The real reason for Sony's sudden change in the terms of service for PSN was revealed to not to be hacker-related or them worried about being sued for PSN's instability but instead due to a recent Supreme Court case allowing companies the ability to remove class-action lawsuits if they pleased.
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It stems from back in April, however it wasn't the attack, but rather a controversial Supreme Court ruling that got Sony's wheels turning. In the case of AT&T Mobility v. Concepcion it was decided that AT&T would be allowed to include and enforce language in employment contracts that would prevent workers from filing class-action lawsuits against the company. I guess that's all Sony needed to hear.
"The Supreme Court recently ruled in the AT&T case that language like this is enforceable," wrote spokeswoman for Sony's PlayStation unit in an e-mail. "The updated language in the TOS is designed to benefit both the consumer and the company by ensuring that there is adequate time and procedures to resolve disputes."
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Sony decided since they are partnered with AT&T for the Vita and if AT&T can get away with it, they would do the same to their own PSN userbase regardless of the backlash.
While the new terms only affect North American PSN users due to Europe and Japan not allowing corporations denying customers the right to class-action lawsuits, Sony has included a hidden opt-out clause with several stipulations attached to it making it easier for consent to be automatically given away.
http://www.screwattack.com/news/psn-...n-terms-change
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Quick News Round-Up:
1) The Forza 4 shows the demo will arrive on October 4 with the retail release of the game set for a week later on October 11. The game will also be having its own Season Pass at the price of $30 with the 30% discount on DLC being applied to the initial six DLC packs scheduled for release.
2) Sega announces two more Dreamcast classics will be arriving to Xbox Live Arcade and PSN with screenshots for Space Channel 5 Part 2 and SEGA Bass Fishing as the games shown for downloadable treatment. The games will arrive on October 4 for the price of $10 (800 MS points).
3) After complaints from some publishers and developers about inconsistent User Scores on Metacritic, the company has investigated the games in dispute and both scrubbed the scores and banned users who have purposely "bombed" the scores. Metacritic was only going after the zero score reviews that lacked a written review which also ended up being done by the same people who were doing the same tactic to all games from just a particular company.