Sony inserts anti-lawsuit clause into PSN TOS

The wake of this year’s PSN meltdown still continues to ripple.

Sony has updated the terms of service document that users must agree to when registering with PSN. It has added a clause – called ‘Binding Individual Arbitration’ – which looks to prevent future incidents of the legal action the company has suffered since its network downtime.

"Any Dispute Resolution Proceedings, whether in arbitration or court, will be conducted only on an individual basis and not in a class or representative action or as a named or unnamed member in a class, consolidated, representative or private attorney general action," it states.

Exceptions are made when both you and the Sony entity with which you have a dispute specifically agree to do so in writing following initiation of the arbitration".

Any suits filed before April 20th 2011 are not affected.

Those who choose to refuse the TOS will have their accounts closed and any associated money refunded.

It’s important to note that there is nothing in the new conditions to prevent individuals filing a lawsuit against the company.

PSN users will be prompted to agree to the new TOS the next time they log in.