Sony asks gamers to waive rights

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Borrowed from ACG.com:

BBC - Full Article

Sony asks gamers to sign new terms or face PSN ban

Sony is preparing to ban gamers from the PlayStation Network (PSN) unless they waive the right to collectively sue it over future security breaches.

The firm has amended PSN's terms and conditions and users have to agree to them next time they log in.

The move comes months after a string of hacking attacks compromised over 100 million accounts of the PlayStation Network subscribers.

It is, however, possible to opt out of the agreement within the next 30 days.

Gamers will now have to try to resolve any legal issues with an arbitrator picked by Sony, before being able to file a lawsuit.

The new clauses, dubbed "Binding Individual Arbitration," state that "any Dispute Resolution Proceedings, whether in arbitration or 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".

So, seems my decision to stick with X-Box Live is still paying off.

[JimC]

Thank Darwin I decided for forgoe this "computer game" stuff, and stick to playing with my dollies...

[Callan]

So they're systematising the game...?

[Gawdzilla Sama]

So they're systematising the game...?

No, you just think it's that way because you're being unfair.

[Calilasseia]

Ah, Sony up to its usual tricks again. Quelle surprise.

These were the wankers who, in the past, brought us such delights as "digital rights management" code on music CDS, that in effect constituted a virus, and hacked Windows with a rootkit. Not only that, but it had some, shall we say, interesting effects, when the CD was played on a non-Sony in-car CD player or hi-fi CD player. See for further reference:

[1] BBC news article on this

[2] Wired news article

In the process of doing this, namely putting so-called "DRM" software on their music CDs, purportedly to "prevent piracy" (what a fucking joke), they gave people the perfect excuse to pirate music - "why should I pay money for CDs that infect my computer with viruses?" Talk about shooting both feet off with a fucking howitzer.

But then, Sony, instead of engaging some brain cells on this matter, went into full-bore corporate fucktard mode. In the process, they fucked all over World of Warcraft.

[3] Read all about the WoW fuck-up here.

As a result of going into total corporate fucktard mode, Sony then faced criminal charges.

[4] Italian police launch criminal investigation into Sony rootkit.

But it gets better. Sony were then sued in class actions for their corporate fuckwittery.

[5] Read all about the class actions here.

Then, Microsoft listed their DRM software as malware in a security update.

[6] How Sony managed to make Microsoft look like victims.

But then Sony's plans ultimately consisted of "Let's treat the suckers music buying public as endless cash cows to be milked at leisure, in order to fuel the wet dreams of the Board executives of retiring to a 200 foot gin palace cum knocking shop in Monte Carlo".

[7] Nice article revealing the REAL reasons for so-called "digital rights management", namely, screwing you.

[8] Another article covering much the same ground.

Then, it got serious. Because when Sony went into total corporate fucktard mode, namely "it's not our fault, we're a multi-billion dollar corporation and we can do what the fuck we want, suck on it pleb", they apparently didn't realise that people would play these CDs on computers at work in their lunchtimes. Consequently, other corporate networks were fucked up by the rootkit malware. Including some military networks.

[9] Read all about that here.

Oh by the way, since I'm running out of links, I'll have to let you find out more about this fiasco via Google search, but, you're going to love this. Sony not only loaded their music CDs with malware in the name of "copyright protection", malware which ultimately left some US military networks vulnerable to hacking attacks, but when the code was analysed, it turned out they'd taken some open source code, embedded it in their software, and violated the terms of the Creative Commons licence attached thereto. A case of "do as I say, not as I do" on an epic scale.

Indeed, most of the whingeing and bleating over copyright, digital rights management and so forth isn't about piracy. This is a complete red herring. There already exist laws to deal with pirates. "Plugging the holes" isn't about catching pirates, it's about blowing away fair use so that the big record industry conglomerates can milk you as a limitless cash cow every time you move a piece of content from point A to point B - including content you've already paid for.

Here's something I posted elsewhere when this affair blew up, in response to another poster.

Correction. Sony's gross incompetence wins again.

Let's get something straight here. You're a user who just wants to get things done. Ideally with as few spanners thrown in the works as possible. Which is why software companies spend lots and lots of money developing software, in order to give you that where possible (I'll leave aside the festering heap of donkey droppings that is Windows in its many incarnations for another rant thread). Sony, on the other hand, is a multi-billion dollar corporation whose job is supposed to be to provide you, the customer, with as hassle-free an entertainment experience as possible. Which here, they have failed to do, and moreover they have futzed your computer to the point where you may have to back up all your valuable data, then reinstall Windows from scratch along with all your applications, in order to return your computer to the happy state it was in prior to Sony's unwanted, potentially criminal and certainly GROSSLY FUCKED UP intervention. All because they decided that they, as a multi-billion dollar corporation, had some kind of divine right to treat you and the millions of other hard-pressed music purchasers around the world as limitless cash cows to be milked whenever the fancy takes them. Never mind that you've already paid £20 for a CD which cost them the obscenely painful sum of 3p to make (oh, how that must hurt their precious bottom line, actually having to pay people in order to get their products made! Don't you feel so sorry for them? Ah, diddums ...). No, this isn't enough for them. They have apparently decided that despite your already having paid £20 for a CD, you should not be allowed to transfer that content, which you have already bought and paid for (and, which in the world of other consumer goods, is the limit of your responsibility to the manufacturer), without either paying yet more of your hard earned wonga up front or facing massive inconvenience.

What Sony wants (along with quite a few other bloated corporate edifices) is a world in which you, the sucker (sorry, consumer) pays through the nose over and over again for the same content, including content you've already bought. They want you to be forced to pay for re-licensing of your CDs every so often, so that having shelled out a fortune for your CDs, they only remain playable for a limited time, whereupon you have to hand over another cheque in order to make them playable again. If you want to have a second copy for the car CD player, they want you to pay full whack for a second copy despite the fact that you are not getting anything extra for this. And again, once technology makes it possible, your second copy will also have a limited lifetime (and an expensive relicensing fee attached to it). The world-view of these people is (to quote one of the articles I linked) a fascist fantasy in which you hand over, on demand, money for content you have already previously paid for, and a fantasy in which they can do everything short of sending in thugs with knuckledusters to extort the money out of you. Oh, sorry, they also want to abrogate to themselves that little perk too - after all, they're a multi-billion dollar corporation that needs protecting from consumers like you, who dare to deny them their divine right to plunder your wallet as and when they feel like. And if this is sounding like a huge rant, then yes, it IS a huge rant, but one that matches observed reality to a frightening degree.

The only incompetent thing you did, was expect Sony to behave (to borrow a quote from someone else - think it was Ben Elton, even though I'm not normally a fan of his) in a manner different from a stray dog shitting on a croquet lawn. Assume the worst and you won't be disappointed.

Oh, Sony has also been caught with its trousers down in actual criminal activities. Such as bribing disc jockeys on US radio stations to play Sony BMG titles preferentially over the opposition (the company was fined $10 million over that one). it's also been caught napping making up fake movie critics in order to push Sony BMG backed movies up the movie charts (Sony BMG was fined $1.5 million for that little scam). Plus, with respect to the music "digital rights" fiasco, Sony BMG also wanted to bully Apple into handing over its iPod DRM system free and gratis to them, instead of paying for a licence and handing over royalties.

Basically, if you need a crash course on the subject of "why giant multinational corporations suck donkey balls big time", just check out Sony BMG's history of malfeasance, and be thankful that they're not an energy supplier or a petrochemicals company, otherwise they've have poisoned the whole fucking planet 40 times over by now.

[Schneibster]

That is some nasty shit. Thanks for the links and pretty thorough rundown, Cali.

[Animavore]

Mah. I'm still enjoying Battlefield 3 regardless of whether Sony (and EA for that matter) are corporate scum

[Schneibster]

I use VAIOs.

Imagine the fun I've had.

[Animavore]

Ooh. Nasty. I use Toshiba. Never had a problem. I'd be reluctant to try something else.

[Schneibster]

I know where all the warts hide on these ones. If I switched I'd have to find all the new ones.

Besides, finding device drivers for all their weird Sony hardware shit keeps me occupied and out of trouble.

[fretmeister]

Just saw this (I know!)

Not convinced it would work in the UK - both because of the Unfair Conract Terms and Conditions Act and because in the UK the Court can order claimants to join together under a Group Litigation Order.

[MiM]

Just saw this (I know!)

Not convinced it would work in the UK - both because of the Unfair Conract Terms and Conditions Act and because in the UK the Court can order claimants to join together under a Group Litigation Order.

Luckily most civilized countries have laws, that make this kind of agreements moot.

[Ronja]

Thank goodness we had not bought anything made or marketed by Sony before the rootkit debacle - now we can with good conscience not buy anything by Sony for the *next* 10-15 years.

And most likely they will do something equally asinine within that time frame, and end up on our boycott list again. Bloody eedjuts!



And agreed on the "most civilized countries have laws, that make this kind of agreements moot" bit - IMO Sony is trying to gain from (young) players' ignorance of the law, which makes their attempt doubly despicable.