Sony Prevents Lawsuits Now and in the Future - The UpStream

Sony Prevents Lawsuits Now and in the Future

posted Sunday Sep 18, 2011 by Scott Ertz

Sony Prevents Lawsuits Now and in the Future

Microsoft's not the only ones working on updates to their service, but they do seem to be the only ones working to improve it. Sony, instead of working on improving the quality of the PSN or making Home relevant have been working very hard to update their terms of service. As with any ToS change for any system, you must agree to the new terms before you are allowed to continue using the system.

Most of the time this is just fine, but occasionally a company will add a clause that is against the user. Most recently there was a lot of outrage over DropBox changing their ToS to say that anything you upload to their service becomes their property. While most people seemed to be offended by a change like that, Sony seems to have been inspired. This week introduced a ToS change to the PSN that essentially states you cannot join a class action lawsuit against Sony.

To read the exact text and find out how it affects you, hit the break.

This is clearly a reaction to the probable litigation coming down the line from the PSN data breach. Since Sony knows that there is little to no chance that their insurance will cover any losses, so they are preempting the decision to join the suit by making you say you won't. That is, if you want to continue using your PlayStation.

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 LEGAL ACTION, UNLESS BOTH YOU AND THE SONY ENTITY WITH WHICH YOU HAVE A DISPUTE SPECIFICALLY AGREE TO DO SO IN WRITING FOLLOWING INITIATION OF THE ARBITRATION. THIS PROVISION DOES NOT PRECLUDE YOUR PARTICIPATION AS A MEMBER IN A CLASS ACTION FILED ON OR BEFORE AUGUST 20, 2011.

The good news is that you can opt out of this binding arbitration clause. The bad news is it requires some work on your part. This is Sony hoping that most people will not take the time to do it.

IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO BE BOUND BY THE BINDING ARBITRATION AND CLASS ACTION WAIVER IN THIS SECTION 15, YOU MUST NOTIFY SNEI IN WRITING WITHIN 30 DAYS OF THE DATE THAT YOU ACCEPT THIS AGREEMENT. YOUR WRITTEN NOTIFICATION MUST BE MAILED TO 6080 CENTER DRIVE, 10TH FLOOR, LOS ANGELES, CA 90045, ATTN: LEGAL DEPARTMENT/ARBITRATION AND MUST INCLUDE: (1) YOUR NAME, (2) YOUR ADDRESS, (3) YOUR PSN ACCOUNT NUMBER, IF YOU HAVE ONE, AND (4) A CLEAR STATEMENT THAT YOU DO NOT WISH TO RESOLVE DISPUTES WITH ANY SONY ENTITY THROUGH ARBITRATION.

So, for all you PS3 owners out there: are you going to opt-in, opt-out or dump the platform all together? Let us know in the comments section below.

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