SoylentNews

PS3 Other OS Settlement Check Delivered

posted by martyb on Friday November 16 2018, @08:44AM   
from the Shriveled-fruits-of-the-legal-system dept.

JoeMerchant writes:

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.]

---

Original Submission

• To the editor wondering about the $65... To the editor wondering about the $65... (Score: 3, Informative) by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us on Friday November 16 2018, @03:14PM (2 children)

  by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us (6553) on Friday November 16 2018, @03:14PM (#762711) Journal

  This was before the settlement was approved, but certainly reveals the logic of the settlement....

  Sony and lawyers representing as many as 10 million console owners reached the deal on Friday. Under the terms of the accord, (PDF) which has not been approved by a California federal judge yet, gamers are eligible to receive $55 if they used Linux on the console. The proposed settlement, which will be vetted by a judge next month, also provides $9 to each console owner that bought a PS3 based on Sony's claims about "Other OS" functionality.
  …
  The deal also provides up to $2.25 million in attorneys' fees for the lawyers who brought suit. Under the plan, gamers eligible for a cash payment are "all persons in the United States who purchased a Fat PS3 model in the United States between November 1, 2006, and April 1, 2010." The accord did not say how much it would cost Sony, but the entertainment company is expected to pay out millions.

  The troubles began with the PS3 software update 3.21. On March 28, 2010, Sony announced that the update would "disable the 'Install Other OS' feature that was available on the PS3 systems prior to the current slimmer models." This feature, Sony claimed, would be removed "due to security concerns."

  Sony did not detail those "concerns," but the litigation alleged piracy was behind the decision. "Sony's concerned that the Other OS feature might be used by hackers to copy and/or steal gaming and other content, the suit said." Making matters worse, Sony said the update was voluntary. However, without updating, console owners couldn't connect to the PlayStation Network, play any games online, play any games or Blu-ray movies that required the new firmware, play any files kept on a media server, or download any future updates.

  Before the settlement, Sony argued that its terms of service allowed it to remove the Other OS feature and that the functionality wasn't that big of a deal for most console owners.

  While the deal still needs a judge's signature, here's what the settlement says about how gamers can get their cash:

  To get the $55, a gamer "must attest under oath to their purchase of the product and installation of Linux, provide proof of their purchase or serial number and PlayStation Network Sign-in ID, and submit some proof of their use of the Other OS functionality." To get the $9, PS3 owners must submit a claim that, at the time they bought their console, they "knew about the Other OS, relied upon the Other OS functionality, and intended to use the Other OS functionality."

  Alternatively, according to the deal, to get $9, a gamer "may attest that he or she lost value and/or desired functionality or was otherwise injured as a consequence of Firmware Update 3.21 issued on April 1, 2010."

  Source [arstechnica.com].

  So the claimant above looks like they simply signed up for the suit and did not attest/prove that they had Linux running on their box in order to claim the larger settlement amount. Either that part of the settlement wasn't approved in the earlier story, or someone didn't get their facts straight. Whichever.

  Elsewhere I read that the settlement fund amount was $3.7 million, and in the settlement agreement [otherossettlement.com] it makes clear that this is inclusive of the lawyer's fees. So 3.7 million less 2.25 million is $950,000 available for settlement distribution. I can't readily find easy sales statistics to guess at how many users that would be, but at $65 that's 14,600 people. At $10 per person that is 95,000 people. My guess is that it would be around 30,000 or so.

  Incidentally many sources report that while Sony has had up years and down years, in 2017, the operating profit was $4.5 billion dollars [ft.com]. Elsewhere reports that just as operating income. Either way, I don't think Sony felt any true pain from paying this settlement out. Maybe I'm wrong, though.

  --
  This sig for rent.

  Starting Score:	1		point
  Moderation		+1
  Informative=1, Total=1
  Extra 'Informative' Modifier		0
  Karma-Bonus Modifier		+1
  Total Score:		3

• Re:To the editor wondering about the $65... Re:To the editor wondering about the $65... (Score: 2) by bob_super on Friday November 16 2018, @05:28PM (1 child)

  by bob_super (1357) on Friday November 16 2018, @05:28PM (#762751)

  > I don't think Sony felt any true pain

  Out of all the ways I wish their death, I don't believe a megacorp should be taken down for removing in an update of one product, an obscure function that a lot less than 1% of the buyers are aware of, and an order of magnitude fewer will actually try to use.
  Coughing up a quite a few millions is not an unreasonable slap on the wrist.

  Parent

  • Re:To the editor wondering about the $65... (Score: 3, Interesting) by JoeMerchant on Friday November 16 2018, @06:42PM

    by JoeMerchant (3937) on Friday November 16 2018, @06:42PM (#762801)

    3.7 is not quite a few... I'd bet they also expended more than $3.7M fighting the suit, even if the total were $10M - we're talking 0.2% of annual profits, less than a day's take home...

    So, if they screw up and get penalized like this 100 times per year, that's 20% of profits... I think it's safe to say it's all about the PR, and virtually nothing about the $10 checks or the lawyers' fees.

    --
    🌻🌻 [google.com]

    Parent