PSN User Agreement - Can't sue Sony

[Terranullis]

Did a thread search and couldn't find anything, so posting this here.

Ok the thread title is a bit off. You can sue as an individual.

PSN's New User Agreement Has Class Action Waiver

From IGN.com - http://au.ps3.ign.com/articles/119/1194580p1.html

"Today, Sony released a new Terms of Service Agreement for PlayStation Network. Dated September 15th and marked as Version 12, the Terms of Service contains a notable section that seems to completely absolve Sony from any future class-action lawsuits.

Section 15 of the Terms of Service, called Binding Individual Arbitration, states in part the following:

"Any dispute resolution proceedings, whether in arbitration or in 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, unless both you and the Sony entity 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."

Such a move by Sony has likely come out of a series of class action suits filed against the company in recent years. These include lawsuits over the PSN Security Breach from earlier this year, a lawsuit over Sony's removal of Linux from PS3… and, well, more lawsuits over the Linux removal.

The new Terms of Service, which covers not only the PlayStation Network but other Sony Entertainment Network Services, is full of revisions. Be sure to check out the full document for the entirety of the legalese."

[hakujinbakasama]

Doesn't Blizzard have something very similar to this with their agreement on WoW?

[Terranullis]

Doesn't Blizzard have something very similar to this with their agreement on WoW?

Glancing through it under the Dispute Resolution and Governing Law section it says you would have the right to sue in court and a jury trial. I'm not a legal expert so I'm not too sure.


EDIT: Section under it waives Class Action Law Suits and like the PSN you can only sue as an individual.

[Caiada]

That's.... pretty questionable. I don't know much legally about this though.

But apparently, this applies to JUST class action suits, which means individuals are still able to sue, making the thread title slightly inaccurate. Apparently, it's a pretty common thing, also?

[hakujinbakasama]

That's.... pretty questionable. I don't know much legally about this though.

But apparently, this applies to JUST class action suits, which means individuals are still able to sue, making the thread title slightly inaccurate. Apparently, it's a pretty common thing, also?

Well, I agree that the title is a bit off. On the other side of things the story is interesting if they are only NOW implementing these clauses. What is funny is that a class action suit is what is actually difficult for companies to fight.

[DaGhostDS]

So awesome, so your info get leaked and you cant do anything?
*/sarcasm* I like that and getting raped.. */sarcasm off*

[Sunseeker]

So awesome, so your info get leaked and you cant do anything?
*/sarcasm* I like that and getting raped.. */sarcasm off*

You can...if YOU start a suit regarding only YOUR information.

[Joshmaul]

I'd imagine there are a damned lot of people wanting to do that with Sony, considering how many security breaches they've had. That's...what, three in the last six months?

[xile]

You can...if YOU start a suit regarding only YOUR information.

^^ you can still sue them, just not under a class action lawsuit, which are infinitely more detremental for companies. and i'm relatively okay with that, i don't see the point in people being given millions for their information linked.

[DaGhostDS]

You can...if YOU start a suit regarding only YOUR information.

good luck winning that against a full set of Sony lawyer.
At least in group you had more chance of winning.

Not even talking about how much it will cost you..

[Sealbinder]

Those waivers do not have much legal standing on courts. They are intended to keep those who are easily persuaded from getting a lawyer. I deal with kind of issue all the time at work (I am in insurance and our insureds can still be sued even if they have that in their contracts).

[jedistump]

its the class-action lawsuit they would want to prevent. lawsuits are extremely expensive and most people wouldn't be willing to take on those costs individually unless the payout is big. class action suits get around the cost issue by including so many affected individuals that the payout >>> cost. also, class action suits are the ones that get publicity and actually have the power to force structural change. except if you are wal-mart......then you own the world.

edit-

yeah, there are so many tricks in law that a team of sony lawyers would put you in the ground before you even opened your mouth to file a lawsuit. it takes near ridiculous amounts of studying to even pass the Lsat let alone graduate with a degree in law. fighting a DUI with a $1500 lawyer is one thing. taking on a billion dollar company requires a bit more care.

[Deleted]

To the people saying that you can sue them just not via class action, try reading the EULA, not just the stuff IGN have posted.

Other than those matters listed in the Exclusions from Arbitration clause,
you and the Sony Entity that you have a Dispute with agree to seek resolution of the Dispute
only through arbitration of that Dispute in accordance with the terms of this Section 15, and not
litigate any Dispute in court. Arbitration means that the Dispute will be resolved by a neutral
arbitrator instead of in a court by a judge or jury.

[Tychus]

No matter the terms or linguistic gymnastics in a contract, no person or corporation can unilaterally exempt themselves from being named as a defendant in any suits brought against them. This does provide some protections, but it can easily be seen as an unreasonable/unfair contract term and tossed by a judge.

[PACOX]

I wouldn't blame Sony for this one, blame the courts for allowing it. As a large company Sony is naturally the target of people looking to sue for the smallest things (like the McDonalds coffee cup incident), the government opened a door for them so why not take it. However, Sony has once again failed in the PR department. They are the Kanye West of videos games, they are good at what they do but such at all of the politics making themselves look like assholes. Sometimes its not always the best to be first.

[tomathy]

You can't bypass the law with an EULA.
Plain and simple.

[jkfremin]

You can't bypass the law with an EULA.
Plain and simple.

The Supreme Court disagrees with you. Corporations are allowed to bypass class-action lawsuits with use of arbitration.

http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/10pdf/09-893.pdf

[Maruka]

the only people that really get paid off a class action lawsuit are the greedy lawyers anyways. they will hate this the most

[Capt Froggy]

California courts strike down these EULAs and TOS all the time.

[Aryl]

Everyone's gonna skip it and click accept anyway. Soo...