Player sues Sony after being banned from PlayStation Network

[Herr Matzat]

It's pretty difficult to get banned from the PlayStation Network. You have to be a total jerk-face to get booted off PS3's online community. However, that's what Erik Estavallo managed to do whilst playing Resistance. With access to the game cut off, Estavallo decided to take part in the most appropriate action possible: a lawsuit.

Estavallo argues that a ban from the PlayStation Network goes against his First Amendment rights. "The plaintiff was exercising his First Amendment Rights to Freedom of Speech in the game's public forum when he was banned from, not only [Resistance], but also banned from playing all other games online via the PlayStation Network," a court document retrieved by GamePolitics reveals. This, in turn, has caused "pain and suffering" because the PS3 is "the only way the plaintiff can truly socialize since he also suffers from Agoraphobia."

Estavallo is asking for $55,000 in punitive damages and demands Sony no longer implement bans of any sort. He alleges that "PlayStation 3 is the only system that incorporates this type of wide-ranged ban. As where Nintendo does not ban customers at all. And Microsoft Xbox rarely bans."

http://www.joystiq.com/2009/07/21/player-s...twork/#comments

I am all for sueing big companys if they are fucking around with the smal people... but this guy sounds olike the biggest tool in the world... and seriusly, 55k? Only in america.

[METALMAN]

That is ridiculous. I hate when people rope in the freedom of speech argument. PSN is owned by a private company. They can let whoever the fuck they want on it.

[Dr. Rated-R]

It's a ridiculous reason to sue somebody. That said, I don't really think it's fair to flat out ban somebody from the online service. I'm all for behavioral suspensions, but stripping somebody of the ability to ever use the online service again is a bit harsh, when they (or their parents) shelled out the fairly large amount of money one needs to pay in order to own a PlayStation 3, whose free online service has to be seen as something of a deal sweetener when selecting a console to purchase.

That said, as somebody who doesn't own a PS3 yet, I have a stupid question: can't the guy just make a new user profile, or whatever the PSN equivalent of the Xbox Live ID is, and then go right back to playing online?

[New Damage]

I think so, unless if they IP address banned him or something, but if he did that, he would have to start again with his trophies. Judging by the fact that "it is his only way to socialize" and the fact that this causes him "pain and suffering" is a massive deal.

How come a story involving a games console and something that goes wrong always happens to somebody with something wrong with them, it's like fucking X Factor and sympathy vote bullshit.

He must've been an uber-dick to get banned though.

[Hellfire]

It's a private company that is allowing him to play online. If they didn't want to, they didn't have to. If he acted like a knob and was booted off, the only person at fault is him. Fuck that guy, I hope that the judge makes him pay 55k to Sony for bringing them to court on such a bullshit charge.

[ACCBiggz]

It's a private company

Sony is a publically traded company, no?

Sony should go with a warn level system instead of instant ban, that way people know for sure and not just wake up and be gone. Unless they have that, I don't know.

[METALMAN]

By that he means that laws on free speech can't affect Sony in any way whatsoever as it isn't a government body and therefore can make it's own rules.

Private in this case just means that it isn't a government body.

[Vendetta]

The ought to be banning the pricks on PS2 who play NCAA and Madden and cheat like hell. How can you play one person over and over and over again and constantly beat them 150-0. No way in hell.

[Hellfire]

Nobody cares about PS2 anymore

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

Sony are Japanese. They're not covered by the first amendment.

They should let him back on and then ban him again. I don't want "jerk-faces" shouting and whinging around when I'm playing online.

Good for Sony. Hope they win.

If he's agoraphobic he should have thought about his behaviour. It doesn't excuse being a "jerk-face".

[ACCBiggz]

By that he means that laws on free speech can't affect Sony in any way whatsoever as it isn't a government body and therefore can make it's own rules.

Yeah, I know all of that already. I just thought for some reason he meant Sony was a private company when they are publicly traded --- So just a misunderstanding.

I think there should be more bannings across all platforms, but it won't happen.

This, in turn, has caused "pain and suffering" because the PS3 is "the only way the plaintiff can truly socialize since he also suffers from Agoraphobia."

I'd simply argue that the kid obviously has the internet and therefore can satisfy his social life via the interweb instead of the PS3 network.

Edited July 26, 2009 by ACCBiggz

[KevinStorm]

The Playstation Network probably has Terms of Use or something similar that every member has to agree to which also lists the penalties for violating them. Apparently this person violated those Terms of Use, and probably violated them repeatedly or to such a ridiculous degree that Sony banned him. EWB is the same way: there are terms of use, if you violated those terms(certain ones especially), shit will happen to you. First amendment arguments don't apply.

[Crybaby Bunting]

Lets just hope the guy goes bankrupt from all those legal costs he's hoping will pay off with a win.

Or does it not work that way?

[Mountainous Cleavage]

If I was in his shoes, I'd probably want to sue too.

I'd at least want a refund for the PS3 and games. At the same time though, this guy must of done something outrageously stupid. I know I've been quite the dick before on PSN, but never got banned or a warning or anything. Can't imagine what he did.

Edited July 27, 2009 by Closed and Moved to Archives

[AnnIQ Edison]

After looking up the PSN Term and Conditions found Here it seems that Playstation have themselves covered. I've quoted the main parts which include "Code of Conduct" and "Termination"

Code of Conduct:

Spoiler: Click here to view

2. COMMUNITY CODE OF CONDUCT

When you participate in the PSN online community, you must act reasonably and with common sense. You must respect the rights and privacy of other members of the community and any particular rules applying to any area. In particular, you must not:

* abuse or harass others, including but not limited to stalking or bullying;

* take any action, or upload, post, stream or otherwise transmit any content, language, images or sounds in any forum, communication, public profile, Online ID or otherwise via PSN which we in our sole discretion find offensive or vulgar. This includes any content or communication that we find racially, ethnically, sexually or religiously offensive, defamatory or threatening;

* organise hate groups or use or promote hate speech;

* cheat or engage in deceptive, fraudulent or misleading practices, including phishing for other users' account details or unauthorised use of another user's account or another person's credit card or billing information;

* use any unauthorised hardware or software to access or use PSN or make, or distribute unauthorised software or hardware in conjunction with PSN (including but not limited to cheat code software or devices that circumvent any security features or limitations included on any software or devices);

* modify or attempt to modify the online client, disc, save file, server, client-server communication, or other parts of any game title or other content;

* cause disruption to any account, system, hardware, software, or network connected to PSN for any reason, including to gain an unfair advantage in a game;

* bypass or attempt to bypass any user authentication systems or security feature;

* attempt to hack or reverse engineer any code or equipment in connection with PSN (unless permitted by applicable law);

* take any action that we consider to be disruptive to the normal flow of chat or gameplay, including uploading, posting, streaming or otherwise transmitting unsolicited or unauthorised material, including junk mails, spam, excessive messages or chain letters;

* use PSN in any way for commercial purposes, unless expressly authorised by us (including without limit introducing commercial content or services such as advertisements, solicitations, promotions of goods and services and links to web sites);

* introduce content that could be harmful to us, our licensors or other users, such as any virus, worm, spyware, time bomb or other code that may damage any property or interfere with the use of any content or PSN;

* access, use, post, stream, transmit or distribute any content or material that you know or should have known to be pirated or infringing any third party rights, any law or regulation, or contractual or fiduciary duty;

* impersonate any other person (famous or otherwise), including another user, our employee or employee of any third party company;

* provide us or any third party company with false or inaccurate information, including reporting false complaints to our customer services or providing false or inaccurate information during account registration;

* engage in any activity to gain access to or interfere with any unauthorised account, system, hardware, software, or network connected to PSN;

* sell, buy, trade or otherwise transfer your online ID, your personal access to PSN or any content or services accessed via PSN, through any means or method, including use of web auction sites;

* do anything illegal or in breach of applicable laws;

* use PSN in any way that harms us or any of our affiliates, subsidiaries, licensors, service providers, partners or users; or

* otherwise misuse PSN.

For your safety and the safety of others, please do not provide anyone with your name or any other personally identifying information, or the name or personally identifying information of any other person through any means, including messaging, chat or any other form of PSN communication.

We cannot monitor the whole of PSN and make no commitment to do so. However, we reserve the right in our sole discretion to monitor and record your online activity and communication throughout PSN and to remove any content from PSN at our sole discretion, without further notice to you. Any data collected in this way, including the content of your voice and text communications, the time and location of your activities, and your Online ID and IP address, may be used by us to enforce the PSN Terms of Service and passed to the police or other appropriate authorities. By accepting these Conditions, you expressly consent to this.

We accept no liability to you for the activity of other users on PSN and no liability to others for your activity on PSN.

Termination/Cancellation:

Spoiler: Click here to view

11. TERMINATION/CANCELLATION

If we believe that you are in breach of any of these Conditions or any other terms of service or agreements connected with PSN (including any Additional Conditions), we may take all actions to protect our interests, including terminating or suspending your account and your access to all or any part of PSN, including any third party services and online game features, removing content, implementing upgrades or devices intended to discontinue unauthorised use, or other steps as reasonably necessary to protect ourselves and to prevent the unauthorised use of content or unauthorised exploitation of PSN. We will not refund the cost of any purchased content or services, or redeem any unused PSN wallet funds, on termination or suspension of your account for these reasons.

We reserve the right to bring legal action against you if you are in breach of these Conditions and to participate in any government, criminal or private legal action or investigation relating to your conduct on PSN.

We reserve the right to temporarily or permanently discontinue PSN and any and all services and content available through PSN at any time, including for service maintenance and upgrades. If PSN is permanently discontinued, Master Account holders will be able to obtain a refund on request for unused wallet funds and unused portions of subscriptions.

We reserve the right to cancel your account if it has not been used for 18 months.

[Kaney]

I'd at least want a refund for the PS3 and games.

Why? Not being a dick, I just can't figure out how that would be a sensible outcome, assuming that you were as massive a bellend as this guy apparently was, but in what way would you deserve a refund? The guy can still play games, he can still use the PS3, it's not as if Sony turned it into a paperweight (cue the jokes), fuck him.

[Mountainous Cleavage]

I'd at least want a refund for the PS3 and games.

Why? Not being a dick, I just can't figure out how that would be a sensible outcome, assuming that you were as massive a bellend as this guy apparently was, but in what way would you deserve a refund? The guy can still play games, he can still use the PS3, it's not as if Sony turned it into a paperweight (cue the jokes), fuck him.

Well, true, but at the same time, the online portion of most games is half (if not more) of the interest point of some people.

And to take the price of it all into consideration, for me for instance;

PS3 - $399+

Games;

Call of Duty 4/Call of Duty WAW - $69+ each

UFC Undisputed - $69+

Skate/Skate 2 - $69+ each

GTA4 - $69+

NHL09 - $69+

Elder Scrolls: Oblivion - 69+

Fight Night Round 3 - 69+

Guitar Hero World Tour - $249+ (full bundle)

DLC;

CoD4 Map Pack

Both CoD:WaW Map Packs

Skate 2 Add Ons

+3 Controllers - $69+ each

And I may or may not be forgetting something. But just there alone, that's over $1500 (before taxes). I know that the online portion of my games takes up a good 85% if not more of my playing time. If I was to lose my access to PSN over maybe a couple rude remarks, that'd be a ridiculous waste of money for me. Once again though, I don't know what this guy did to get banned, but if it was just generally being an asshole on the mic/messages, I don't think a ban is really necessary, as who knows how much money he's spent on his PS3 and games, never mind time.

Sure, I could just play the single player offline on Call of Duty, UFC, and so on, but the online was created for a reason. To completely strip people of that seems unfair, whereas a simple ban from voice chat and messages would do just fine. (Unless of course, there's more to it than just being a douche)

Until now, I never really thought of how much I've spent on my system though. Wow, just wow.

Edited July 27, 2009 by Closed and Moved to Archives

[METALMAN]

The idea of Sony giving him a refund is preposterous. Why should he get compensation for something brought about by his own misconduct?

[Crybaby Bunting]

But... couldn't he just create a new psn account meaning he doesn't have to spend $1500 on new things?

[METALMAN]

I'd assume his IP or whatever would be blocked as well.

Edited July 27, 2009 by Cnut the Great