PlayStation 3 Phat owners have a month left to claim 'OtherOS' class action settlement
The settlement was reached in October 2016, and originally PS3 owners were told to expect up to $55. That's increased to $65 now, possibly because fewer claims than expected were submitted in the 18 months since.
This resolves, legally anyway, the removal of the so-called "OtherOS" feature from the PS3's operating system eight years ago. That feature allowed users to partition their PS3's hard drive and install Linux on it. You may remember that, before then, the console was pitched and even used as a computer, including by the Air Force (which created a supercomputer cluster out of more than 1,700 of the consoles) and in distributed computing applications such as Folding@home and SETI@home.
But in April 2010, Sony stripped out the OtherOS feature, citing security concerns, which pissed off a small but very vocal contingent of PS3 users. That led to the lawsuit, which alleged false advertising, breach of warranty and etc. Sony admits no wrongdoing, which is customary in civil settlements.
"Phat" refers to the original console, which weighed approximately 5 kg and measured 325 mm (W) × 98 mm (H) × 274 mm (D).
Also at BetaNews.
Related Stories
I received my PS3 "OtherOS" class action lawsuit settlement payment yesterday: $10.07.
Have other members received settlements yet? More, less, or the same amount?
[We previously covered this in PlayStation 3 "OtherOS" Class Action Settlement Claims End on April 15 . Whatever happened to the $65 settlement that was mentioned there? --Ed.]
(Score: 2) by cocaine overdose on Wednesday March 21 2018, @06:30PM
Is beta news a real site?
(Score: 4, Interesting) by JoeMerchant on Wednesday March 21 2018, @06:49PM
Last time I read about this the requirements for proof were much higher and I skipped it.
We bought a PS3 phat in 2008, I put quite a bit of effort into getting OtherOS functional on it - had a cron job that downloaded beach scene webcam images and put them up on the living room TV as wallpaper. Wasn't good for much else, but... we really did miss that webcam trick when they shut down the OtherOS functionality.
Then the phat got the YLOD, RIP.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 21 2018, @07:02PM (1 child)
No, really. Fuck Sony and their security breaches, rootkits, key feature removals, and all other fiascoes. They're the Microsoft of hardware.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 21 2018, @08:44PM
Not to mention the fact that they removed support for the PS2 games between the fat and slim models, and failed to make note on the packaging.
I'll never buy anything from them ever again because of all the cuntery.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 21 2018, @07:41PM
"We didn't do anything wrong. This is ransom money we're being forced to pay to make you fucking people go away. You should be HONORED to have been scammed by us, you ungrateful bunch of poor trash. Now go be ungrateful poor trash somewhere else. While you're at it, make sure you stay away from the moronic suckers that keep buying shit from us. We don't need you tainting them with your experience and your unwashed hippie ideals of not being scammed by the likes of us."
(Score: 2) by HiThere on Thursday March 22 2018, @01:49AM
This is one of the cases that proved to me that it's possible to buy the court decision you want.
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 22 2018, @08:34AM
Wait, you guys don't get your money back, when it turns out that the product doesn't work as advertised?
You really need to do something about the lack of consumer protection over there.