Yellow Dog Linux

(from Ars Technica: http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2016 ... from-sony/ )

Quick summary- text by David Kravets:

After six years of litigation, Sony is now agreeing to pay the price for its 2010 firmware update that removed support for the Linux operating system in the PlayStation 3.

Sony and lawyers representing as many as 10 million console owners reached the deal on Friday. Under the terms of the accord, which has not been approved by a California federal judge yet, gamers are eligible to receive $55 if they used Linux on the console. The proposed settlement, which will be vetted by a judge next month, also provides $9 to each console owner that bought a PS3 based on Sony's claims about "Other OS" functionality.

To get the $55, a gamer "must attest under oath to their purchase of the product and installation of Linux, provide proof of their purchase or serial number and PlayStation Network Sign-in ID, and submit some proof of their use of the Other OS functionality." To get the $9, PS3 owners must submit a claim that, at the time they bought their console, they "knew about the Other OS, relied upon the Other OS functionality, and intended to use the Other OS functionality."

Alternatively, according to the deal, to get $9, a gamer "may attest that he or she lost value and/or desired functionality or was otherwise injured as a consequence of Firmware Update 3.21 issued on April 1, 2010."

Sony is agreeing to employ the PlayStation network's e-mail database to notify its customers about the settlement.

A hearing on the proposed deal was scheduled for 2pm, July 19, before US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, in Oakland, California.

Cheers,
Paul

ppietro wrote:(from Ars Technica: http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2016 ... from-sony/ )

Figured you'd seen it, it has been reported to Slashdot too:

https://news.slashdot.org/story/16/06/2 ... ux-debacle

To get the $55, a gamer "must attest under oath to their purchase of the product and installation of Linux, provide proof of their purchase or serial number and PlayStation Network Sign-in ID, and submit some proof of their use of the Other OS functionality."

Which, of course, I can do. I didn't keep my /etc/redhat-release and /proc/cpuinfo from the PS2 and PS3 days around for nothing! Not to mention my gpg signed e-mail/USENET posts (including to the YDL e-mail list) where the X-Mailer header shows I'm running PPC, and the IRC logs that shows me using a sysinfo script that shows I'm running YDL on a "Cell Broadband Engine". Or... "Check the PS2 Linux site archive and the YDL forums...look for a CronoCloud....that is me." Or all the times I've mentioned running Linux on a PS2/PS3 on Slashdot.

To get the $9, PS3 owners must submit a claim that, at the time they bought their console, they "knew about the Other OS, relied upon the Other OS functionality, and intended to use the Other OS functionality."

Which, of course, I can also do.

I'm getting a bit twitchy at some people in the Ars Technica discussion who are claming that Linux on the PS3 was a tax dodge and they removed it when the dodge didn't work. When we both know it was YaBASIC on the PS2 that was the dodge, not Linux on the PS2 or PS3.

CronoCloud

I like it.

Submitted my info,
used my serial and psn id and a screenshot of one of my post from here. hope its good enough as my name is very similar.

acem77 wrote:Submitted my info,
used my serial and psn id and a screenshot of one of my post from here. hope its good enough as my name is very similar.

Where did you send it to?

Cheers,
Paul

Okay - there's an update here:

http://www.polygon.com/2016/10/12/13261 ... ent-claims

It includes a link to the settlement notice here:

http://www.otherossettlement.com/

Cheers,
Paul

Yep, got mentioned on Slashdot...again. You know how Slashdot is about Sony:

https://news.slashdot.org/story/16/10/1 ... settlement

People are saying things "how is it possible to prove this"...and again I'm thinking:

"Didn't you keep your logs/email, or the output of cat /proc/cpuinfo?" Heck, I've STILL got a few config files on my Fedora machine that were originally on the PS2.

Anyway, if you use the online form, when it gives you the option to submit proof, you can use the last option multiple times to submit multiple forms of proof. It won't accept text files however, so run them through Cups-PDF if you're still a Linux user. lpr -P Cups-PDF textfile

You can do the same for webpages, like say a forum page where you discuss the removal of the feature and say that you are currently using it.

Quick update. I submitted my info prior to the deadline. Waiting to hear back.

Cheers,
Paul