Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Sony Sued Over PS3 "Other OS" Removal

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the they-deserve-worse dept.

Stoobalou writes "A Californian Playstation 3 user has filed the first class action lawsuit against Sony over removal of the 'Install Other OS' function from the Playstation 3. The action seeks to redress Sony's 'intentional disablement of the valuable functionalities originally advertised as available with the Sony Playstation 3 video game console.' The suit claims that the disablement breaches the sales contract between Sony and its customers and constitutes 'an unfair and deceptive business practice perpetrated on millions of unsuspecting customers.'"

9 of 546 comments (clear)

  1. File a complaint, don't just talk by sopssa · · Score: 5, Informative

    You should also file a complaint at your own national consumer agency. I asked the store I bought my PS3 from to restore the Other OS function or offer a refund on the product because the ability was stated in the box. In this case the seller is breaking the law if such stated features are later removed.

    They initially refused to offer a refund, so I filed a complaint to the consumer agency. It's important you try to talk with the seller first, and if both parties don't come into a good conclusion, then file a report. They contacted the seller, who then again contacted me and asked me to return the PS3 and they would give me a full refund.

    I'm sure stores will first try to say that they cannot offer a refund and it's up to Sony, but if law states they are liable, just take it a bit further and you will get a refund. It will teach Sony a lesson too.

    1. Re:File a complaint, don't just talk by commodore64_love · · Score: 3, Informative

      I love class-action lawsuits. I get lots of free money:

      - $25 from the U.S. versus RCA, Sony, et cetera
      - $75 from U.S. v. Paypal
      - ~$4000 from U.S. v. Equinox (of course I actually gave them $10,000 so that was a bit of a loss)

      And so on. I wonder what I'll get out of the PS3 class action deal?

      --
      "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
    2. Re:File a complaint, don't just talk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

      The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (http://www.accc.gov.au/) is great for smacking down organisations that try to rip off the consumer. Anyone can file a complaint with them about any corporation that is breaking the laws regarding competition, advertising, sales, customer relations, returns/exchanges/refund, etc, they will investigate and they will fine (can be quite large fines too) the company in question if the situation is not rectified (or the breach is big enough to warrant the fines even with a rectified situation).

      The only thing they have been soft on (but appear to be acting on now) is the pricing of petrol which tends to get more expensive on Thursday->Saturdays and during holidays/long weekends and go down on the rest of the time and the apparent price collusion between the big oil companies to help maintain profits and drive independent petrol stations out of business.

      You guys in the USA tend to reject any sort of government involvement in anything because you tend to only have regulations and laws which are biased towards the companies/corporations and give the consumers the short end of the stick. If you actually got some decent laws and regulations rather then the crap you get now, you probably wouldn't have caused a global recession.

    3. Re:File a complaint, don't just talk by tlhIngan · · Score: 5, Informative

      Even if it wasn't stated in the box, it was advertised that it did run Linux. Even people who doesn't need or care about this functionality should stay up to Sony on this. Next time they may remove a funcionality you do care about. Conceptually, it is the same thing as removing the capability of playing Bluray discs.

      Well, Sony certainly "advertises" it in their manual:

      http://www.playstation.com/ps3-openplatform/manual.html
      http://www.playstation.com/ps3-openplatform/index.html
      http://manuals.playstation.net/document/en/ps3/3_15/settings/osinstall.html

      Choice quote from the second link:

      There is more to the PLAYSTATION®3 (PS3(TM)) computer entertainment system than you may have assumed. In addition to playing games, watching movies, listening to music, and viewing photos, you can use the PS3(TM) system to run the Linux operating system.

      It may not be on the box, but it's certainly documented on Sony's own websites

  2. PDF of court document by zepo1a · · Score: 3, Informative

    here:
    http://ia331218.us.archive.org/2/items/gov.uscourts.cand.226894/gov.uscourts.cand.226894.1.0.pdf

  3. Re:Why not just ask for a $50 refund? by redscare2k4 · · Score: 3, Informative

    Sony officially stated they had not paid a penny of those $50 and that any similar issues are a matter between the final seller and the client and had nothing to do with them.

  4. Re:Having done the firmware upgrade... by ranulf · · Score: 4, Informative

    This law suite should fail. Not that I want to be on SONY's side but they were 100% clear in their intentions regarding the "other os" option from day one.

    You mean stating that the PS3 was an "open platform" and that "Other OS" and "Game OS" would always be able to coexist on the same PS3?

    They're even still publicising this fact here...

  5. Re:So what? by L4t3r4lu5 · · Score: 4, Informative

    Ladies and gentlemen, May I present to you a prime example of Motron's Fork

    The choice is slightly different, though. Here we have "Lose Other OS functionality" or "Lose ability to use PSN and play any new games which require the firmware upgrade (you can bet that they all do)."

    Regarding the modded down comment above about "hyperbole inherent in the freetard system" (nice butchery of Monty Python, cockfungus) My PC runs Linux, I game using WINE. A happy freetard is me!

    --
    Finally had enough. Come see us over at https://soylentnews.org/
  6. Re:Can't lose! by Homr+Zodyssey · · Score: 4, Informative

    Hello there, you silly English ka-niggot.

    tire
    late 15c., "iron rim of a carriage wheel," probably from tire "equipment, dress, covering" (c.1300), an aphetic form of attire. The notion is of the tire as the dressing of the wheel. The original spelling was tyre, which had shifted to tire in 17c.-18c., but since early 19c. tyre has been revived in Great Britain and become standard there. Rubber ones, for bicycles (later automobiles) are from 1870s.
    Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper

    So, in 17c-18c, when the Brits were populating America, the spelling was "Tire". We can't help it if you people decided to change your minds. We didn't.