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Sony Sneaks in “No Class Action” Clause to PSN Update
By Sarah Pierce
In case you haven’t heard yet, Sony Corp. (NASDAQ: SNE) added another mandatory update to its PlayStation Network that made some pretty interesting changes to its terms of service. Most people don’t take the time to read the lengthy terms of service before agreeing to them, which Sony is probably banking on, but we suggest you do this time.
Here’s what you need to know: Sony’s new terms of service removes PSN members’ right to file or be part of a class action lawsuit against Sony and its partners. All users must agree to the new terms in order to use the online service.
Sony’s new “no class action” clause is undoubtedly a reaction to the multiple class action lawsuits it was hit with this year when PSN’s security was breached by hackers, exposing the personal information of some 77 million users. Sony also faced a barrage of lawsuits and at least one class action lawsuit when they removed PS3’s Linux compatibility with a mandatory firmware update.
Making it impossible to opt out of future class action lawsuits can be hard to hold up in court, so Sony added another section to the PSN update, which will enable it to argue in court that it played fair and gave users the option to opt out of the class action waiver:
“If you do not wish to be bound by the binding arbitration and class action waiver…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.”
Even if you’ve already updated your network and agreed to the terms of service, you can still opt out of the class action waiver as long as you mail a letter stating that you do not want to take part in the arbitration agreement of the new PSN update within 30 days.
We suggest you do.
Updated September 23rd, 2011
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2 thoughts onSony Sneaks in “No Class Action” Clause to PSN Update
this whole thing is ridiculous. it should be illegal to even change the terms of service via this method. what if you own the account but your kids use the ps3 and login and click ok and you never even know the terms of service were updated. so now sony is getting out of a lawsuit because a bunch of minors clicked I agree to a contract that was not even directed to them nor were they of legal age to accept the terms. its absolute nonsense I cant believe the lawyers didn’t think of this defense. the whole lawsuit needs to be brought back with much bigger damages than before . sony has no way to prove that the account holder clicked ok I agree . delivering a legal contract via a video game system should be completely illegal and not recognized by any court. they might as well say by opening this box of cracker jacks you agree to our legally binding terms . hello lawyers ??? going to let sony win cuz a bunch of 6 year olds that cant read yet clicked ok I agree ?
Problem with the written letter opt out is its sent to a very specific address owned by sony. . sony then knows letters coming to this address most likely contain opt out and thus do not open a portion of the letters and disposing of them and then claiming that they never received said letter if a particular individual decides to enact their consumer protection rights of lawsuits. Since you had to agree to terms of use in advance they then can bind you to the new user agreement without your knowledge and behind your back.. This could have been avoided it they had added an opt out check box next to the I agree box and would be kept with the same file on their server.
because of this malicious practice I refuse to agree to the new terms since I have no way of knowing if sony even bothered to open the opt out letter sent to them.