Class Action Lawsuit Filed Against Sony for PS3 3.21 Update

[tragedy]

Feature removal by Sony has 'Nothing' to do with security issues or preventing hacking... It's just one more non essential feature that Sony can remove from the system & make it a few $/ £ cheaper to manufacture in future.

This makes no sense. Current retail units didn't have other OS anyway. Removing it from existing fat PS3s doesn't make any difference to cost of manufacture.

[tragedy]

Sony refunding all PS3 owners for removing an advertised feature

If this is true, Sony will surely decide it's cheaper to reinstate otheros than pay 50% back, so I'm sure we'll see an appeal from them soon.

Either way, it's awesome.

[PS3 News]

Sony refunding all PS3 owners for removing an advertised feature

With the exception of a lack of appeals, it sounded slightly legit until I read this part LOL!

Sony will also be at handing out refunds at "E3", a large video-gaming event, to all registered PS3 owners. A new article will be posted very soon on how Sony will be handling this matter.

I have a feeling that law firm is going to lose their credibility soon for posting that, considering E3 being a private, ticketed event, etc.

[daGraveR]

It seems that particular posting is already gone. The latest 'news' posting on their site (at time of write) was posted on April 30 2010, being that of the PS3 Class Action itself.

[Onestep]

hopefully they will reinstate otherOS, as a forced payout to everyone will ensure we lose all free online gaming to take up for the loss of funds.

[PS3 News]

It seems that particular posting is already gone. The latest 'news' posting on their site (at time of write) was posted on April 30 2010, being that of the PS3 Class Action itself.

Indeed, after they received considerable traffic from leaving it up all day they finally claimed their site was "hacked" to display that message and have since removed it. Ahh well, at least we didn't fall for it.

[phoenixfire425]

I received this today from the Attorney. This is what it said:

You are receiving this email message because you previously contacted this or another law firm regarding the Sony PlayStation 3 "Other OS" litigation. In essence, the claims in these cases are that Sony Computer Entertainment of America (“Sony”) falsely represented that PS3 purchasers would be able to use their PS3s as a computer by installing another operating system, such as Linux. In a recent firmware update, Sony removed the ability of consumers to utilize this feature. As a result, seven class actions were filed against Sony in federal court in San Francisco, California.

We are pleased to announce that, at the request of all counsel, United States District Judge Richard Seeborg has consolidated all of the pending class actions against Sony relating to "Other OS" litigation into one action. As part of that consolidation, the attorneys in the consolidated actions agreed upon an organizational structure to prosecute this action against Sony as a united front.

At the request of all of the attorneys, Judge Seeborg ordered that three law firms with offices in San Francisco where the litigation is pending will serve as co-lead counsel (Calvo & Clark, LLP; Finkelstein Thompson, LLP; and Hausfeld, LLP). We are also pleased to announce that Meiselman, Denlea, Packman, Carton & Eberz P.C. has been appointed by the various plaintiffs' law firms as the firm responsible for acting as a liaison with you and other potential class members.

Please don't hesitate to contact us with any inquiries you may have concerning the litigation, and we will periodically update you as developments warrant. If you no longer desire to receive updates, please let us know and we will remove you from our database.

The next step in the litigation is to file a Consolidated Class Action Complaint, which we anticipate filing by the end of the month. Sony will then respond to the Complaint, and we will return to the Court in September to discuss the next steps of the litigation.

Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions or concerns. In the meantime, if you have documents related to your PS3 purchase (receipts, boxes, etc.) please retain them.

[OGroteKoning]

I got this mail on 19 July 2010... use the contact details if you like:

Thank you for contacting us about the Sony PS3 class action lawsuit. Our complaint requests that the Court allow us to proceed on behalf of everyone in the United States who purchased a PS3 between November 17, 2006 and March 27, 2010. Unfortunately, U.S. courts do not have jurisdiction to resolve claims brought by PS3 owners outside the United States, and we are not licensed to practice law in your country. I suggest that you contact an attorney in your local area, and we would be more than happy to provide that attorney with whatever background information might be helpful.

Danielle A. Burke, Paralegal
Meiselman, Denlea, Packman, Carton & Eberz P.C.
1311 Mamaroneck Avenue
White Plains, NY 10605
Direct: (914) 517-5058
Telephone: (914)517-5000 Ext. 258
Fax: (914) 517-5055

[phoenixfire425]

Here is something that should Def help this process along. This article is about the iPhone, but this could also be applied to the PS3 and any others.

Owners of the iPhone will be able to legally break electronic locks on their devices in order to download software applications that haven't been approved by Apple Inc., according to new government rules announced Monday.

The decision to allow the practice commonly known as "jailbreaking" is one of a handful of new exemptions from a 1998 federal law that prohibits people from bypassing technical measures that companies put on their products to prevent unauthorized uses.

The Library of Congress, which oversees the Copyright Office, reviews and authorizes exemptions every three years to ensure that the law does not prevent certain non-infringing use of copyright-protected material.

In addition to jailbreaking, other exemptions announced Monday would:

- allow owners of used cell phones to break access controls on their phones in order to switch wireless carriers.

- allow people to break technical protections on video games to investigate or correct security flaws.

- allow college professors, film students and documentary filmmakers to break copy-protection measures on DVDs so they can embed clips for educational purposes, criticism, commentary and noncommercial videos.

- allow computer owners to bypass the need for external security devices called dongles if the dongle no longer works and cannot be replaced.

http://modmyi.com/forums/iphone-news/720718-jailbreaking-unlocking-iphones-now-officially-legal-us.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/26/AR2010072602813.html

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory?id=11251725

[PSPSwampy]

Is anyone in the UK is currently seeking legal advise on this issue?

Just wondering because i might join in - i haven't updated my PS3 yet because i want to keep Linux, but it's annoying that they won't let me on-line anymore - so i'm thinking i might join in the fight!

cheers,
PSPSwampy.