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Reader Comments (105)

Posted: Dec 13th 2011 11:36AM ZForce915 said

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There you have it. All the people who have long since forgotten that Other OS is even gone have been shot down.
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Posted: Dec 13th 2011 11:38AM JakeAuditore said

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"...but also to have ongoing access to an internet service offered by Sony, the PSN."

They said they wanted PSN forever if they won? o_o
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Posted: Dec 13th 2011 11:42AM DAmwake said

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@JakeAuditore I believe it is more related to their argument that they could choose to NOT download the update that removed other OS but that by doing so they would lose their access to PSN. I am no legal dude so I could be way off base.
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Posted: Dec 13th 2011 12:01PM End User said

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@DAmwake Of course, if you didn't update, you also wouldn't be able to play newer games or Blu-Ray movies, but yeah, let's put up straw man arguments about the PSN.
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Posted: Dec 13th 2011 12:38PM jsx92 said

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Actually I think the argument is that "Other OS" and "PSN" are basically both value-adds, and PSN isn't going to be there forever, therefor Other OS needn't? Maybe I'm crazy.

We need to have tech-knowledgeable judges. These old farts just don't know the difference between the internet and the computer and it's really disappointing to see them passing official judgments on them.
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Posted: Dec 13th 2011 3:03PM maxwell97 said

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@jsx92 actually the judge had it exactly right. Buying a PS3 does not entitle you to have future updates provided on your terms. Sony has no legal obligation to continue providing PSN service to anyone - or games or movies, for that matter.
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Posted: Dec 13th 2011 3:39PM F1shBone said

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@maxwell97 So it would be cool with you if they released an update making it impossible to play games or movies? Some people bought the console for the other OS option. If they don't update their firmware they can't use PlayStation network. They have to chose between playing games and having other OS. They bought the system to do both!
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Posted: Dec 13th 2011 11:46PM maxwell97 said

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@F1shBone I'm not saying I'd be happy about it, but it's not a violation of my rights. I didn't sign a contract with Sony that says they owe me new content.
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Posted: Dec 13th 2011 11:38AM papershadow said

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And watch your consumer rights begin to evaporate
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Posted: Dec 13th 2011 11:44AM carmaction said

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@papershadow
Oh, shut up. Even if this were a case of our rights evaporating, you're living a pretty sweet life if Other OS being removed is one of your 99 problems.
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Posted: Dec 13th 2011 11:48AM papershadow said

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@carmaction

That and the fact that class action lawsuits can be blocked by corporations. You can look forward to the next corporation privacy screw up being your problem. Your comment is void
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Posted: Dec 13th 2011 11:50AM fohf said

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@papershadow
Begin to evaporate? Nah, they're gone and have been for a while. This ruling just illustrates it completely.
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Posted: Dec 13th 2011 11:52AM mywhitenoise said

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@carmaction
It's not about not having other OS, it's about right and wrong. Stripping away a feature you were told you could have when you bought it, is wrong.
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Posted: Dec 13th 2011 11:57AM carmaction said

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@papershadow
The corporations are probably sick of handing out coupons. When a class action lawsuit succeeds the lawyer gets a metric ton of cash out of it. The 'class' gets discounts on the products they're suing against or something in the nature of a few bucks.

They simply don't work. Especially since people use them to sue corporations for a bunch of rigamarole like this.
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Posted: Dec 13th 2011 11:57AM Knives Chau said

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@papershadow
i dont understand why your comment has 1 star o_O you're completely right, unfortunately.
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Posted: Dec 13th 2011 12:00PM papershadow said

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@carmaction

The problem is not about handing out coupons, it's about corporations having the law on their side. If you have a legitimate problem, try suing a massive corporation with unlimited legal funds. It wouldn't be easy.
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Posted: Dec 13th 2011 12:06PM carmaction said

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@papershadow
Just to bring up an old cliche, a lady sued McDonalds for spilling hot coffee on herself and won. Whether or not she deserved the settlement isn't my point. The point is that this 'people can't win against corporations' fairy tale that you all seem to live in is adorable.
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Posted: Dec 13th 2011 12:07PM sparkster said

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@Knives Chau
I was about to reply the exact same thing. How can they just dismiss something like that?
First they save taxes by classifying the PS3 as PCs instead of gaming systems backed up by the ability to run OtherOS which they even advertised. Then a bit later they patch out that feature.

On a personal note: Back then OtherOS was the feature that convinced me to get a PS3 instead of the Xbox360. Even if I got both systems eventually it's still a bunch of bs.
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Posted: Dec 13th 2011 12:18PM Drakkenfyre said

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@carmaction

That lady won that case because that McDonald's had been warned about overheating the coffee several times. They ignored several other burn incidents, and ignored corporate headquarters telling them to turn the temperature down. They had their coffee heated to 180 degrees, where normal coffee is 120. When she burned herself (the coffee was hot enuf to instantly burn skin, and cause it to peel) she asked only for medical costs. They told her "Sue us, if you want the money." So she did.

The restaurant had a prior history of negligence.

And even after that, other courts had the money reduced down to less than the original amount.
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Posted: Dec 13th 2011 12:29PM bto said

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@carmaction

Using the McDonalds case as a common example in that way does not help your argument. Most people think it was a frivolous lawsuit, it wasn't (I used to think like that, until I read the actual facts behind it).

http://ken_ashford.typepad.com/blog/2009/01/the-truth-about-that-mcdonalds-hot-coffee-lawsuit.html
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Posted: Dec 13th 2011 12:30PM Grimbear13 said

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@carmaction I'm with you on this one and the whole "Stripping a feature away is wrong" arguement I counter with it was a security issue. People were using it to backdoor the securities of the console and allowing jailbreaking to happen. I will agree that I think it was a poor choice for them to put such an open ended OS option on the system. They were probably shooting for some good PR from it and it ended up biting them in the ass. I'd agree with the statement stripping away a feature you were told it would have is wrong, assuming it doesn't become threat. And no this had nothing to do w/ people's personal information but it was a security threat to Sony's ability to control piracy.
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Posted: Dec 13th 2011 12:32PM carmaction said

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@Drakkenfyre
I feel like your intention is to show me a lesson, but really all that you did is angrily agree with me. So, like I said, she won. I feel like we're comrades in arms now.
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Posted: Dec 13th 2011 12:35PM 30yearGamer said

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@fohf Really? You can't boycott anymore? Do they force you to buy stuff?
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Posted: Dec 13th 2011 12:38PM carmaction said

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@bto
I used this case as an example to prove that people can win lawsuits against corporations. I even asked the reader to ignore their personal feelings on the issue.

I think that it's the reader's comprehension that isn't helping me at this point.
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Posted: Dec 13th 2011 12:56PM End User said

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@Grimbear13 Wrong. The whole hacking excuse was a scapegoat. They didn't want to pay to keep updating Linux drivers, and IBM wanted people to buy blade servers instead of building cheap PS3 clusters.

The fact that it's been further hacked since the removal of OtherOS, and that the hackers have even been able to re-activate OtherOS (they can do OtherOS on slims now, too), is evidence enough of that.
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Posted: Dec 13th 2011 1:18PM EIranzer said

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Oh, benevolent Sony.

Leader of the RIAA and MPAA.

Proprietor of multimedia format standards.

Installer of rootkits.

Uninstaller of features originally advertised.

Destroyer of import shops.

Authors of EULAs that demand you can't ever sue them.

Suers of grandmothers who happen to renew an IP address of someone who torrented MP3s of your "artists."

Seller of inferior revisions of hardware models.

Think-tanks of good ideas (Vita memory cards).

...

Sony, you never cease to amaze me. And none of us forgot about "Other OS".
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Posted: Dec 13th 2011 2:46PM superfrick said

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@mywhitenoise It was wrong for Sony to pull OtherOS, but not illegal. And as long as consumers keep giving Sony money this sort of thing will continue.
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Posted: Dec 13th 2011 2:47PM PR0F3TA said

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@EIranzer

yeah apperently you are all still ass hurt to this day. Its like crying over spilled milk. As much as you whine and pout you're not getting OtherOS back.

WAAAAAAAA
WAAAAAAAAAAAAA
WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA


cry moar kiddies. none of you even used the damn feature.
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Posted: Dec 13th 2011 3:18PM darkinchworm said

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@PR0F3TA
I'd be surprised if you even know what a Linux is
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Posted: Dec 13th 2011 3:21PM PointlessPuppies said

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@papershadow
Indeed, because nothing in software ever gets patched out.

Never.
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Posted: Dec 13th 2011 3:23PM (Unverified) said

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@papershadow
you had the right to not update your PS3.
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Posted: Dec 13th 2011 3:26PM carmaction said

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@PointlessPuppies
It was smart of you to use a small reply. Any more length and they would've just ignored the second half of whatever you typed and prattled on about unrelated topics.
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Posted: Dec 13th 2011 11:39AM psnkillstrike said

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I figured that this case would be thrown out.
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Posted: Dec 13th 2011 11:39AM mywhitenoise said

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It's a sad world we live in, when the corporations can do whatever they please, and their consumers have to deal with it, and continue using their services anyway.
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Posted: Dec 13th 2011 11:56AM Blackbird37 said

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@mywhitenoise

No one's making you use the PSN. Sony has the right to offer their service on their terms. If you want to use the PSN, you have to have the latest version of the PS3 OS. Like it or not, justifiable or not, that's Sony's right to offer their service on their terms.
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Posted: Dec 13th 2011 12:04PM End User said

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@Blackbird37 What about their right to play PS3 games and Blu-Rays on their PS3 Blu-Ray player?
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Posted: Dec 13th 2011 12:21PM MassDragonEffectAge said

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@End User
PS3 Blu-Ray player? It is technically labled as Sony Playstation 3 (PS3) tm.
It has the features to play games, play dvd/bluRay movies, etc. But not on the box as that.

I bought the first model (60GB with Immersion engine) and do wish I had not allowed any firmware updates. Yet, I can go online, get files or key to unlock and downgrade the firmware back to Get OS (I had linux on it for a short time). And if anyone should be irked, that PS3 set me back $600 new.

I don't care for the PSN network as its much like XboxLIVE, they are making it more like Pay to Play, DLC, Subscriptions, and more direct-to-drive games.

Atleast one can still JB the unit and revert back to Get OS firmware (3.1x).
If its THAT important...
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Posted: Dec 13th 2011 1:51PM Blackbird37 said

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@End User

You can still play them without a firmware update, you can just not get access to updates, web-enabled features, etc. because they use the PSN.
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Posted: Dec 13th 2011 2:49PM BlazeKing said

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@MassDragonEffectAge

The system just had an ad campaign "It only does EVERYTHING!"
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Posted: Dec 13th 2011 2:58PM maxwell97 said

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@mywhitenoise no one has to deal with anything. Some folks assumed that buying a PS3 meant also buying a license to use new content. They were wrong. There was never any implication that purchasing a PS3 entitled the user to any future support whatsoever - if it did, that would have to be defined and priced in, and the console would likely have cost substantially more.
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Posted: Dec 13th 2011 5:27PM End User said

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@Blackbird37 Wrong. There are a number of games that *require* a specific firmware version (or higher version) to play at all.
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Posted: Dec 13th 2011 5:33PM End User said

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@maxwell97 Seriously... how dare people assume that a PS3 will play PS3 games?

What if someone buys a PS3 *today* that hasn't been updated to a sufficient firmware to play a game they bought *today*? I guess they're just stupid for assuming a PS3 will play PS3 games.

One of the reasons I went back to consoles is because of the idea that the same hardware that will play a game in 2006 will still play games that come out in 2011.

To claim that one shouldn't assume that a PS3 will play PS3 games (or Blu-Rays), is an idiotic argument, regardless of what the "legal" technicalities may be.
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Posted: Dec 14th 2011 12:07AM maxwell97 said

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@End User Before you call it an "idiotic argument," make an effort to understand what I'm saying. Obviously a PS3 can be expected to play PS3 games, but there's a big difference between the common sense argument and implying that Sony has a legal responsibility to keep providing content. What if Sony were to stop publishing any PS3 software whatsoever? A lot of people would be unhappy, but they would have no right to legal recompense. If they did, it would imply that when Sony sold a console, they have a responsibility to continue supporting it indefinitely - and no company would ever sell a console if that were true. If you buy hardware, you're buying hardware, not a service contract for online access and new games. In this case, Sony is saying "going forward, new games will require this firmware," and if you don't like that condition, don't buy the game - no harm done.
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Posted: Dec 13th 2011 11:40AM Cranky Penguin said

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Big business wins again, what a surprise!
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Posted: Dec 13th 2011 11:47AM JakeAuditore said

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@Cranky Penguin Big business isn't always evil, you know. They kind of keep our economy afloat.

Awks.
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Posted: Dec 13th 2011 12:33PM Grimbear13 said

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@Cranky Penguin
Big business wins on a dumb suit... if they had a legitimate claim to something I could understand people being salty. But removing a feature that is causing a security issue is not a problem.
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Posted: Dec 13th 2011 12:40PM 30yearGamer said

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@JakeAuditore Hush up, the next thing people will realize is that their retirements funds are invested in companies and increase when there is a profit.
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Posted: Dec 14th 2011 2:02PM NIck PSN ID Rattlehead91 said

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@JakeAuditore While simultaneously destroying it. It's a funny world we live in.
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Posted: Dec 13th 2011 11:40AM hami83 said

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Removing backwards comparability I can understand pissing people off, but other OS...Really?
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Posted: Dec 13th 2011 11:42AM Vidikron said

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@hami83

The difference being that Sony removed the Other OS option from existing systems.
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