Remember when those hackers kicked Sony’s door in last year, nicking off with quite a lot of Playstation Network data and leaving the service offline for the better part of a month? A few users were miffed off by this and decided to sue. Bad news for them this morning though, after the judge dismissed most of the class action suit, saying that Sony got off simply because it never promised the Playstation Network would be perfect.
Ars Technica reports that the case was mostly dismissed by a district judge, simply due to the fact that Sony’s mostly bulletproof user agreement states that there is no such thing as perfect security and no warranty or guarantee is given for the services on PSN.
It’s not over, though. Plaintiffs have until November 9 to resubmit their complaints if they want to.
It raises an interesting discussion point really: unless a business promises that something you’re getting is going to be perfect, you haven’t a leg to stand on in court when it turns out to be a bag full of sand.
I’m not a lawyer, but I imagine if cash was handed over for a service, the impetus is on the service provider to give you the quality you’d expect relative to the money you had forked over.
For example, if I had paid for my coffee I expect it not to be a turgid cup full of gluggy sorrow, but if I get it as a “free sample” and it kills me, they’re fine because they never promised it would be perfect.
Correct me if I’m wrong on that one.