

PlayStation 3 Owner Files Class Action Suit Against Sony For Dropping 'Other OS' - ukdm
http://kotaku.com/5526847/playstation-3-owner-files-class-action-suit-against-sony-for-dropping-other-os

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yardie
Sometimes I can't imagine who's worse the Apple fanboys who justify everything
Apple does or the Sony fanboys who believe people don't have a right to their
own hardware. It's one thing to believe the lawsuit is frivolous, it's quite
another to say "It's Sony's; like people didn't drop $600 on this thing and
expect it to work as good as the day they bought it.

~~~
tumult
This raises all sorts of interesting questions about the implications of
software updates on hardware platforms that are governed by consumer
protection laws. And none of them I want called into question, since I dropped
$600 (and then a $160 repair two years later, after the GPU burned out) on
this stupid shiny Foreman grill, and am tired of Sony dicking around with it.
I would like them to buy it back from me.

And it's not even a frivolous suit. It says right on the fucking box that I
could install another OS on it. And now I can't. What the fuck? If I don't
update, then my multiplayer games stop working, I can't watch Blu-Rays that
access the internet, and I can't play new game releases or patch existing
ones. That's not even borderline wrong, it's clearly wrong, and probably
illegal (though I'm not a lawyer.) Otherwise, companies could advertise
whatever features they wanted for some product, and then claim they were
"disabled in a software update" later on when they don't have those features.

Which is what Sony did. Fuck you, Sony.

~~~
conflux0
If you want to keep the features you could just stay with your current
firmware. It is optional to upgrade, not a forced decision. Also it begs the
question of why you want to keep the functionality. If you were going to use
it for the cell computing power or just messing around you could always use
the old firmware and upgrade when you want to use the playstation network
functionality. If you want to keep both features there is a good chance the
reason why you would want to do so is to pirate games. Could someone explain
to me why there is any legitimacy in this suit?

~~~
chc
No, it is not optional to upgrade — at least not in the usual sense of the
word. If you upgrade, you lose the ability to run Linux. If you don't upgrade,
you lose the ability to play games. That's more like an ultimatum than a
traditional optional install.

~~~
chrischen
You can still play games... Just not online, which is a free service anyways.

~~~
dmm
Several PSN games will not work without the PSN, even while playing single-
player.

EDIT: Also new games will not work without upgrading.

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rbanffy
I hope the lawsuit succeeds and Sony learns a lesson.

The justification for removal of the functionality is absolutely ludicrous.
It's wrong on so many levels I don't know where to start...

~~~
thmz
_edit_

I thought that Sony never stated this was standard functionality. But it seems
I was very wrong:

<http://www.playstation.com/ps3-openplatform/index.html>

So I must agree this is not fair...

~~~
ukdm
But choosing forces you to lose something that you may have originally bought
the console because of. Don't upgrade and you can't play any new games. Do
upgrade and you lose Linux. Not really fair is it?

~~~
tumult
Actually, you can't play many existing games now, either -- some rely on a PSN
connection, which you can't make without an updated console. So the claim that
the removal of the feature is optional is a lie; either way, features which
have been used to advertise the console have been removed.

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wwortiz
I am a little upset about this whole thing, on one hand I am very happy with
my ps3 I bought it when it was cheaper than a blu ray player and the ability
to play pretty games was a nice bonus. On the other hand even though I never
used the Other OS functionality the fact that Sony removed it with the only
option of keeping it being a limited and potentially broken system (when you
take into account not being able to play new blu ray discs) makes me a bit
angry.

Removing functionality seems so counterintuitive even if you want to stop your
system from being exploited, but to be honest I upgraded as I was never going
to use Other OS.

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rradu
What exactly is the legal basis for this?

The suit should be brought on behalf of all people that bought a PS3 between
2006 and 2010, BECAUSE they expected it to be able to run another OS.

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gcb
car analogy: you buy a car advertised with a spacious trunk. Then 2 years
after the you get the car they announce a recall to replaca a faulty air bag.
And when they return the car the trunk is welded shut.

~~~
chrischen
The OtherOS is not nearly as useful to PS3 owners as a trunk is to a car
owner.

~~~
dmm
People who express strong opinions about things they don't understand aren't
useful to anyone.

OtherOS has many uses. Even excluding ps3 clusters for scientific research,
several ps3 developers I know use their ps3s at home to try out code quickly.
The linux environment is more convenient at times than even the official dev
kit.

~~~
chrischen
What percentage of users do you suppose that is?

PS3s used for scientific research don't have to upgrade, unless they're also
secretly using them to play new games.

