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Gamereactor UK reports
Back when Sony and Microsoft revealed their seventh generation consoles, the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, they were in a war of who could shove the most bullet points onto their spec sheets.
That war [...] probably [...] played a part in the fact that you could install and run the Linux operating system on early models of the PS3.
Sony later removed the Linux option with a software update, as hackers had discovered that they could use it to circumvent anti-piracy functions on the console. But removing the Linux features--which Sony had advertised in the marketing of the console--pissed off a bunch of people.
Ars Technica continues
After six years of litigation, Sony is now agreeing to pay the price for its 2010 firmware update that removed support for the Linux operating system in the PlayStation 3.
Sony and lawyers representing as many as 10 million console owners reached the deal on [June 24]. 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.
[...] 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".
Previous:
PlayStation 4 Hacked to Run Linux
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(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 28 2016, @05:37PM
While proving that you ran Linux on your PS3 may or may not be difficult long after the fact in the future if anything like this happens people may consider this precedent and try to muster up a lot of proof ahead of time in the event that something like this happens.
Someone wrote
"There will be logs and other shit left on the system to be able to identify a previous installation. Step by step guides will be coming on how to get your 55 dollarydoos. If you were running linux on your ps3 you are probably sharp enough to be able to follow a guide or figure it out."
But someone could possibly write fake logs and Sony can claim that this proof isn't substantive enough because those logs could be fake?
Then again, for $55 it's probably not worth the headache. May not even be worth the headache of going through the procedure to prove that you did in fact have Linux even if you did. If you're smart enough to put Linux on your computer you probably have a decent job and the time it would take you to go through this potentially long procedure and prove it to Sony isn't worth the $55 you would make.
(Score: 2) by tangomargarine on Tuesday June 28 2016, @05:52PM
If you're smart enough to put Linux on your computer you probably have a decent job and the time it would take you to go through this potentially long procedure and prove it to Sony isn't worth the $55 you would make.
It isn't about being worth it to us, it's about punishing Sony for what they did.
"Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"