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Story by Brenna Hillier

Tue, Dec 13, 2011 | 00:59 GMT

PS3 Other OS class action suit dismissed

A class action suit brought against Sony over the removal of the Other OS option from the PlayStation 3 has been thrown out of court.

US district judge Richard Seeborg granted Sony’s motion to dismiss the remaining claim of the the suit on Thursday.

“The dismay and frustration at least some PS3 owners likely experienced when Sony made the decision to limit access to the PSN service to those who were willing to disable the Other OS feature on their machines was no doubt genuine and understandable,” he wrote.

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

In February, Seeborg had ruled all but one claim in the suit invalid, and granted the plaintiff time to prove a violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. This grace period has now expired, with the federal court apparently unimpressed by the plaintiff’s efforts.

In March 2010, Sony issued a firmware update removing the Other OS option from the PlayStation 3, which had allowed users to install Unix operating systems on the console. Users could refuse the firmware update, but would then be blocked from accessing the PlayStation Network. Sony’s end user license agreement, which must be agreed to on initial setup, explicitly grants permission for such an eventuality.

Thanks, IndustryGamers.

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7 Posted in: America, Legalities, PS3, Sony