PSN ToS updated, you now belong to Sony

by Justin McElroy on Oct 21st 2008 2:45PM

Well, not you so much as anything at all you say or create. Ars Technica has got the lowdown on the new PSN terms of service which, unless you canceled your service in the past couple of days, you've already agreed to.

Most of the changes are typical corporate tushie covering, but Sony has also given itself the rights to use anything you create in games like LittleBigPlanet or Guitar Hero: World Tour, or to listen to/record your conversations across PSN. Oh, and if you've bought any movies and something happens to the data, Sony now has no obligation to help you out.

Check out all the analysis right here.

Source

Tags: drm, PS3, psn, sony

Reader Comments (50)

I still don't even know what the point of LittleBigPlanet is...

to get from one side of the board to the other alive. you might get to see or do something fun in between.

And it costs $60 for something that MIGHT be fun.

if you don't get it, then don't get it. $60 bucks saved.

Doesn't that apply to just about any game? It all depends on your preferences and what entertains you.

:Picard:

yeah, just like every other new current gen game - $60 for something that might be fun. What's your damn point? Sex with a girl "might be fun," jumping off a bridge "might be fun," getting addicted to heroin "might be fun.."

Do you want some kind of written agreement?

just realized that comment sounded very anti-LBP.. I uhh, was trying to say original commentor is stupid XD

The point of LBP is two fold:

1) There is a full, complete single player or Co-op platforming game. If you've played Super Mario World, you know the format - a world map connecting a series of stages. Beat each stage to progress further. The real key difference is that the world is physics based - every item has weight and mass and interacts with forces like gravity and momentum.

2) There is also a fully function level editor, allowing you to build your own levels and share them with the community, if you want to. This means there will be an endless supply of levels available as people create them.

So in a nut shell, LBP is a co-op Super Mario World with physics based game play and a full featured level editor. If that doesn't sound like your cup of tea, don't buy it. To me, its a fantastic game allowing for a ton of really nifty physics experiments. ^_^

No, Ricksta is right. There are people out there that don't like LBP without even playing it. They shouldn't bother making games that some people won't like.

@kaneda

I hope that was a typo or sarcasm. Otherwise, are you fucking high man, what the shit where you thinkin saying sumthin like that?

@VicViper09-
One day I hope people can just detect obvious sarcasm in text. No "I hope that was sarcasm" or "I think that was sarcasm" just "Oh, sarcasm. Ha. Ha. Ha." I don't care if some of the more subtle sarcastic stuff still confuses folks. Just completely bloody obvious sarcasm. Its not that hard.

I really don't like the idea of their claim to listen in and record anything said over their network. And I think their ownership rights of user-created content oversteps its bounds as well - if you compare it to other networks, most specifically state that the user still retains some portion of ownership of the content.

The listening and recording aspect is in there for terrorists and criminals (seriously) who might use the service. Its pretty standard practice over most forms of communication.

The ownership rights over user created content protects them, and the users from potential lawsuits over IP. Say, for instance I make something in LBP or Rock Band that is similar to, but in no way based upon, something someone else made and I sell the product. I am potentially open to a lawsuit. By Sony saying that "We own everything," they nullify the potential for these things.

It seems like all changes to the agreements are pretty standard.

Hey look, someone with a clue! You get a gold star, Titanium. Unfortunately, all I have left is a green plus sign.

got the e-mail about it last week, read through the red highlighted changes and it seemed pretty standard

Wait, wait, wait. Now I dont own a 360 so I cant speak for Microsoft but Nintendo gave me the 2 VC game on my hardware back once I lost my data. This seems like bullshit to me.

i don't have the wii hooked up to the internet, how do they handle movies?

They add waggle.

Then they remove the "movie" part. Sometimes they remove the fun along with it.

BTW, MS allows you re-download anything you've 'purchased' in the past. Of course, for video, they only 'sell' TV shows and the like. Movies are only rented.

@kinshadow: psn allows you to redownload games you purchased, i guess with people game sharing psn games they took a different approach with the video store

Wait, so they can change the TOS and people are automatically agreeing to it without knowing?
That's bullshit.

People were notified via an email to their PSN subscription address.

yea you have to have an email account attached to your PSN account. so a couple days ago they sent out an email to the provided email address saying to read the ToS and if you dont agree to anything, then you are more than welcome to stop using your account or cancel any paid content. it's not like they just sprung it on us, PSN users have know about it for like a week before it went into practice.

plenty of warning in my book. plus most of the stuff doesnt really worry me anyway. i dont buy things from the video store (DRM is retarded, DVD's are much better), and i dont really care if they listen to my PSN conversations considering im listened to by other companies and the government without them even asking me. the only thing im kind of iffy on is that they own anything created in LBP and such fully. if i make something cool and they turn it into a multi-million dollar franchise without giving me anything, i would be pretty pissed, but as someone already pointed out there are other reasons for this clause.

so yea, we knew. plus companies change their ToS all the time. check your cellphone ToS from when you signed the contract until now, you'd be surprised how they change it with no notice.

Okay, that's fair enough.

any time you buy digital content, the company should be REQUIRED to help you out if you lose said content. Just another reason why I'd never buy movies, CDs, or big budget games via download. The smaller games are another thing; downloading smaller games via PSN and XBLA pretty much created a whole new category of awesome games.

Let's say an update breaks a movie in your library, and they're saying "sorry, our records show you've already downloaded this title, you'll have to pay for it again to put it back in your library." eeeeefffffffff that.

my sentiments exactly. i agree that digital downloads are the way of the future, but they arent there just yet. when i can buy a movie online and use it as freely as how i use a DVD or Blu-Ray, that's when ill jump in.

Yeah if people download warhawk or socom to however many PS3's is the max, what happeneds if they get erased, can you ask for another download or sumthin?

I know what you're saying. I don't know about PSN, but XBL Marketplace monitors what things you have already paid for and allows them to be re-downloaded for free. iTunes, on the other hand, tells you to back it up instead. What if I can't back it up? They have everything I have bought on record, and they can see that I already paid for it so just let me download it again for free. I can't see any problems.

Digital downloads will be the way of the future when DRM is a dark, distant memory.

That's all the d words I have for today.

That really is BS. I can KIND OF see the point of using whatever you create, after all, you wouldn't have been able to create it without Sony, and many companies have intellectual property clauses, which are very annoying.

The big deal is listening in. That can get really, REALLY creepy. On the other hand, now we can flirt with Sony representatives.

Its all to stop us being cyber molested by pervs and prevent plots to steal lolly pops from babies, so its all in the name of good.

"[L]isten to/record your conversations across PSN."

Hello, YouTube extravaganza!

Major BS...

Oh and I also heard that if you have a hot sister Sony demands you to send them pics on her or else they will ban you sorry azz!

Nah, they just use the camera you've attached to the PS3 to take a pic themselves. They own all the pictures you take anyway! :D

quick question.

can they see over the network too? like if i use my PSEYE..... cuz if so i will take the whole system with me to drop a duce. they wont like to spy on me. unles their into that sorta stuff. EWW nASTY.

all they will hear over audio is me saying YEA $*kin right......... Bull &HIT.... $*kin Bull $hit........ Yea &uck off....... on MGO

MY MGO character's name is HARRY CROTCH. level 7 and going down a level everyday Because of the morons that find it funny to stab you when their on your team just to be the worlds BIGGEST C*NT.

I like cocaine too.

Will made me LOL.

what the hell is this guy talking about?

Heeyyy, look at that. Sony's turning back into 2006 Sony.

i.e. Fuck them.

I read a good reason for the selling stuff on a site, was it Joystiq? either that or PS3 fanboy... the thing is really that they have to have the right to do stuff with it without paying you. If you create a level in LBP and then someone else wants to play it you're effectivly giving your level to sony, so that they can pass it on to another user. The thing about earning money on LBP is that if MM and Sony sees that you do make good levels they can make a deal with you, if they want..... so i dont really see anything wrong with it....right? and i dont think they'll take popular levels and release them as paid DLC... i just dont see that happening

You're an idiot for buying movies on the PSN anyway, you might as well get treated appropriately.

Go to the article at Ars, then read the comments and checkout how Ars gets completely owned by a guy posting under the name BigLan.

Seriously, I don't even know why Ars posted this other than to stir up the anti-Sony bandwagon. I hate how ToS and EULAs as much as anyone, but the things they are pointing out are pretty standard.

Yeah that one is hilarious.

Hear that freaks and pervs who like to cyber with other people instead of playing games, you're being watched! Sony is watching you! And so is big brother!

If they're going to be listening in on my conversations and tracking all my purchase, download and browsing activity, the least they could do is throw me a bone when my console bricks on a firmware update and I lose my legally downloaded copy of Hancock! ;)

Ha! Really though, it's not going to affect much. Except maybe their video sales ;)

I think their pricing is more damaging than DRM and this legalese when it comes to their PSN video sales.

Seriously, buy an SD copy of a movie for $15 when I can rent a BR of it for much less from Netflix, or rent the DVD from a Redbox at the grocery store for a dollar?

I reckon they have done these things all along but just realised that they will get raped if they don't tell people.
I bet Microsoft does the exact same thing, and will also release a new terms of service agreement with the NXE.

I went ahead and cancelled my agreement with Sony so I can complain without going along with them. Sorry but I didn't get that much from my PS3 and eBay is a better place for that piece of junk anyways. Anyone who would go along with a company that says your stupid for being our customer gets what they deserve, like lossed data.

looking at that last sentence and a brief glance at your post history tells me you should be used to a little questioning of intelligence yourself

Do you really think we are so stupid as to believe a tiresome Xbot like you ever owned or even touched a PS3?
Stop sucking microsofts dick and grow the fuck up.

PSN ToS updated, you now belong to Sony

Reader Comments (50)

Posted: Oct 21st 2008 2:49PM Ricksta said

Posted: Oct 21st 2008 3:00PM jhowlett said

Posted: Oct 21st 2008 3:03PM Ricksta said

Posted: Oct 21st 2008 3:05PM jhowlett said

Posted: Oct 21st 2008 3:06PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Oct 21st 2008 3:08PM Levi said

Posted: Oct 21st 2008 3:10PM Levi said

Posted: Oct 21st 2008 3:43PM Arturis said

Posted: Oct 21st 2008 3:44PM kaneda26 said

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Posted: Oct 21st 2008 6:16PM Lijik said

Posted: Oct 21st 2008 2:52PM FredFredrickson said

Posted: Oct 21st 2008 2:58PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Oct 21st 2008 8:53PM Jacksons said

Posted: Oct 21st 2008 2:53PM jhowlett said

Posted: Oct 21st 2008 2:59PM Comet 20 said

Posted: Oct 21st 2008 3:03PM jhowlett said

Posted: Oct 21st 2008 3:13PM baby sea tuna said

Posted: Oct 21st 2008 3:16PM kinshadow said

Posted: Oct 21st 2008 3:27PM jhowlett said

Posted: Oct 21st 2008 3:06PM Omega Aero said

Posted: Oct 21st 2008 3:12PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Oct 21st 2008 3:27PM SoCoolCurt said

Posted: Oct 21st 2008 3:34PM Omega Aero said

Posted: Oct 21st 2008 3:17PM Levi said

Posted: Oct 21st 2008 3:31PM SoCoolCurt said

Posted: Oct 21st 2008 4:33PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Oct 21st 2008 5:16PM Alex R said

Posted: Oct 22nd 2008 11:44AM (Unverified) said

Posted: Oct 21st 2008 3:19PM monkeyssuck said

Posted: Oct 21st 2008 4:45PM Spunky Monkey 190906 said

Posted: Oct 21st 2008 3:20PM Jack Tretton said

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Posted: Oct 21st 2008 3:45PM Dr said

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Posted: Oct 21st 2008 11:01PM SoCoolCurt said

Posted: Oct 21st 2008 3:47PM JoshMilewski said

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Posted: Oct 21st 2008 5:08PM Alex R said

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