Home Gaming Hey Sony, It’s Class Action Lawsuit Time!

Hey Sony, It’s Class Action Lawsuit Time!

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Ventura

This was inevitable. almost as inevitable as the imminent collapse of Infinity Ward! PS3 owners might recall the firmware update that happened earlier this month..y’know? the one that removed OtherOS. Some of you may have noticed the option, but most of you were probably too busy playing games to care.

Well, somebody cared. He cared enough to slap Sony with a Class Action lawsuit.

According to Sony, the removal of OtherOS was "due to security concerns," and that removing the feature would "help ensure that PS3 owners will continue to have access to the broad range of gaming and entertainment content from SCE and its content partners on a more secure system."

Rubbish, says Plaintiff Anthony Ventura. The removal of OtherOS "reflected Sony’s concerns that the Other OS feature might be used by ‘hackers’ to copy and/or steal gaming and other content."

"Sony’s decision to force users to disable the Other OS function was based on its own interest and was made at the expense of its customers," reads the complaint.

The suit, on behalf of "a nationwide class of all persons who purchased a PS3 during the period November 17, 2006 and March 27, 2010 and who did not resell their PS3" seeks to claim "damages for Plaintiff and each class member, including but not limited to compensatory damages; restitution; injunctive relief; attorneys’ fees; and the cost of this suit."

I’m of the opinion that Sony’s expeditious removal of OtherOS was a knee-jerk reaction to murmurs of a working exploit, but I’m also of the opinion that if having a console function as a computer is really that important to you, just get a damned computer.

Source : Kotaku

Last Updated: April 29, 2010

One Comment

  1. DaveUK

    April 29, 2010 at 19:44

    Get another computer ? yeah, that’s helpful.

    Clearly missed the entire point of this whole thing.

    Sony shouldn’t have a leg to stand on in my opinion.

    I used the other OS function briefly but I am not updating and/or buying any new games or stuff from the playstation store because I am disgusted about me being bullied into having to lose an advertised feature they very recently said themselves they will continue to support and never did.

    Although I did not use other OS for more than a few hours (as a test more than anything), it was an advertised feature that made a difference when I was deciding if I wanted a PS3 or not, especially as there were no key game titles (still waiting for one lol) or the need for bluray with me.

    Because I did not use Other OS yesterday does not mean I would have not woken up tomorrow and decided I wanted to use an advertised feature of the ps3 that was one of the factors in my purchase although not the most important one.

    Sony have basically implied that I would use potential or current exploits for illegitimate reasons when everyone should realise that its obviously because they wanted to stop people playing pirated games on the ps3 and I am with them on that one as I am a huge supporter of the games and electronics hardware industry and spend a fair old chunk of change on Console and PC games and hardware.

    So for them to pretty much brand me and every other person who is affected by this a potential “pirate” and/or “hacker” is a little bit offensive.

    The number of people if any who would modify there hardware or system software in order to play pirate games (what this is all about) would be tiny if not hugely insignificant to profit margins and we can look at two more popular rival consoles that as far as I can gather are completely hacked for piracy means yet game sales are still apparently massive.

    The above also assumes this “Geohot” character has actually opened the door to piracy but when I done a bit of research before composing this message I could not find a single source of information that was not marked as fake that showed any piracy as a result of what this person has apparently done.

    So as it stands there is no piracy on the PS3, there is no valid reason to remove an advertised feature and bear in mind that I own a 360, Wii and a Gaming PC and I buy games for all these platforms even though I am fully aware I can modify all three systems in order to pirate games.

    Sony should have done nothing with the other OS feature until there is actually something available, be it code or a modification chip or something that allows piracy and then fix the exploit by alternative means and if the only way to do fix any exploits was to remove other OS they could have done it then and with much more support as I am sure many more people would have understood that there was a legitimate threat and the only way to deal with this was to remove other OS.

    Sony “blocked” an exploit that does not exist, the current exploit I am certain enabled no piracy at all and is not something that just anyone with a soldering gun can do.

    I can wait a while and see how this pans out and I hope that something is done as removing the other OS function is clearly the easiest route for sony to take and I expected them to have the ability to simply block any exploits if and when they actually happen.

    Pirates I suspect will just not update there console and if they every manage it will play pirated games anyway while the paying customer ends of losing an advertised feature of the console.

    All this has realistically achieved is surely just annoying legitimate playstation owners and to top it off the people affected are the arguably more loyal fans who like myself bought there ps3 for the most money and had faith in this product from day 1 are the people who are losing out.

    PS3 slims and every single new ps3 sold does not have other OS anyway so where is the huge threat ?

    Yep that’s right, the threat is tiny and might never even develop into something that could enable piracy.

    Huge overreaction on sony`s part that I suspect will actually do nothing to stop any potential pirates from getting there way.

    Reply

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