Did you install Linux on your PS3? Then Sony owes you $55

Sony has settled the class-action lawsuit against them for removing Linux functionality.
Text: Rasmus Lund-Hansen
Published 2016-06-23

Back when Sony and Microsoft revealed their seventh generation consoles, the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, they were in a war of who could shove the most bullet points onto their spec sheets.

That war was why early PlayStation 3 designs had three Ethernet ports, and probably also played a part in the fact that you could install and run the Linux operating system on early models of the PS3.

Sony later removed the Linux option with a software update, as hackers had discovered that they could use it to circumvent anti-piracy functions on the console. But removing the Linux features - which Sony had advertised in the marketing of the console - pissed off a bunch of people.

Some of those people filed a class-action lawsuit, stating that they'd been cheated by Sony. And yesterday, Sony agreed to a settlement in that lawsuit.

According to Ars Technica, Sony has agreed to pay $55 to anyone who actually used the Linux feature. The settlement still needs to be approved by the judge of the case, and she'll decide on July 19.

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