Judge Throws Out Other OS Lawsuit

In April of 2010, a lawsuit was filed against Sony PlayStation because of the removal of the "Other OS" feature on PlayStation 3 consoles. The removal of this feature angered many users which eventually led to a jailbreaking community forming in order to gain that feature back.

The lawsuit (via Gamasutra) accused Sony of an "unfair and deceptive business practice," leveling claims against it from "breach of contract" to "unjust enrichment." Naturally, it sought money from Sony, both in damages and refunds.

However, in February 2011, Judge Richard Seeborg dismissed all but one of these claims. Seeborg did permit the claim that Sony "intentionally caused damage without authorization, to a protected computer," saying himself that Sony had not "conclusively established" that the PS3's license allowed it to disable Other OS, or that downloading the update was authorizing the removal.

The plaintiffs were allowed time to amend the suit but, after that, Seeborg approved Sony's motion to dismiss it. He ruled that they couldn't prove they had a right to expect Other OS support beyond the warranty period, or continued access to PSN, the Courthouse News Service explains.

"As a matter of providing customer satisfaction and building loyalty, it may have been questionable," Judge Seeborg wrote. "As a legal matter, however, plaintiffs have failed to allege facts or articulate a theory on which Sony may be held liable."