A class action lawsuit against Sony from 2010 has finally reached its conclusion with the console maker agreeing to compensate around 10 million PlayStation 3 owners. At the crux of the lawsuit was a patch that removed support of additional operating systems on the PS3; which is what some buyers said motivated them to pick it up in the first place.
Early models of the PS3 allowed users into install other operating systems on top of Sony’s own OS. This prompted many users to buy it and install Linux to run their games instead. Software update 3.21, which was released around the same time as the PS3 slim version, removed this function – preventing many users from using their Linux installs.
This prompted a class action lawsuit that has taken six years to come to an end; although the agreement has not yet received approval from a judge. Under the terms, Sony will pay $55 (about RM200) to everyone who was using Linux on the PS3 before the function was removed. An additional $9 (about RM36) will be paid to those who bought the PS3 based on the “Other OS” functionality. Sony has also agreed to pay the lawyer’s fees of $2.25 million (about RM9 million).
Of course, only those living in the US are able to claim their part of the damages; and will have to testify under oath that they were using Linux on the PS3; and that the “Other OS” function was what influenced them to buy the console. Evidence of using a different OS will also have to be produced to satisfy the courts.
[Source: Ars Technica]
