Preliminary Approval Given for $15M in PlayStation Data Breach Lawsuit

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A Sony Corp. data breach class action lawsuit settlement was given preliminary approval by a California federal judge on Thursday totaling $15 million to be reimbursed to PlayStation Network customers, who had accounts breached in 2011.

“The Settlement Class is defined as: [A]ll Persons residing in the United States who had a PlayStation Network account or sub-account, a Qriocity account, or a Sony Online Entertainment account at any time prior to May 15, 2011,” according to the preliminary approval granted by U.S. District Judge Anthony Battaglia.

“Excluded from the definition of Settlement Class are the Sony Entities and their officers and directors, and those Persons who timely and validly request exclusion from the Settlement Class,” he added.

It was on May 15, 2011 that it was made public that Sony’s PlayStation Network accounts had been breached by hackers affecting 31 million customers.

In June, Sony agreed to the $15 million settlement amount that will be given to PlayStation customers in games, online currency and identity theft reimbursement that Sony customers lost in the massive data breach.

Judge Battaglia described “the Settlement Agreement as fair, reasonable, and adequate.”

A final fairness hearing is scheduled for May 1, 2015 at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California in San Diego. A status conference will be held via telephone on Nov. 7.

“The final fairness hearing will determine whether the Settlement set forth in the Settlement Agreement is fair, reasonable, adequate and in the best interests of the Settlement Class; whether a Judgment, as provided in the Settlement Agreement, should be entered granting final approval of the Settlement; and whether, and in what amount, attorneys’ fees and expenses should be awarded to Co-Lead Settlement Class Counsel,” the judge explained.

Sony learned in April 2011 that hackers broke through its computer network and stole customer information from the PlayStation Network and Qriocity database. The hackers stole credit card and debit card information belonging to 31 million users.

Sony made an announcement a week later to the public that the PlayStation Network data breach had occurred and that there “may have been a financial impact on our loyal customers.”

Several class action lawsuits were filed by PlayStation Network members as a result, alleging that Sony violated its terms of service because the company failed to protect its customers’ personal information from theft.

The lawsuits were combined into a multidistrict litigation (MDL) or mass tort in August 2011.

Judge Battaglia dismissed several of the PlayStation Network class action lawsuits filed against Sony in October 2012 because in some of the lawsuits “none of the named plaintiffs subscribed to premium PSN services, and thus received the PSN services free of cost.”

In January, the judge dismissed 43 of the 51 charges against Sony over the data breach such as the allegations of negligence, negligent misrepresentation, breach of contract, and unjust enrichment.

He also dismissed violations of consumer protection laws alleged in the Sony PlayStation Network data breach class action lawsuits in five out of nine of the states alleged, keeping the consumer protection allegations in California, Florida, Michigan, and New Hampshire.

The plaintiffs are represented by Ben Barnow of Barnow and Associates PC, Paul J. Geller of Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP, David A. McKay of the Law Offices of David A. McKay LLC, Adam J. Levitt of Grant & Eisenhofer PA, Brian R. Strange of Strange & Carpenter, Timothy G. Blood of Blood Hurst & O’Reardon LLP and Gayle M. Blatt of Casey Gerry Schenk Franca Villa Blatt & Penfield LLP, who were all appointed as co-lead settlement class counsel in Thursday’s order.

The defendant is represented by Harvey J. Wolkoff and Mark P. Szpak of  Ropes & Gray LLP and William S. Boggs and Amanda C. Fitzsimmons of DLA Piper.

The Sony PlayStation Data Breach Class Action Lawsuit is In re: Sony Gaming Networks and Customer Data Security Breach Litigation, Case No. 3:11-md-02258, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.

UPDATE: Instructions on how to file a claim for the PlayStation Network data breach class action settlement are now available! Click here or visit www.PsnSoeSettlement.com for details.