESS of those people in this litigious society. Sony got hacked, that’s it. They took steps and made it right. I am behind sony on this all the way.
I can’t see most courts upholding the clause. Most courts won’t uphold any contract when it comes to unreasonable aspects. For instance, some employers have you sign a non-disclosure agreement that applies even after you leave their employ and then go about telling you how they broke the law. I’ve heard of it happening.
Oh I’d also like to add that MS added this to the Xbox TOS too, they however don’t give an option to opt out. IF MS isn’t being sued then I definitely believe it’s the same people who lost that bogus other os suit trying again.
Hopefully he’s doing the same with Microsoft then, since they recently introduced the same clause to the Live ToS/UA.
http://www.joystiq.com/2011/12/07/new-xbox-live-terms-of-service-prevent-class-action-lawsuits-aga/3
You know that’s not going to happen. This is someones plot to get revenge on sony winning the OtherOS lawsuit. They would never sue MS, the holy grail of computing.
Oh and by the way, World of Warcraft added this to their TOS too. Lets sue Blizzard also
I understand why the “Other OS” case was dismissed. The PS3 makes for a very poor personal computer. But this might make some headway, mostly because of the wording over anything else. I doubt a monetary sum will come about though.
Mostly Sony will have to strike the clause as a letter of intent to sue as a class action would be easily counted as a desire to opt out of some part of the Sony program.
Fair enough, but where are the lawsuits for MS and Blizzard to strike it at? This sounds to me like the OtherOS guys lost and had their ambulance chaser lawyer read every single Sony TOS until they could find something else to sue for. And for that reason only I hope they crash and burn again
I mean, if Sony loses then it should be decalred unconstitutional for any company to put that in there or this is going to looked at as what it is. A witch hunt on Sony.
I mean, we’re not talking about an evil corporation that poisoned an entire village. There is no Erin Brokovich on this one. It’s a game system, a game system might I add that says it will have outages in the TOS. I think sony should be able to protect themselves
It could be the “Other OS” people chasing after windmills but the end result will create a precedence. And if it’s not in Sony’s favor then I can see Microsoft and Blizzard being sued.
If it’s a serious breach by sony, something that they could be sued for (IE, their ps3′s are exploding and they don’t do anything about it even if they knew. They were exploding and killing people) then I doubt it would hold up. It is mainly to stop frivolous crap like this lawsuit from happening. There’s a sect of people out there that believe ALL corporations are evil and just constantly sue these corporations. Once they lose one case, they move on to the next. All they have to do is win 1. Sony just happens to be an easy target now. I loathe these people.
Let’s not forget that these people often make products more expensive as the corporations have to recoup the money they lose in these frivolous lawsuites.
I’m wondering how Sony was a so shy about about this ToS policy change when every major gaming site was talking about it for over a week and this guy obviously has to have internet if he’s bitching out something that requires the internet to see an sign up to. As mentioned before I can only see this as being someone who got butthurt over OtherOS being removed an want to try an stick it to Sony, as stated by others here I don’t see the new policy being a problem unless Sony severely screws up and releases a completely faulty product an they imo have been making the best most sturdy electronics since their beginning; I wish I could say the same for M$.
I’m glad the offed OtherOS because it was a loophole that allowed some malevolent people to incorporate hacks that interfered with fair online gameplay, it’s just a shame those who used it for legitimate purposes got bit too.
There are some people who do this just to try an find a loophole to make some money like this dude I knew who went into McDonalds with a BB, bit down on it to crack his tooth so he could sue them over it claiming it was in the burger or another one where this guy was venting how he was going to sue Bungie because Halo was causing him mental anguish when playing online. They’re out there, kinda like a sad variant of Pinky an the Brain: “What are we doing today Brain?” “What we try to do everyday Pinky, sue the world!”
Completely agree
Oh, and, last sentence win!
Something I just learned:
When you do a full system restore, it keeps the most recent OS update.. Which I don’t have a problem with.
What I would like to know from Sony: What else besides the firmware update is being kept after a full restore?
I sometimes buy/fix/sell PS3′s. Sometimes the system being sold is one I’ve played on.. Is some of MY data kept after a full restore?? It sure as shit better not be!
I have nothing to hide, but it’s the principle of the thing.
What if someone has the tech savvy to decript my info: Log-in/email? Which then gives access to my CC?
This may be my paranoid brain thinking, but if you can’t erase personal info, what’s to stop those with the know-how from stealing it?
Sorry for the rant/conspiracy..
The system also keeps record of all the internal hard drives that were installed into the system. Since the ps3 stores firmware data/hdd data on a separate flash storage
Just do what I did. Mail a letter to Sony of America’s corporate HQ, ATTN: Law Department. Saying that you do not agree with the ToS in regards to class action lawsuits, and you reserve the right to participate in any and all class action lawsuits against Sony.
And then they’ll sue the lawyers for their fail on winning… or maybe the judge. Or me, for this comment… maybe PSLS for allowing me to comment.