Failure for Sony: 40 PSN clauses inadmissible

Sony violates Austrian consumer protection law with its PlayStation game console. The Vienna Commercial Court found that following a lawsuit brought by the Association for Consumer Information on behalf of the Ministry of Social Affairs. All 40 contested clauses of the terms and conditions of the PlayStation Network (PSN) were therefore judged to be inadmissible. The judgment is not final.

The inadmissible clauses of the PSN Terms of Use concern, among other things, the expiry of credit after two years and unlimited liability provisions of parents for the behavior of their children. Price change clauses and those that give Sony a unilateral right to change services were also classified as illegal. The court also rejected the fact that a free subscription would automatically become a fee-based subscription if it was not canceled in time. Via Sony’s PlayStation Network, users can buy digital content such as games or films as download or stream. “Overall, the verdict is very positive for consumers, as it clarifies a wide range of issues relating to online services and video games,” explained VKI lawyer Joachim Kogelmann in the broadcast. Many other gaming platforms and online services have similar terms of use. Incidentally, it has already been legally clarified that the VKI lawsuit was admissible in German. The defendants, Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe Limited and Sony Interactive Entertainment Network Europe Limited, based in London, had refused to accept the served action because it was written in German, but their legal opinion failed.

Reference-www.krone.at