OtherOS Lawsuits Still Going Ahead

Maxconsole is reporting that the various lawsuits aimed at Sony after they removed the option to keep a Linux installation on your PS3 if you chose to upgrade your firmware have been combined into one mega-sized super-powered Ãœber lawsuit.

“They have all now been filed into one consolidated class action complaint and a co-lead counsel will be taking over things in the US,” says the site.

“So the sequence of events will go as follows – the consolidated action will be filed by the end of the month, Sony will respond to the complaint and things will return to court in September to see what happens next.”

The case claims that Sony “falsely represented that PS3 purchasers would be able to use their PS3s as a computer by installing another operating system, such as Linux” and says that in a recent firmware update, the company “removed the ability of consumers to utilize this feature.”

Some onlookers are happy to see this whole thing is still going ahead.

38 Comments

  1. I think it’s good and Sony should be made to answer for this. Even if they are totally able to justify it down to the fine details, it’s always good to show big companies that they can’t throw their weight around without customers questioning it.

  2. GOOD! I hope they win as well! Sony should of just patched the hole, and not went into a blind panic and removed the feature!

    I hope it send a message that consumers don’t have to put up with this sort of crap

    • I hope it doesn’t win for the pure reason that class action lawsuits can spiral into hideous figures which would affect Sony. If it’s sensible, then fine. Lesson learnt, hopefully.

      • Unless Sony lose, the lesson wont be learnt. If anything, if the case loses, it’ll show Sony (and any other corp) that altering the specs of a product after its been paid for is okay.

      • Lesson learned and probably will be remembered if any other company tries this move

    • it wasnt removed though…..
      unless you accepted the agreement, you can still use linux.
      its not against the law for a software update to have an agreement or a company to close down a free service (PSN)
      this should be a walk in the park for sony.

      • That’s a poor argument though. By not updating to the firmware which removed OtherOS you were denying yourself access to pretty much ANY online feature since you couldn’t log into the PSN without it. Either way you were losing a feature. Simple as that.

      • such a weak argument… sure, it wasn’t removed… barring the fact I could no longer effectively play online, shop online, effectively, use psn, so my use of psn was taken away if I choose to keep linux. If I did not update, I was losing access to other features that my console was intended for when I purchased it, either way, I lost out through this.

      • actually i agree with fps_d0minat0r on this one, you could still use your linux and your ps3 in the same way without the upgrade.

        the issue became that you were in breech of the PSN terms and conditions which required the latest firmware, by accepting the terms and conditions and installing that firmware you agree to the removal of the linux system. and they gave extra message prompts on that.

        from a legal standpoint it should be easy for SONY, all they did was block users from a breech of network services terms and conditions. anyone who accepted the update and claims i didnt know it would happen will simply be laughed out of court and told you should have read the terms and conditions of the update and noticed the extra prompt.

        im with sony on this one

      • That isn’t the point though, that isn’t the argument that it wasnt known that it was going to happen. either way, the product that was paid for with this and this feature set, has been compromised whichever way u use semantics. You are saying things which no one here said, at all. Which I’ve found quite a lot with this issue.

        The issue here is that sony through cutting off access to the psn, forced users to give up their other os, a paid and advertised feature, which was an out of box feature. It isnt a free service offered from sony that they said they could pull the plug on at anytime down the track like server support for a game, this was a feature that was included in the package of the console out of box and ready to go without any new support from sony. This should be fought, win or lose, sony cant set this precedent for companies.

    • It’s interesting because Geohot never managed to make anything out of it anyway, and actually ended up retiring or moving on to other pursuits.

      This whole debacle could have maybe never happened at all. :o

      • exactly. all seems far to rushed a decision IMO. Sony should of looked into it fully

  3. I hope Sony win…

    Its the cockheads that try to hack the system that ruin for all you Mod Enthusiasts…not Sony!

    • Mod enthusiasts… Get off your high horse. Linux was a aboveboard feature given to us out of box. Sony overreacted, yes the hackers are dicks, but it’s sonys responsibility both to offer us the features we paid for when we purchased their product out of box aswell as security.

      Geohot and Sony can both go jump in my opinion. They need to learn a lesson here, if Sony wins, it will set a dangerous precedent for other companies. I REALLY dont want that to happen.

    • Sony aren’t an innocent party in all of this. At the moment it looks a lot like they took an easy option to block the hackers on the justification that those that would be really bothered are too small a minority to worry about.
      That may not be the case but it’s important to force Sony to explain themselves in order to find out.

  4. I also think it’s a good thing.

  5. While it’s perfectly fine to be upset about the removal of a feature, I think making it into a lawsuit is one step too far. Although I guess the fact I never used the OtherOS feature means I have always been apathetic to this whole situation.

    • But ‘being upset’ doesn’t achieve anything. I don’t know if a class action suit is the right action but I agree with doing something to say to Sony that they can’t just get away with anything they want is important.
      We need to find a balance between English moaning-but-doing-nothing, French rioting and American suing-everything.

    • this quote is one of my own, i’m hoping it’ll catch on.
      “apathy is a poor catalyst for change”
      catchy huh? :)
      whether or not i agree with their point, and in this instance i think i do, they should be allowed to make a legal challenge if they think their rights have been denied them.
      by rights i mean having access to a feature they were promised and paid for when they bought the console.

    • I think it’s not a step too far. I think the courts is the perfect place for this to be fought. What sony has done sets a extremely dangerous precedent, that other companies if they can, will follow.

  6. Hate this bullshit lawsuit culture, so I’m backing Sony.

    • Just hating on lawsuits is pretty irrational, there is a very dangerous precedent put into place here by Sony, which should be fought in the courts. Companies should not have the right to take away out of box features. There is merit in this case, it’s not litigation gone crazy.

    • I had this hating lawsuits opinion until recently too when I stepped off the bus, down a massive hole in the road and fucked my ankle up big time. I’m suing the council for not maintaining the road, especially at a bus stop. Sounds dumb, but do you really look where your foot is landing when you step off the bus? No, you just assume when you’re stepping onto the road that it’s going to be solid ground, not a huge pot hole. Sometimes suing works, if you couldn’t take people to court for doing wrong, then people would be doing wrong left, right and centre, and there would be no stopping them.

      • So by your own admission you weren’t paying attention to your surroundings in an area that isn’t guaranteed to be maintained to any particular minimum standard. Good luck :P

      • Nah roads have a minimum standard that must be maintained otherwise the council have negligent.

  7. Man those 3 people that used OtherOS sure are being difficult! I wonder how much they are sueing for, surely they are only entitled to a refund really, I doubt they suffered much emotional damage from the loss.

    • yeah… 3 people… It was used as my 2nd computer, I used it for uni while my gf used the laptop for her work so we could both do uni at the sametime. my other housemate accidentally updated it. I lost assignments. Linux was actually pretty important for some ppl dickhead.

    • While the loss of your work does suck, that was a bit of an overraction to what was clearly a comment made in jest. I’m sure more than 3 people used Linux, if we add you then that makes 4! Joking. Seriously, while I am sorry for your loss, I bet the majority people who used Linux for work would use a computer, not the PS3.

  8. The class action should be against GeoHot.

    • Geohot can’t give back Linux. Sony are in the wrong aswell as Geohot here.

    • Why should it be against him? All he did was unveil the flaws in the PS3 infrastructure that made it hackable. Sony are the liable ones here for taking a far-too-knee-jerky reaction. They should have found a way to plug the hole rather than just rip out the feature all together.

    • Being able to sue people who have made a modification to something they have bought is a pretty dangerous precedent in itself.. I don’t agree with the idea that because a purchased product is a computer system, we don’t actually seem to own it. It doesn’t apply to anything other type of product, be it a book or a car, so why should it apply to technology? If I modified my cars engine so that it used less fuel, should I expect Honda to sue me for it?
      .
      Personally, I think Sony should’ve just hired him to fix the problem. Much better to have him working for you, than against you..

      • Actually it is the same with all creative media, when you buy a CD, you don’t own the music on the disk, you’ve just purchased the right to listen to it. Hence why copying it is illegal.

        It is not illegal to modify a PS3 or any other piece of technology hardware you own, regardless of what is stated in the manual. It is usually against the license agreement, which fortunately doesn’t hold water in most sane courts.

    • Hehehe! *evil laugh* I only said it as a joke but enjoyed the attention. *throws Celebrations out to audience* Yay!

  9. I think sony should sue Geohot for breaching sonys hardware and speaking of OS Removal sony did make the right choice to remove the other os for secuirity purpose , then again they should make an update for those who want Other Os on there system just to say sorry to users who use linux. i aint picking on anyone but geohot shouldnt hack the ps3 system in the 1st place. since he hacked the system , sony removed the feature from the ps3 then ps3 users decides to blame it on sony. which geohot should get blamed for an since geohot failed to create cfw the ps3 is still un-hacked.

    anyways its just my oppinion.

    for the haters who h8 sony & wants linux soo much. maan buy a pc simple as that.

    Peace !

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