All the way back in 2010, a class-action lawsuit was filed against Sony after the ability to run Linux on the PS3 was removed. Last week, after six years of haggling, the company agreed to pay up.
As Ars Technica report, the decision was made last Friday, and — provided the judge agrees to Sony’s terms — will see anyone who used Linux on their PS3 able to claim $US55 ($74). Those who went out and bought a PS3 because the ability to run Linux on it had been advertised can claim an additional $US9 ($12).
Specifically, those eligible need to be have purchased a “Fat” (launch) PS3 model “in the United States between November 1, 2006, and April 1, 2010”, and be able to “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.”
Those are a lot of hoops to jump through for such an old purchase, so while Sony’s payouts have a technical ceiling of around 10 million people (the number of Fat PS3s sold in the US in that time), the real winners here are probably the lawyers who brought the suit, who were awarded “up to $US2.25 million [$3 million] in attorneys’ fees”.
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14 responses to “Sony Could (But Probably Won’t) Pay Millions Over Old PS3 Lawsuit”
Yeah… Like those who purchased the unit to use a Linux box will settle for less than a full refund that has been adjusted for inflation.
Sounds like the court decided they’re not being given an option to settle for more.
The way I read it, this is what Sony have asked the judge to award – the judge hasn’t actually made a ruling either way as to whether he’ll agree to it or not? So it’s still possible the judge will knock it back.
Dammit….. I actually meet all of those criteria but I’m going to assume this applies to those that purchased their PS3 in the US only….
Can’t hurt to check but I think your assumption is right.
I was running Yellow Dog on mine for a while, but I’m not in the USA and never took a screenshot.
That’s what the story says in the third paragraph.
No one cares about Linux.
There, I said it.
Tell that to RedHat. The businesses after their Linux product can’t be a figment of one’s imagination.
Only PC users care about Windows. And PCs only make up a minority of computer systems currently in use.
The site you are currently using runs on a linux system, as does the majority of other services on the internet your use.
As for gaming, the PS3 and PS4 run on the freeBSD kernel, Android runs on the Linux Kernel.
Generally speaking, if you want to do something on a PC other than play games, you should care about linux [and even that’s changing].
Plus around 8% of personal computers are using OSX, another unix kernel (with complicated heritage comprising NextStep and BSD among others, but it’s a unix).
Unix/linux/BSD is everywhere…
If you’re going to include non-Linux UNIX systems, then you’ve also got the PS4 running a modified version of FreeBSD.
Let’s not forget all the clusters running your fave gaming services would be running on a Linux kernel of some sort too.
End users don’t care, but only because they have no interest or time to explore. They expect instant gratification out of the box, and Windows or OSX gives them that. Most wouldn’t realise the depth of market penetration Linux actually has because it’s invisible to them….and that’s a good thing.
Umm…wow. lol
Chill guys. 😉
US Air Force connects 1,760 PlayStation 3’s to build supercomputer
You could still install Linux (mod way)., Surprised Sony didn’t just readd the feature back on the PS3. Just make the system go through a integrity check before logging on after being in Linux mode. Problem solved.
Whatever.