Sony Might Owe Canada $1 Billion Over PSN Attack

[Tom Goldman]

Sony Might Owe Canada $1 Billion Over PSN Attack

A class action lawsuit filed in Canada is asking for $1 billion in damages due to the PlayStation Network information leak.

Just when things were looking a little bit up for Sony with the attack [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/109692-PSN-Phasing-Back-Into-Existence-With-Enhanced-Security] that may have resulted in the leak of millions of users' personal information, something brings the company back down again. A class action lawsuit filed in Canada claims that Sony owes more than $1 billion to its potentially defrauded customers in the region alone.

Toronto law firm McPhadden Samac Tuovi LLP filed the lawsuit this week on behalf of one Natasha Maksimovic. The suit says that Sony's inability to protect the privacy of around 1 million Canadian PlayStation Network users means that it now has to pay up. Some of the funds will go toward paying for two years of credit monitoring services for each affected user, something Sony already said it has plans to implement worldwide.

"If you can't trust a huge multi-national corporation like Sony to protect your private information, who can you trust," Maksimovic said in a statement. This is the second class action lawsuit that Sony has been hit with over the indicent, with the first recently filed [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/109620-Sony-Hit-With-Class-Action-Lawsuit-Over-PSN-Breach] in the U.S.

The lawsuits appear to raise a question of responsibility. Was Sony truly negligent in some way, or was it the victim of a highly sophisticated attack that any network would have been vulnerable to? No matter the case, the situation has caused Sony some seriously bad PR, and after these lawsuits and other routes of compensation, will probably cost the company a lot of money too [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/109611-Credit-Card-Breach-May-Cost-Sony-24-Billion].

Source: Gamasutra [http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/34499/Canadian_Law_Firm_Files_1_Billion_Class_Action_Lawsuit_Against_Sony_Over_PSN_Data_Breach.php]

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[UlytimateDestruction]

First off its not just canada thats been affected, its the whole world. Second why are you blaming sony for stealing the personell details?, when the hackers did that in the first place. There the criminals not sony. I keep saying this over and over again, but no system is unhackable no matter how secure the security is.

 

[Loonerinoes]

"If you can't trust a huge multi-national corporation like Sony to protect your private information, who can you trust,"

I wonder when people will realize George Carlin's words of wisdom about such organizations.

"They don't give a shit about you! AT ALL! AT ALL! AT ALL!"

 

[StoryMode]

Leave-Sony-Alone!!!! wth X_x

 

[TheRealCJ]

Whether their security was up to scratch or not is up to debate. But the fact of the matter is that Sony has been entrusted with the personal information and financial security of millions of users. If that trust has been breached, then Sony should be held responsible.

 

[darkknight9]

"If you can't trust a huge multi-national corporation like Sony to protect your private information, who can you trust,"

I wonder when people will realize George Carlin's words of wisdom about such organizations.

"They don't give a shit about you! AT ALL! AT ALL! AT ALL!"

Amen to that. And a great Carlin quote at that.

 

[Zannah]

Was Sony truly negligent in some way, or was it the victim of a highly sophisticated attack that any network would have been vulnerable to?

I fail to see how that would make any difference - If a bank is robbed, they have to stand up for the damage they didn't prevent, and "the robbers were really good" is no excuse. Sony fucked up, and they have to take responsibility for loosing something they were entrusted with, no matter if it was their fault.

 

[beema]

"If you can't trust a huge multi-national corporation like Sony to protect your private information, who can you trust,"

I wonder when people will realize George Carlin's words of wisdom about such organizations.

"They don't give a shit about you! AT ALL! AT ALL! AT ALL!"

ehehehe good one
seriously, since when have huge multinational corporations been trustworthy?


also, I had to post this

and this

 

[randomrob]

Is that billion in Canadian dollars or American ones?

 

[K4ndY]

I hate hackers for what this may do to gaming, but it seems really satisfying to potentially watch a corporation collapse.

But... But I likes that corporation... o_0

Seriously though, I get how Sony needs to own up on this whole disaster, but how is suing them going to fix anything. If everyone jumps on this bandwagon, the only thing I can see coming out of this is one bankrupt Sony and millions of pissed off gamers.

Than what will we do? Give our money to Microsoft? *shudders*

 

[Andronicus]

"If you can't trust a huge multi-national corporation like Sony to protect your private information, who can you trust,"

That's a very interesting question, and the answer is: noone. If you have money, and someone really, really wants to take it from you, there's not a lot you can do. They will find a way to hack into your personal details and take it. That's life. When you give out your credit card number, especially online, it is never 100% safe. Never.

Sony may not have been doing all it possibly could to protect their customers information, and yes, they should definitely be punished for that, but even if they were doing all they could, can you honestly guarantee that they wouldn't have been hacked into anyway? It would have made it harder for hackers, but if there's a will, then there's a way.

 

[Frank_Sinatra_]

YES! Let's sue the corporation, because that'll always fix the problem! /sarcasm

Come on people, since when does suing the pants off someone ever fix an issue?

 

[Von Strimmer]

I hate hackers for what this may do to gaming, but it seems really satisfying to potentially watch a corporation collapse.

Oh yeah seems like great fun watching potentially hundreds of innocent employees potentially lose their jobs, not to mention the 79 million or so people that enjoy the Playstation. After all they deserve all the hate for what an outside group does. Obviously Sony cocked up big time and they deserve to have shit piled on them so they don't make this mistake again but wishing for their collapse seems a bit harsh. Trusting anyone with your credit card details on the internet is just stupid as this will probably eventually happen.

Oh well I suppose we shall just have to wait and see.

 

[Celtic_Kerr]

"If you can't trust a huge multi-national corporation like Sony to protect your private information, who can you trust?"

NO ONE! That's why it's called Private bloody information! There might be privacy policies intact but if you place 100% confidence in anyone with your personal/private information then you're a decent idiot. No one is safe. No one cannot be hit.
It's the internet!

 

[Wharrgarble]

I fail to see how that would make any difference - If a bank is robbed, they have to stand up for the damage they didn't prevent, and "the robbers were really good" is no excuse. Sony fucked up, and they have to take responsibility for loosing something they were entrusted with, no matter if it was their fault.

This is a very, very good point. I've been trying to find the right analogy to explain to my friends as to why Sony also needs to be held accountable for this, and I just found it. Thank you.

It's a shame it happened in the first place, but yeah, that's part of the risk of having a major corporation.

 

[Celtic_Kerr]

"If you can't trust a huge multi-national corporation like Sony to protect your private information, who can you trust,"

http://www.metropoleparis.com/2000/530/mail530b.jpg
Loony!

Aye, cause we're never heard that one before.

"Take me home to the great white north city where the beer is cheap and poutine is greasy. OH WON'T YOU PLEASE TAKE ME HOME!!!!"

EDIT: THE FUCK!? Poutine isn't in my spelling correction list! It comes up as a spelling error!

 

[Irridium]

First off its not just canada thats been affected, its the whole world. Second why are you blaming sony for stealing the personell details?, when the hackers did that in the first place. There the criminals not sony. I keep saying this over and over again, but no system is unhackable no matter how secure the security is.

EVERYONE knows that the hackers are the criminals. Thats why nobody is talking about them, because by default, we know that they're criminals and douchebags. It shouldn't need to be said that they're criminals.

However, they're not the ones that stored user info with little-to-no protection. Yes no system is un-hackable, but that doesn't mean we should just keep it easy for the hackers.