Sony Settles Lawsuit: Over $1 million in Free Games, Themes and PS+ Discounts Available in Canada

Back in May 2011, Canadian citizen Natasha Maksimovic filed a class action lawsuit against Sony for the infamous PSN hack that potentially exposed user data to criminals (although nothing ever came of it), as well as the Sony Online Entertainment hack. The lawsuit called for C$1 billion (US$1.04 billion) in damages, with Maksimovic saying: “If you can’t trust a huge multi-national corporation like Sony to protect your private information, who can you trust? It appears to me that Sony focuses more on protecting its games than its PlayStation users.”

The case has now been settled, with the damages coming to around a million dollars in assorted freebies for Canadian gamers.
-PSLS

[doctorstrange]

I've already forgotten about the PSN hack. It was annoying at the time, but no one really got hurt, and I already got some free games.

[darthv72]

they have to sign up to be PS+ members to get the goods.

okay...okay, that was all in good jest.

[nukeitall]

That's a sorry ass settlement. Should have aimed higher if you go through all the trouble.

[violents]

Why does sony owe anyone anything outside of reimbursment of paid sevices you may have missed out on due to the network outage? Unless you were actually a victim of identity theft, I don't see how sony would owe anyone a thing. Anyone with an ounce of common sense should know any personal information broadcast onto the internet is potentially at risk. Sony can't be held solely responsible because no matter how much security is in place someone will always find a way around those security measures eventually. Making a better lock only makes better thieves.

Dont mean to sound of on you really, your comment just made me think of it.

[kneon]

Class action lawsuits are almost always a waste of time. I've won several and haven't ever bothered to claim the "massive" winnings.

The only winners are the lawyers.

[SilentNegotiator]

@kneon

HP, nvidia, and lawyers screwed us in an action class for their faulty hardware that lead to DvXXXX laptops all dying by giving us completely POS dime-store laptops as replacements.

Class action lawsuits are worthless. If you're going to sue, do it separately. If they're already doomed with a class action lawsuit, they'll probably settle with you in a much better fashion (if you make the proper demands) because they already know that they have no chance.

[Outside_ofthe_Box]

@violents

You are speaking to deaf ears. nukeitall is a well known Sony hater/MS lover. He won't hear anything unless it's bashing Sony or praising Microsoft.

[kupomogli]

@kneon

"The only winners are the lawyers."

Sadly. Class action lawsuits are probably the biggest scams around right now and it's completely legal. The lawyer's version of those get rich quick schemes.

[nukeitall]

@violents:

A similar analogy is, if you put your valuables in a bank vault, no matter the amount of security people can always find a way to break in. Does that mean we should relieve the bank of responsiblity if all they do is put a padlock on it?

Sony ran unpatched systems and didn't have the proper security in place. So yes, we should hold Sony as well as the theives responsible.

Security isn't about fool proof and 100% safe, but rather the safeguards in place should outweight the risk and difficulty of breaking in.

@kupomogli:

I do agree that almost always the lawyers are winners, but in some cases the consumer are the winners as well although indirectly. Think about it, if the cost of being sued is really high for companies they will think twice about doing something similar again.

The problem is, that the lawyers fighting it are there for the profit. They want to settle fast to get a paycheck, and not draw it out.

That is why you almost got nothing? Same thing happened with the Playstation 2 DVD disc read error class action lawsuit that ended in consumers getting $20-30 or a game, *if* they still had the receipt years later. Good luck with that!

Basically this is the same scheme, jump through hoops and the repayment is miniscule. This lawsuit didn't hurt Sony a bit, but the bad reputation for years did.

@Outside_ofthe_Box:

Ah, please! The pot calling the kettle!

You are the one that is a known fanboy here. If you have a good argument please present it or stfu!

[MaxXAttaxX]

Yet you're the one that continuously shows up in PlayStation articles.

[jadenkorri]

yet in other countries, courts have found Sony not at fault and their security was adequate.

[violents]

Having money in a vault is a lot different than putting your personal information out on some corporations publicly accessible data servers. If it were a case of someone physically breaking in and taking things the banks insurance would reimburse the customers affected because the bank takes sole resposibility for the goods stored within. However with the internet and electronic transactions the consumer is liable for keeping personal information safeguarded, thats why they have things like identity theft insurance, the bank or corporation that has your personal information on file really has no way to tell if its really you accessing said personal info, outside of a password that can be hacked by anyone knowledgable enough at computer programming.

[Outside_ofthe_Box]

***"Ah, please! The pot calling the kettle!

You are the one that is a known fanboy here. If you have a good argument please present it or stfu!"***

http://n4g.com/news/1225831...

Hmmm... where was your good argument here? Maybe you should follow your own advice and stfu!

violents has already provided a good argument. I'm just letting him know that he is most likely wasting time as you rightfully pointed out to Jek_Porkins some time ago in a similar situation. Don't get mad at me! I'm only telling the truth!

[SilentNegotiator]

"potentially exposed"

What weak charges. There hasn't even been solid evidence that the data was leaked in any usable form at all.

Sony's lawyers must be partying with how they settled that one, though. lol, freebies.

[TrendyGamers]

I was happy with the Welcome Back games and I already have PS+ so I don't have much reason to take advantage of this.

[bicfitness]

I just got an SOE email about this today. There's no mention as to what the disbursements are, specifically, but free stuff is always nice.

[doctorstrange]

For SOE:

"You can get a deposit of U.S. $4.50 in “Station Cash” into that account, usable for SOE digital products and services. Deposits will be reduced proportionally if total deposits exceed U.S. $240,000 in benefits. 2

[Oaklnd]

Sony should just open up a bank, who needs money anyway

[BitbyDeath]

They already did that in 2001.

http://sonybank.net/

[Minato-Namikaze]

you learn something new everyday, lol

[Skate-AK]

LOL.

[SheenuTheLegend]

wow, lolz amazing

[KrisButtar]

I just got this email today. like 5mins ago.. thought it fake until just now

Edit: what was offered for free games in the welcome back program?

Edit2: those are all crappy games or games I already have..

[Shani]

Pretty much all the games they are offering in this settlement were part of welcome back program.

[KrisButtar]

thanks

I remember the welcome back email a bit and shrugged it off, but looking at the article it seems to be a larger list then I remember, and was thinking it may have been a different list

[DragonKnight]

Ugh, I feel embarrassed that a fellow Canadian would file such a frivolous lawsuit and even more embarrassed that they "won" it. *facepalm*

[Majin-vegeta]

People looking to get rich off a scheme.I mean no one's info was compromised.Sony even said the hackers were unable to decrypt the files -_-.

[kevnb]

its no joke, they left peoples information out vulnerable with no encryption. Regardless of how you feel about playstation, that was terrible and they deserve whatever they get.
@ above
Sony said the files weren't even encrypted... And even if they said otherwise, its not like we can really trust them..

[ziggurcat]

no, CC info was encrypted, and passwords were hashed, not stored in plain text as people kept claiming.

any of the other info is readily available via a google search or looking it up in a phonebook, so...

[KrisButtar]

"Sony said the files weren't even encrypted... And even if they said otherwise, its not like we can really trust them."

if they said otherwise meaning they were encryted, what other reason is there not to "trust them"

Edit: spelling error

[Silly gameAr]

I know right? That's why you hear about people's PSN accounts being high jacked...oh wait.

[joeorc]

its no joke, they left peoples information out vulnerable with no encryption,Sony said the files weren't even encrypted.

that's not true @ all, the passwords were Hashed, and the CC info was in fact encrypted, if it was not , Sony would have had a much harsher fine leveraged to Sony. which it was not so in fact in the court case the data was encrypted!

[MikeMyers]

Did you feel embarrassed about these lawsuits too?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wik...

http://www.gamespot.com/new...

You shouldn't feel anything if you don't want to be part of it unless of course you really do work for Sony.

[joeorc]

oh bringing in rootkit's huh?
well you will be Quite happy to know Microsoft has a back door into every computer system with windows OS installed on the machine.!

what is a root kit:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wik...

Ie: a freaking back door

http://en.wikipedia.org/wik...

same thing could be said:

You shouldn't feel anything if you don't want to be part of it unless of course you really do work for Microsoft.

[MikeMyers]

How come when anyone says anything negative about Sony the natural reaction is to bring up Microsoft? I know they compete with one another but I didn't think it was that rooted into so many people where they have to pick sides.

Microsoft has had many issues and legal action taken against them. They've also had many lawsuits too I would imagine. However this is about Sony, not Microsoft. I don't have any problem whatsoever calling out Microsoft and their shady tactics, the person I was originally responding to does when it has to do with Sony.

[rezzah]

Being Canadian has nothing to do with it. The person could have been from North Korea and it wouldn't make a difference.

People are people.

[DragonKnight]

You don't understand my point. Canada is not a country known, or prone, to frivolous lawsuits. The fact that this girl filed a frivolous lawsuit and got other people to do it goes against basic Canadian morals and mentality. To go further, think about this. This lawsuit DIDN'T happen in the U.S. No offense is intended by this but, the U.S. is known and prone to frivolous lawsuits and this lawsuit wasn't filed or conceived of there.

In point of fact I don't think (though I can't confirm) that anyone, anywhere else in the world, has filed for a lawsuit like this and have it reach any other conclusion than being thrown out of court for its stupidity.

I am ashamed that a Canadian brought this about, and I'm even more ashamed that our justice system dragged this case on to a point that Sony felt the best choice would be to settle out of court. Victim blaming has succeeded here and it's just so wrong.

[rezzah]

The thing about stereotypes is that they are not real, at least not universal truths.

Your embarrassment of the actions of another person, who is placed in this category you refer to as a Canadian, is foolish.

If you want to feel embarrassed about something, be embarrassed about what you already stated; the justice system.

[DragonKnight]

It's not a stereotype. It's just how it is. In Canada you won't hear about very many stupid lawsuits like this because they don't happen. And I already am embarrassed by the justice system. It's far too lenient here.

[Neko_Mega]

I like how when something go's wrong, people make a big deal. Plus they want more from Sony, the funny thing is.

During that time that the PSN was down, I was play Star Ocean Last Hope. So I had no need for PSN.

[AusRogo]

You can't trust any big company. Anyone can get hacked. Not just Sony.

[violents]

Why does sony owe anyone anything outside of reimbursment of paid sevices you may have missed out on due to the network outage? Unless you were actuallya victim of identity theft,I don't see how sony would owe anyone a thing. Anyone with an ounce of common sense should know any personal informationbroadcast onto the internet is potentially atrisk. Sony can't be held solely responsible because no matter how much security is in place someone will always find a way around those security measures eventually. Making a better lock only makes better thieves.

If your car gets stolen can you blame the manufacturer for not making a better lock on it?

[jc48573]

you can use that same reasoning with guns and violent games.

[violents]

How exactly can that apply to guns or games at all?

[Knightofelemia]

Being Canadian Im not going for all this pay out. The hack came and the hack is gone Just glad I was able to play games over he PSN again. Sony in my eyes gave out a great reward at the time with the Welcome Back announcement. Games could have been a bit better but I was happy.

[DarkBlood]

Canadian here as well, exactly, i wasnt even expecting some sort of compenstation for the blackout i thought it was awesome to get free games but it wasn't something i was ever going to demand sony for.

[TemplarDante]

2011- was a painful time without PSN
2013- Ive gotten over it.
... Canadians crying for two years?
Bunch of babies..

[BattleTorn]

On behalf of Canadians - We're sorry ;)

[BattleTorn]

Silly photo - those are our old hundreds (bill)