Sony asks gamers to sign new terms or face PSN ban

• EndlessDreams wrote on 2011-09-17 05:04

  Quote from BBC News:

  
  The firm has amended PSN's terms and conditions and users have to agree to them next time they log in.
  
  The move comes months after a string of hacking attacks compromised over 100 million accounts of the PlayStation Network subscribers.
  
  It is, however, possible to opt out of the agreement within the next 30 days.
  
  Gamers will now have to try to resolve any legal issues with an arbitrator picked by Sony, before being able to file a lawsuit.
  
  The new clauses, dubbed "Binding Individual Arbitration," state that "any Dispute Resolution Proceedings, whether in arbitration or court, will be conducted only on an individual basis and not in a class or representative action or as a named or unnamed member in a class, consolidated, representative or private attorney general action".
  
  The re-written terms and conditions are being presented to gamers when they log in, but some have questioned who will notice the changes.
  
  Tech news site The Register wondered who would notice the small print outlining the opt-out terms, and not simply click the "agree" box having scrolled all the way down.
  
  Those that want to opt out will have to send a letter to Sony's Los Angeles headquarters in the US.
  
  Once they do, the subscribers will be able to keep their right to file a class action lawsuit without any need for arbitration.
  
  But before subscribers have a chance to opt out, they will still be required to agree to the new terms the next time they log into their accounts.
  
  Otherwise they will not be able to use the online services.
  Attacks and apology
  
  A class action lawsuit filed against Sony in April after the first attack, in which the details of 77 million users were stolen and PSN went offline for 40 days, could end up costing the Japanese electronics giant billions of dollars.
  
  Sony Online Entertainment, the company's computer games service, was also hit, as well as the Sony Pictures website, exposing personal information for 25 million more accounts.
  
  In addition, personal data of 2,000 consumers was stolen from a Sony Ericsson website in Canada and details of 8,500 users were leaked on a Sony Music Entertainment website in Greece.
  
  Some time later, a group called Lulz Security claimed to have broken into Sonypictures.com.
  
  Sony has since apologised over the security breaches and offered compensation packages.
  

  
  
  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-14948701
  
  Good thing I don't play PSN anymore. They are probably going to be hacked again in the near future.
• Taycat wrote on 2011-09-17 07:18
  If it gets me to playing my games, I'll sign anything....
  
  /naive and probably will be banned in the future for this.
• BobYoMeowMeow wrote on 2011-09-17 11:32
  the PS3 games the cat likes happens to be single player
  so the cat only needs PSN to buy and download PSX games or worthwhile DLC
  
  don't have to deal with the community
• Kingofrunes wrote on 2011-09-18 05:44
  Wow, Sony is worse than Nexon and Apple combined. Such a sneaky tactic.
• Chockeh wrote on 2011-09-22 17:09
  I suddenly don't want to buy a ps3 anymore o-o...
• Yoorah wrote on 2011-09-22 17:14
  Sony's just using sneaky tactics to try to protect themselves from class action lawsuits. If you're just a regular user, it shouldn't really affect you a whole lot.
• Cynic wrote on 2011-09-22 17:18
  lololol ps3.
  
  u jelly of us ecks bawks users?
• Zid wrote on 2011-09-23 07:33

  Quote from CNN:

  People don't typically pay attention to software agreements, but PlayStation owners may want to read a recent update to their digital contract.
  
  Last week Sony changed the terms-of-service document for its PlayStation Network, asking U.S. customers to forfeit their rights to file class-action lawsuits against the company and its partners. Customers can opt out by sending the company a letter in the mail.
  
  Sony's PlayStation Network, which allows subscribers to play games and watch movies online, was down for weeks last spring following a security breach that exposed personal details of 77 million users. Users immediately began filing class-action lawsuits.
  
  Sony said this week that the new terms-of-service changes were made, as some analysts suspected, in response to a Supreme Court decision in April. In that case, AT&T Mobility was permitted to include and enforce a clause in employment contracts that bars workers from bringing class-action suits.
  
  "The Supreme Court recently ruled in the AT&T case that language like this is enforceable," a spokeswoman for Sony's PlayStation unit wrote in an e-mail. "The updated language in the TOS is designed to benefit both the consumer and the company by ensuring that there is adequate time and procedures to resolve disputes."
  
  Like AT&T, Sony prefers to settle disputes outside of court through a process called arbitration.
  
  Arbiters are typically retired judges who fetch an hourly rate of $300 or more, a fee that's generally split between the two parties on top of any costs for hiring lawyers, said Jack Lerner, a director at the University of Southern California's Technology Law Clinic. That would deter anyone looking to correct unfair charges of a few dollars to an individual, which could amount to millions if the problem was widespread and settled as a class action in court, he said.
  
  Arbitration also does not involve a jury, which could include people more sympathetic to consumers than to corporations.
  
  The AT&T suit was first brought in 2006 by customers who complained of being charged $30 in state taxes for a cell phone that was advertised as free. The 5-4 Supreme Court vote came, ironically, on the same day in April that PlayStation customers began filing class-action lawsuits against Sony for losing their personal data to hackers.
  
  Sony added the new clause last week, apparently to protect itself against potential future widespread and costly blunders.
  
  Courts haven't been lenient in the past about enforcing software agreements, despite the reality that few people read them, Lerner said. This year's court ruling in the AT&T case likely won't be overturned anytime soon, unless Congress intervenes with changes to the law, he said.
  
  "That was an absolute travesty," Lerner said. "The implications for consumers (are) staggering."
  
  Sony's new user agreement describes how to opt out of the class-action waiver. Future class-action suits against Sony from PlayStation online account-holders would only include people who made the effort to send a written letter, lowering the ultimate costs to Sony.
  
  Including an option to dodge the waiver "was a savvy move by Sony because they didn't necessarily have to do it," Lerner said. The move should enable Sony to argue in court that it played fair, he said. Likely less than 1% of PlayStation users, of whom there are more than 77 million worldwide, would go through the process of opting out, he estimated.
  
  PlayStation Network users were alerted of the class-action changes in e-mails and in a note near the top of the agreement. Gamers are unable to play online or watch Internet video from services like Netflix until they agree to the contract update on their consoles.
  
  It takes 45 seconds, using a game controller, to scroll to the part of the document that describes the legal waiver. It takes a minute and a half to scroll through the entire document, and certainly much longer to actually read it.

  
  
  Source: http://edition.cnn.com/2011/09/21/tech/gaming-gadgets/sony-psn-terms/
  
  Basically, Sony added this clause because "AT&T can do it, so can we."