(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Sony's New Terms of Service
Source: You must login or register to view this content. and You must login or register to view this content. // By: ClutchLikeMelo // February 17, 2011

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Sony has already You must login or register to view this content., but now they are taking it one step further.

When trying to sign into the PlayStation Network you will be asked to read the updated "Terms of Service". What's in it? This is:

1. ABILITY TO ACCEPT TERMS OF SERVICE
These Terms of Service form a legally binding contract between you and us. By using our Sites, you affirm that you are at least 18 years of age, an emancipated minor or possess legal parental or guardian consent, and are fully able and competent to enter into the terms, conditions, obligations, representations and responsibilities set forth in these Terms of Service, and to abide and comply with these Terms of Service.
2. ACCOUNT AND NON-ACCOUNT USERS
You do not need to create a PlayStation®Network ("PSN") account with us in order to view the Sites. However, if you already have a PSN account or if you create one, you will have access to more of the features on our Sites, as well as access to the PSN online community – which allows you to play games online and buy content and services, like new levels for your favorite games, movies, television shows or original programs. If you do not already have a PSN account, you can create one here: Join PlayStation®Network - PlayStation.com. Note that if you do choose to create a PSN account, you will need to agree to a separate Terms of Service and User Agreement ("ToSUA") and Privacy Policy that govern PSN. When you login to your PSN account while on one of our Sites, the PSN ToSUA and Privacy Policy also apply to your activities on that Site to the extent they do not conflict with these Terms of Service. Except for any internet fees that you are responsible for, creating a PSN account is free, so we encourage you to do so.
3. USE OF YOUR INFORMATION
We respect your information and privacy and will not publicly disclose your personal information to non-affiliated third parties other than as stated in our Privacy Policy. By using our Sites, you acknowledge that we are not responsible for any personal information that you publicly disclose (intentionally or unintentionally) using the Sites’ services such as through discussion forums or message boards. You should avoid saying anything personally identifying in these areas of our Sites.

If you use our Sites you also agree that through your use of the Sites, you may be provided with information about SCEA’s or a third party’s products or services, including promotions, advertisements, product placements or marketing materials within the Sites. You acknowledge that SCEA does not endorse any of the products or services advertised, promoted or marketed by third parties.
4. OWNERSHIP OF CONTENT ON SITES
Everything on or used in connection with our Sites, including text, images, graphics, logos, audio and video content and software (collectively, “Content”) – with the exception of User Generated Content as defined below – is owned by us or our affiliates, subsidiaries, licensors or suppliers. You may not modify, publish, transmit, participate in the transfer or sale, create derivative works or in any way exploit any of the Content (including Content that the Sites enable you to download or save) without our express permission.

Here’s what permission we do give you to use the Content. First, we give you permission to use the Content to surf and view our Sites, which means displaying or loading the Content on your computer in connection with typical web browsing activity. Second, we give you permission to use the Content for your personal, non-commercial uses. This means, however, that you do not have our permission to distribute the Content, to publicly display the content, charge any fee for it, use the Content to create your own website, construct a database with the Content or replicate our Sites or any parts of it elsewhere. (We intend these only as examples and are not an exhaustive list of things you can’t do with our Content).

Regardless of the permissions we give you to use the Content, we remain the sole owner of all the Content, and you do not acquire any ownership rights in the Content by assembling, creating files, downloading or saving any of it. If we have included an author attribution, a trademark or copyright notice or other legal notices on the Content, you should not remove or alter any of these.
5. USER GENERATED CONTENT
Some of the Sites have tools that allow you to communicate with other users and to create, post, upload, share and distribute various forms of content for and in connection with the Sites, including pictures, photographs, videos and other information or materials (collectively, “User Generated Content”). Keep in mind that User Generated Content does not include your blog and message board postings. If you post your insights, ideas, opinions and comments on our blog site or message boards, you cannot prevent SCEA or other members of the community from using them, and you give your consent to SCEA and anyone else to use your posts in any manner.
A. YOUR USE OF USER GENERATED CONTENT
It’s great that users on our Sites can upload or share content with each other, but we do not authorize you to upload or share on our Sites certain items and content. Do not create, transfer, share, send, submit, post or upload any User Generated Content that:
1. Is protected by copyright, trademark, patent or trade secret or subject to third-party proprietary rights, including rights of privacy and publicity - unless you are or have permission from the rightful owner;
2. Contains fraudulent statements or misrepresentations that could damage us or any third party;
3. Contains any statements or materials that disparage, ridicule or scorn us or any third party;
4. Is obscene, defamatory, threatening, harassing, predatory, pornographic, hateful, racially or ethnically offensive, or encourages conduct that would violate any law or is otherwise inappropriate;
5. Is an advertisement, solicitation of business or engages in any commercial activity on the Sites;
6. Is an impersonation of another person;
7. Produces SPAM on or throughout the Sites publicizing a product or event; or
8. Violates any of the rules of Code of Conduct (described below), these Terms of Service, the PSN ToSUA, Privacy Policy or other agreements that we incorporate into these Terms of Service by reference.
B. LICENSE FOR USER GENERATED CONTENT
If you post, upload or make available any User Generated Content on our Sites, you will still own the User Generated Content (assuming you have rights to own it) but you are giving us the right to use your User Generated Content. If you create, transfer, share, send, submit, post or upload any User Generated Content to our Sites, you grant us certain rights to use it (described below) without getting your further permission or having to pay you for it.

In legal terms, by transferring, sharing, sending, submitting, posting, uploading or making available User Generated Content on these Sites, you grant SCEA a worldwide, royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive right and fully sub-licensable license to use, copy, reproduce, distribute, publish, publicly perform, publicly display, modify, adapt, translate, archive, store, and create derivative works from your User Generated Content, in any form, format or medium of any kind now known or later developed, both on these Sites and other online locations, and in other forms or media off the Internet. You waive any moral rights you might have with respect to any User Generated Content you provide to us.

In addition, by transferring, sharing, sending, submitting, posting, uploading or making available User Generated Content on these Sites, you acknowledge that other users of the Sites may use your User Generated Content. SCEA is not responsible for enforcing any rights you may have with respect to your User Generated Content against other users. If you have a dispute with another user of the Sites, you are responsible for contacting the other user directly; do not contact SCEA.
C. SCREENING AND REMOVAL OF USER GENERATED CONTENT
SCEA may or may not pre-screen User Generated Content. SCEA has the right (but not the obligation) to move, remove, block, edit, or refuse to post any User Generated Content for any reason, including that User Generated Content violates these Terms of Service or other applicable terms, rules or agreements between you and us.
D. RISK FROM USER GENERATED CONTENT
We cannot and do not monitor or manage all User Generated Content. We therefore do not make any promises about the accuracy, integrity or quality of User Generated Content and do not endorse it in any manner. In other words, enjoy what other members post or share, but do it at your own risk.
All User Generated Content made available on the Sites is the sole responsibility of the person who provided it. This means that you are entirely responsible for all User Generated Content that you provide.
6. YOUR COPYRIGHTED WORK
Just as Sony Computer Entertainment America, Inc. (“SCEA”) requires users of our Sites to respect our copyrights and those of our affiliates, licensors and business partners, we respect the copyrights of others. To that end, we have adopted this Copyright Policy in accordance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“Copyright Act”) (17 U.S.C. 512 et seq.).
Once SCEA’s representative who has been designated to receive notification of claimed copyright infringement (“Designated Agent”) – whose name and contact information is noted below – receives proper notice of the alleged infringement, or if SCEA otherwise comes to believe in good faith that any specific content, including user generated content, on the Sites contain material that infringes copyright (“Disputed Content”), SCEA may (1) promptly remove or block access to the Disputed Content or (2) deny access to the Sites to users that repeatedly violate copyright or other intellectual property rights. SCEA will take reasonable steps to notify a user who has uploaded Disputed Content if that Disputed Content is subsequently removed or disabled.
Procedure for Reporting Copyright Infringement:
If you believe in good faith that your copyrighted work has been reproduced on the Site without authorization in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, you or a person authorized to act on your behalf may notify our Designated Agent:
Riley Russell
Legal & Business Affairs Department
Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc.
919 East Hillside Blvd., 2nd Floor
Foster City, CA 94404
By phone: 650-655-8000
By email: [email][email protected][/email]
Pursuant to federal law, your notice must include the following information:
1. A physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the copyright that you alleged is being infringed;

2. Identification of the copyrighted work you claim has been infringed, or, if multiple copyrighted works on the Site are included in a single notification, a representative list of all those works on the Site;

3. Identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing or to be the subject of infringing activity and that is to be removed or access to which is to be disabled, and information reasonably sufficient to permit the service provider to locate the material;

4. Your contact information, including address, telephone number, and, if available, email address;

5. A statement that you consent to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court for the judicial district pertaining to your address, or if your address is outside of the United States, for any judicial district in which SCEA is located, and that you will accept service of process from the person who provided notification or an agent of such person. A statement made under penalty of perjury that the information in the notification is accurate and that you are authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right under the Copyright Act that is allegedly infringed.
Supplying a Counter-Notice Regarding Alleged Copyright Infringement
If you are the provider of the Disputed Content and believe a copyright infringement notice has been wrongly submitted against you as a result of mistake or a misidentification of the claimed copyrighted material, you may send a counter-notification to our Designated Agent (whose address is included in Paragraph 1 above). The counter notification must provide the following information:
1. Physical or electronic signature of the subscriber;

2. Identification of the Disputed Content that has been removed or to which access has been disabled, and the location where the Disputed Content appeared before it was removed or access to it was disabled;

3. A statement under penalty of perjury that you believe in good faith that the Disputed Content was removed or disabled as a result of mistake or misidentification;

4. Your name, address, telephone number and, if available, email address; and

5.A statement that you consent to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court for the judicial district pertaining to your address, or if your address is outside of the United States, for any judicial district in which SCEA is located, and that you will accept service of process from the person who provided notification or an agent of such person.

If our Designated Agent receives a counter-notice from you, SCEA will send a copy of it to the original complaining party informing that person or entity that SCEA may replace the removed Disputed Content or cease disabling access to it. Please note that when we forward the counter-notice, it includes your personal information. By submitting a counter-notice, you consent to having your information revealed in this way. We will not forward the counter-notice to any party other than the complaining party.
Unless the Designated Agent receives notice from the original complaining party that the original complaining party has filed an action seeking a court order to restrain the user who posted the Disputed Content from engaging in infringing activity relating to the Disputed Content on the Site, SCEA will replace or restore access to the Disputed Content on the Site or permit the user to re-post the Disputed Content.
7. CODE OF CONDUCT
To allow the PlayStation® community to develop and grow in a healthy and respectful fashion, we have some rules that everyone needs to follow. Unfortunately, anyone who can't follow these rules may be banned from using the Sites or even the PlayStation®Network. If you are logged into the PSN, please note that the PSN ToSUA as well as this Sites’ Privacy Policy also apply.
You are not allowed to provide anyone with your real name or any other personally identifying information or the name, phone number, address, password or any other personally identifying information of any other person or business through any means on our Sites, including messaging, chat or any other forms of communication available through the Sites.
You are also prohibited from engaging in any of the following:
a. Deceptive or misleading practices;
b. Abusing, intimidating or harassing others and stalking behavior;
c. Taking any action, uploading, posting, streaming or transmitting any content, language, images or sounds in any forum, communication, public profile or other publicly viewable areas that SCEA, in its sole discretion, finds offensive, hateful or vulgar. This includes any content or communication that SCEA in its sole discretion deems to be racially, ethnically, religiously, or sexually offensive, libelous, defaming, threatening, bullying or stalking;
d. Organizing hate groups;
e. Uploading, posting streaming or transmitting any content that contains any viruses, worms, spyware, time bombs or other computer programs that may damage, interfere with or disrupt the Sites or computers or other users;
f. Causing disruption to the Sites or any system, hardware, software or network connected to the Sites;
g. Attempting to hack or reverse engineer any code or equipment in connection with the Sites;
h. Making a false report of user abuse to SCEA Consumer Services;
i. Violating any local, state or national law;
j. Taking any action that we consider to be disruptive to the normal flow of chat or other activities on the Sites, including uploading, posting, streaming or transmitting any unsolicited or unauthorized material, including junk mails, SPAM, excessive mails or chain letters;
k. Distributing commercial content such as advertisements, solicitations, promotions and links to websites;
l. Uploading, posting, streaming, accessing or otherwise transmitting any content that you know or should have known infringes or violates any third-party rights, any law or regulation or contractual or fiduciary obligations;
m. Impersonating any person, including an employee of Sony Corporation, SCEA or any third-party;
n. Using, making or distributing unauthorized software or hardware in conjunction with the Sites, or taking or using any data from the Sites to design, develop or update unauthorized software or hardware.
8. REPORTING ABUSE
To report violations of these Terms of Service call SCEA Consumer Services at 1-800-345-7669 or use the moderation tools that may be available on the Site where the conduct is occurring.
9. HOTSPOT AND INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDERS
SCEA is not associated with any Internet service providers, including hotspot operators (collectively, “ISPs”). SCEA is not responsible for any damages or injury arising from or related to your use of ISP services. When you access the Internet, you are providing information directly to the ISP and not to SCEA. This information is collected by the ISP and is not shared with SCEA. Before accessing the Internet, you should carefully read the ISP’s user agreement, terms and conditions and privacy policy carefully.
10. LINKING POLICY
If you link to these Sites from another web site: (i) the link must not damage, dilute or tarnish the goodwill associated with any SCEA name or entity; (2) the link must not create the false appearance that the other website is sponsored by, endorsed by, affiliated with or associated with SCEA; (3) the website may not “frame” or alter these Sites in any way; and (4) the linked website may not be unlawful, abusive, indecent or obscene, promote violence or illegal acts, be libelous, defamatory or otherwise deemed inappropriate, as determined by us in our sole discretion; and (iv) the linked website may not display our Content, including any of our logos, to create a link, without our prior written consent.
Our Sites may allow you to link to third-party websites. Just because third-party website links exists on our Sites does not mean that we have thoroughly evaluated the third-party websites. Those third-party websites do not belong to us, and we have no control over and assume no responsibility for the content, accuracy, usefulness, safety, privacy policies or practices of these websites. By using our Sites, you expressly relieve SCEA of any and all liability arising from your use of any third-party websites linked to our Sites. Enjoy the links, but do so at your own risk.
11. SWEEPSTAKES, CONTESTS AND PROMOTIONS
From time to time, these Sites may provide information about sweepstakes, contests or promotions that may be governed by a separate set of rules and may also have eligibility requirements. You must read those rules to determine whether or not your participation, registration or entry will be valid and to determine all other applicable requirements.
12. WARRANTY DISCLAIMER
We really hope you enjoy the Sites, and we also hope the Sites will function properly. Your use of the Sites, however, is at your sole risk. To the fullest extent permitted by law, SCEA, its officers, directors, shareholders, employees representatives, and agents disclaim all warranties, express or implied, including the implied warranties and conditions of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement, in connection with the Sites and your use of them. SCEA makes no warranties or representations about the accuracy or completeness of the Sites, and assumes to the maximum extent permitted by law no liability or responsibility for any (a) errors, mistakes or inaccuracies on the Sites; (b) personal injury or property damage of any nature whatsoever resulting from your access to and use of the Sites; (c) unauthorized access to or use of our secure servers or any and all Personal Information that is not submitted using a secured transmission; (d) interruption or the cessation of transmission to or from our Sites; (e) bugs, viruses, trojan horses or the like that may be transmitted to or through our Sites by any third-party; or (f) errors or omissions on our Sites or for any loss or damage of any kind incurred as a result of your use of any content available via the Sites. SCEA does not warrant, endorse, guarantee, or assume responsibility for any product or service advertised or offered by a third-party through the SCEA or any hyperlinked website or feature in any banner or other advertising, and SCEA will not be a party to or in any way be responsible for monitoring any transaction between you and third-party providers of products or services. As with the purchase of a product or service through any medium or in any environment, you should use your best judgment and exercise caution where appropriate.
13.LIMITATION OF LIABILITY
We have to throw in some more legal language we need to protect us so that we can provide you the benefits of the Sites. In no event will SCEA, its officers, directors, employees, shareholders, representatives or agents be liable to you for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, punitive or consequential damages whatsoever resulting from any (a) mistakes or inaccuracies of content on the Sites, (b) personal injury or property damage of any nature whatsoever resulting from your access to and use of the Sites, (c) any unauthorized access to or use of our secure servers or any and all non-secured personal information (d) any interruption or the cessation of transmission to or from the Sites, (e) any bugs, viruses, trojan horses or the like that may be transmitted to or through the Sites; or (f) any errors or omissions in any content or for any loss or damage of any kind incurred as a result of your use of any content posted, emailed, transmitted or made available via the Sites, whether based on warranty, contract, tort or any other legal theory and whether or not the company is advised of the possibility of such damages. This limitation of liability applies to the fullest extent permitted by law in the applicable jurisdiction.
14. INDEMNITY
You agree to defend, indemnify and hold harmless SCEA, its affiliates, subsidiaries, officers and directors, shareholders, agents, employees and partners, and any other parties with whom SCEA may contract to provide the Sites, from and against any and all claims, actions, suits, costs, liabilities, judgments, obligations, losses, penalties, fines or forfeitures, expenses or damages (including reasonable legal fees and expenses) of whatsoever kind and nature imposed on, incurred by or asserted against SCEA arising out of
your User Generated Content; or
your breach or alleged breach of any representation, warranty, covenant or obligation pursuant to these Terms of Service, the Privacy Policy or the PSN ToSUA.
We reserve the right to take over the exclusive defense of any claim for which we are entitled to indemnification from you. In such event, you shall provide us with cooperation reasonably requested by us.
15. MODIFICATION
SCEA at its sole discretion may modify the provisions of these Terms of Service at any time. You are responsible for reviewing these Terms of Service each time you use these Sites. By using the Sites, you agree to be bound by all current Terms of Service. To print out a current copy of these Terms of Service using your computer, go to You must login or register to view this content..
16. INDEPENDENT PARTIES
You and SCEA are independent parties, and nothing in these Terms of Service constitutes a partnership between or joint venture of you and SCEA or to make either party the agent of the other. You are not allowed to hold yourself out contrary to the terms of this paragraph (so please don’t), and SCEA is not liable for any representation, act or omission by you contrary to the provisions of these Terms of Service.
17. TERMINATION
SCEA has the right to terminate your access to use the Sites for any reason, including for violation of these Terms of Service. If we ever terminate your access to the Sites, sections 3-9, 12, 13, 15 – 19, 21 and 22 of these Terms of Service will still apply to you.
18. STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS
You agree that regardless of any statute or law to the contrary, any claim or cause of action arising out of or related to your use of the Sites or these Terms of Service must be filed within one (1) year after the claim or cause of action arose or be forever barred.
19. GOVERNING LAW AND JURISDICTION.
These Terms of Service and all questions relating to the performance, interpretation, breach or enforcement of these Terms of Service, or the rights, obligations and liabilities of you and us under them are governed by the laws of the State of California. You agree that all disputes, claims or litigation arising from or related in any way to these Terms of Service and our relationship with you will be litigated only in a court of competent jurisdiction located in San Mateo County, State of California. You agree to be subject to personal jurisdiction and venue in that location.
THANKS FOR TAKING THE TIME TO READ ALL THAT LEGAL LANGUAGE. NOW GO ENJOY OUR SITES!
“PlayStation”, the “PS” Family logo, and “PSP” are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. The Sony Computer Entertainment logo is a registered trademark of Sony Corporation. All other games and properties shown on this site are trademarked and copyrighted properties of their respective owners or licensors.
© 2010Sony Computer Entertainment America LLC.


PlayStation®Network
TERMS OF SERVICE AND USER AGREEMENT
English | Français | Español | Portuguese
Version 7.0 (June 29, 2010)
PLEASE READ THIS ENTIRE AGREEMENT AND INDICATE WHETHER YOU AGREE TO ITS TERMS BY CLICKING THE "ACCEPT" OR "DO NOT ACCEPT" BUTTON AT THE END OF THE AGREEMENT. YOUR ACCESS TO THE PLAYSTATION®NETWORK (“PSN”) AND QRIOCITY™ SERVICES (“QRIOCITY”) (COLLECTIVELY, “SONY ONLINE SERVICES”) IS EXPRESSLY CONDITIONED UPON YOUR ACCEPTANCE OF THE TERMS OF THIS AGREEMENT. IF YOU CLICK THE “DO NOT ACCEPT” BUTTON, YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO ACCESS PSN OR QRIOCITY.
THIS AGREEMENT IS A CONTRACT BETWEEN YOU AND SONY COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT AMERICA LLC (“SCEA”) AND CAN BE ACCEPTED ONLY BY AN ADULT OF LEGAL AGE OF MAJORITY IN THE COUNTRY IN WHICH YOUR SONY ONLINE SERVICES ACCOUNT IS REGISTERED. If you are under the legal age of majority, you must ask your parent or legal guardian to consent to this Agreement and Privacy Policy. By clicking the “ACCEPT” button yourself, you affirm that you have reached the legal age of majority and you accept this Agreement. You also affirm that you are accepting this Agreement on behalf of, and all legal and financial responsibility and liability for the actions of, your child and you hereby expressly ratify and confirm any acts of your child and all users of your subordinate accounts (“Sub Accounts”).
This Agreement applies to software, content and access to software, content and services provided through or in connection with Sony Online Services, including via the PlayStation®Store and virtual communities, whether delivered onto the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system, the PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) system, a personal computer, selected BRAVIA® televisions, Sony Blu-ray® Disc players or otherwise. Such access, software, and content include subscriptions, data, system software, fixes, updates or newer releases and related materials.
If you accept this Agreement, you are subject to its terms and all other agreements that you have entered into in connection with Sony Online Services. You agree that you will not directly or indirectly use Sony Online Services
in any way for any commercial purpose,
in any way that violates the law or the community code of conduct, or
in any way that harms or has the potential to harm SCEA, its parent company, or any affiliates, subsidiaries, licensors, providers, partners of SCEA or its parent company or users.
You agree that you will not use any unauthorized hardware, including peripherals not sold or licensed by a Sony company such as, by way of example only, non-licensed game enhancement devices, controllers, adaptors and power supply devices (collectively, “Non-Licensed Peripherals”) or software to access or use Sony Online Services or any content or service provided on or through Sony Online Services.

1. ACCOUNT REGISTRATION
To access Sony Online Services, you must create an appropriate Sony Online Service account (either a PSN account or Qriocity account). Through Qriocity’s Video on Demand service (“VOD”), you may purchase and view content using selected BRAVIA televisions or Sony Blu-ray Disc players (“VOD Devices”). Through PSN, you may purchase content and services offered on either PSN or Qriocity, such as new levels for your favorite games, comics, movies, television shows or original programs. You may view your content using SCEA-authorized devices, including a PlayStation 3 computer entertainment system, PSP (PlayStation Portable) systems, personal computers and VOD Devices. You will also be able to participate in SCEA’s online community in PSN and PlayStation Home, (including chatting via voice and video with your friends) and play games online. Existing PSN accounts will not have to create a separate Qriocity account to enjoy the benefits of Qriocity. If you’ve created a Qriocity account, you may transition that account to a PSN account. Sony Online Services may not be available, or may not be supported, in some countries and some languages. SCEA reserves the right to deny the creation of any account at its discretion and for any reason. Currently, there is no charge to create a Sony Online Services account, but there may be charges associated with certain online content or services available through Sony Online Services. All information provided during account registration must be truthful and accurate; SCEA reserves the right to cancel any account that uses untruthful or inaccurate information. There are two types of accounts: Master Accounts and Sub Accounts. All accounts must have an associated mailbox for receiving electronic text mail.
If you have reached the legal age of majority, you can create a Master Account for yourself. Where available, each Master Account can create up to six (6) associated Sub Accounts. You are not permitted to create Sub Accounts for adults or persons under the legal age of majority who are not your children or for whom you are not the legal guardian. Your children must be of a certain age in order to have a Sub Account. Sub Accounts may not be available in all countries.
A Master Account has access to and control over the following aspects of its Sub Accounts:
financial aspects;
content availability and
certain communication features.
Text mail from SCEA that relates to a Sub Account’s purchases will be sent to the mailbox of the associated Master Account. At its sole discretion, SCEA may send text mail to the Master Account relating to the Sub Account’s other activities. The Master Account holder is jointly and severally legally and financially responsible for the actions of his or her Sub Account holders on Sony Online Services.
Where available, a child under the legal age of majority can only have a Sub Account associated with a Master Account of the child’s parent or legal guardian. If you are creating a Sub Account for a child, you must provide
your consent for SCEA to disclose, pursuant to SCEA’s Privacy Policy, your child’s personally identifying information to third parties for the purpose of allowing your child to participate in Sony Online Service activities, such as video and voice chat and gameplay in PSN; and
your credit card information if requested by SCEA for Sub Accounts for children under the age of 13 in the United States and Canada or under the specific age applicable to your country.
Your credit card will be used to verify parental consent under laws requiring such consent. You will not be charged a fee for creating the Sub Account. If you do not consent to the disclosure of this requested information, you will not be able to create a Sub Account for the child. If all requested information is provided, a separate email containing a code will be sent to the Master Account’s email account with instructions to complete registration by entering the code into the Sub Account using a personal computer. You will need to create for your child an Online ID that will be associated with the child’s PSN Sub Account. Please note that the Online ID is publicly available to and viewable by all PSN users and your child may receive text emails from any PSN users, including adults, in your child’s PSN account mailbox. The parent’s Master Account will not be notified of such text emails sent to a child’s Sub Account mailbox. As the parent or legal guardian, it is your sole responsibility to monitor your child's access to or use of Sony Online Services, as well as any communications made or received by your child on or through Sony Online Services.
Some content may be objectionable or inappropriate to some users, including children under a certain age, which may vary from country to country. Please consider your child’s age and check any content ratings and descriptions where available, before you access, download or purchase access to any items or permit your child to do so. In some cases, third parties provide ratings or descriptions for items, and SCEA therefore cannot guarantee the accuracy or completeness of such information. In addition, not all content is rated.
Some content that you access on your PlayStation 3 computer entertainment system, PSP (PlayStation Portable) system or other SCEA-authorized may be accessible by all users of that system. Please monitor all access to content and communications that may be objectionable or age inappropriate. Parental controls will not apply to certain types of content such as content that is considered user communication, certain categories of downloadable content or certain categories of streamed material. Parental controls may also not apply to some content that is not rated. Your child may not be able to access some content or play games rated for users older than his or her registered age. In some countries, parents and legal guardians with Master Accounts will be permitted to set their parental controls to override content restrictions on certain materials for associated Sub Accounts. Please see the following website for more information: PlayStation® - PS3™, PS2™, PSP® & PSP® go Systems, Games & PlayStation®Network and Qriocity - Home
Both Master Account and Sub Account holders select their own sign-in ID and password to gain access to their accounts. PSN account holders must also select their own Online ID. All users should safeguard their account information to prevent use by any other user. Certain information, which may include the Online ID, “About Me” statement, avatar pictures, country/area of residence, preferred language and recently played game titles, will be provided to all PSN users, including children. SCEA shall have no liability for any unauthorized usage of any account. Deletion or termination of a Master Account may result in the deletion and termination of all associated Sub Accounts.
2. COMMUNITY CODE OF CONDUCT
You must adhere to the following rules of conduct, and also follow a reasonable, common-sense code of conduct. Users are required to take into consideration community standards and refrain from abusive or deceptive conduct, cheating, hacking, or other misuse of Sony Online Services. Rights of other users should be respected.
The actions that are prohibited include the following:
You may not engage in deceptive or misleading practices.
You may not abuse or harass others, including stalking behavior.
You may not take any action, or upload, post, stream, or otherwise transmit any content, language, images or sounds in any forum, communication, public profile, or other publicly viewable areas or in the creation of any Online ID that SCEA, in its sole discretion, finds offensive, hateful, or vulgar. This includes any content or communication that SCEA in its sole discretion deems racially, ethnically, religiously or sexually offensive, libelous, defaming, threatening, bullying or stalking.
You may not organize hate groups.
You may not upload, post, stream, or otherwise transmit any content that contains any viruses, worms, spyware, time bombs, or other computer programs that may damage, interfere with, or disrupt Sony Online Services.
You may not use, make, or distribute unauthorized software or hardware, including Non-Licensed Peripherals, in conjunction with Sony Online Services, or take or use any data from Sony Online Services to design, develop or update unauthorized software or hardware, including cheat code software or devices that circumvent any security features or limitations included on any software or devices.
You may not modify or attempt to modify the online client, disc, save file, server, client-server communication, or other parts of any game title, or content.
You may not cause disruption to any account, system, hardware, software, or network connected to Sony Online Services for any reason, including for the purpose of gaining an unfair advantage in a game.
You may not attempt to hack or reverse engineer any code or equipment in connection with Sony Online Services.
You may not provide anyone with your name or any other personally identifying information other than your Online ID, nor the name, password or personally identifying information of any other person or business through any means, including messaging, chat or any other form of PSN communication.
You may not take any action that SCEA considers to be disruptive to the normal flow of chat or gameplay, including uploading, posting, streaming, or otherwise transmitting any unsolicited or unauthorized material, including junk mails, spams, excessive mails or chain letters.
You may not introduce content that is commercial in nature such as advertisements, solicitations, promotions and links to web sites.
You may not introduce content that could be harmful to SCEA, its licensors, or players, such as any code or virus that may damage any property or interfere with the use of the property or Sony Online Services.
You may not upload, post, stream, access, or otherwise transmit any content that you know or should have known to be infringing, or that violates any third party rights, any law or regulation, or contractual or fiduciary obligations.
You may not impersonate any person, including an SCEA or third party employee.
You may not provide SCEA or any third party company with false or inaccurate information, including reporting false complaints to our consumer services or providing false or inaccurate information during account registration.
You may not sell, buy, trade, or otherwise transfer your Online ID, Sony Online Services account or any personal access to Sony Online Services through any means or method, including by use of web sites.
You may not conduct any activities that violate any local, state or federal laws, including copyright or trademark infringement, defamation, invasion of privacy, identity theft, hacking, stalking, fraud, and the distribution of counterfeit software or Sony Online Services accounts.
Unless otherwise required by applicable law, there is no requirement or expectation that SCEA will monitor or record any activity on Sony Online Services, including communications, although SCEA reserves the right to do so and you hereby give SCEA your express consent to monitor and record your activities and communications. SCEA reserves the right to remove any content and communication from Sony Online Services at SCEA’s sole discretion without notice. SCEA may use any data it collects, including the content of your communications, the time and location of your activities, your Online ID and IP address and any other collectable data, to enforce this Agreement or protect the interests of SCEA, Sony Online Services users or SCEA’s licensors. Such information may be disclosed to appropriate authorities or agencies. Any other use is subject to the terms of the Privacy Policy. SCEA has no liability for any violation of this Agreement by you or by any other Sony Online Services user.
3. ACCESS TO CONTENT
SCEA may provide you with the ability to buy access to a variety of content, including game-specific items, video content, comics and game and subscriptions. All content is provided by SCEA, including content created or published by third parties. Third parties may administer access to some content, including delivery, gameplay or customer service. To enable third parties to provide such access to you, SCEA must provide them with your personal information. If you do not consent to allow us to share your personal information with third parties for the purpose of providing you with access to Sony Online Services content, you will not be able to participate in any Sony Online Services. In order to access certain content, you may be required to accept additional content-specific usage terms and conditions of SCEA or third party companies (“Usage Terms”). Notwithstanding any provision of any other agreement, in the event of any conflict between this Agreement and the Usage Terms or any other terms and conditions in connection with Sony Online Services or any disc-based product used with PSN, this Agreement shall control.
In addition, you may be able to set your PlayStation 3 computer entertainment system or other authorized device to download or receive new content automatically from the PlayStation®Store without further notice to you when you sign into PSN. Such content will be subject to the terms of this Agreement.
4. WALLET
All access to content may only be purchased from SCEA using funds from a wallet associated with your Sony Online Services account. Your existing PSN wallet will be used for purchase of content or services offered on Qriocity. You must transition your Qriocity account to a PSN account for purchase of content or services available on PSN. All purchases made by the Sub Account or the Master Account must be made through the Master Account’s wallet. A Sub Account does not have a separate wallet. Master Accounts can set a maximum spending amount for each Sub Account, effective at the beginning of the following month. A Master Account holder can fund the wallet up to a maximum amount determined by SCEA (“Limit”), using either
a credit or debit card;
a prepaid card or promotional code with a specified value where available; or
other payment methods approved by SCEA and made available from time to time in each specific country.
SCEA has no obligation to reverse or refund unauthorized charges made on your credit or debit card.
Except as otherwise permitted by applicable law or as expressly provided in this Agreement, funds added to the wallet are non-refundable and non-transferable. Wallet funds have no value outside Sony Online Services and can only be used to purchase access to content from SCEA through Sony Online Services. Subject to applicable law, wallet funds that are deemed abandoned or unused by law will not be returned or restored.
5. PREPAID CARDS AND PRODUCT CODES
SCEA may provide prepaid cards that allow users to redeem content on Sony Online Services or fund the wallet. The value of a prepaid card contributes to the Limit. If you acquire a prepaid card that has a value that, when added to the wallet’s existing balance, exceeds the Limit, you will not be able to apply the value of the prepaid card to the wallet until sufficient funds have been spent from the wallet to allow the sum of the full value of the prepaid card and wallet to be equal to or less than the Limit. Except as permitted by SCEA, the Master Account wallet will only accept prepaid cards with currency value from the same country as the one designated for the Master Account.
SCEA or third parties may provide product codes which can be used to access content, including promotional content. Product codes may not be available in all countries or to all users, and age restrictions may apply. Some product codes must be used before a specified expiration date and in accordance with specified terms and conditions. Unless otherwise stated, product codes may be used once only by the recipient and may not be transferred or sold to any other person.
SCEA is not responsible or liable for any claims arising as a result of prepaid cards or product codes, including any problems or defects in connection with prepaid cards or product codes. Your use of the prepaid card in the United States and Canada is subject to terms and conditions at You must login or register to view this content.. Additional terms and conditions may accompany the prepaid card or the product code.
6. PURCHASES AND TRANSACTIONS
All purchases and transactions on any Sony Online Service are solely between you and SCEA. By completing a transaction through your Master Account or allowing a transaction to take place through an associated Sub Account, you are
agreeing to pay for all purchases made by the Master Account and its associated Sub Accounts, including recurring charges for subscriptions that are not cancelled;
authorizing SCEA to deduct from the wallet and charge your credit card all applicable fees due and payable for all purchases made by the Master Account and its associated Sub Accounts; and
agreeing to any applicable Usage Term and the terms and conditions associated with use of the particular content or service.
To the extent permitted by applicable law, all sales are final upon the completion of your purchase, including purchase of rental content, subscriptions and other prepaid products or services. To the extent permitted by applicable law, access to content is not transferable except as expressly allowed under applicable terms of service. Prior to your purchase, you are encouraged to review description of the content or service you are acquiring and the content itself, where available (such as trailers, previews and demos). SCEA reserves the right to deduct from the wallet any fee, penalty or other charge resulting from a Master Account holder’s request to the Master Account holder’s credit card company to reverse charges for a purchase. SCEA reserves the right to terminate the Master Account and all Sub Accounts associated with the Master Account for failure to pay for purchases, among other things. In lieu of termination of the Master Account, SCEA may elect to provide a mechanism by which a Master Account may fund the wallet to prevent the Master Account and its associated Sub Accounts from being terminated. Except as otherwise provided, all transactions are made in the currency of your country of residence. Features, specifications, prices, services and content are subject to change or withdrawal at any time and SCEA does not provide any refunds in the event of a price drop, a subsequent promotional offering or product removal. Special product, prices and promotions are no longer valid once they are changed or removed. Prices listed do not include sales tax. Applicable sales tax will be calculated and added at the time you purchase access to the specific content. In certain jurisdictions, local laws require that prices include all applicable taxes, in which case this will be indicated at the time of purchase. To the extent permitted by applicable law, all sales are subject to the laws of the State of California, County of San Mateo.
You may be able to make purchases only from a designated Sony regional company which is determined by your country/area of residence. Your country/area of residence may be verified by your credit or debit card number and may be rejected if the information does not match. If you are a Master Account holder, you will receive an email summary for each purchase after it is made, if you have given us a valid, current, operational email address. Please print and retain these emails for your records. You can view your purchase history in the account management area.
Although SCEA will try to ensure that all prices, product descriptions, and its associated terms and conditions are accurate, errors may occur. If we discover an error in the price of items you have ordered, we will contact you promptly. You will have the option of either reconfirming your order at the correct price or canceling it. If we are unable to contact you, your order will be cancelled.
Upon SCEA’s confirmation of your purchase, access to the purchased item will be made available to you through your Sony Online Services account that you used to purchase the item, until such time as SCEA removes the item. We encourage you to download or access your purchased item immediately after purchase. You bear all risk of loss for accessing your content, including completing the download of any content, ensuring that you have the necessary capabilities to view your content, including content provided at high resolution/definition, and for any loss of content you have downloaded, including any loss due to a file corruption or hard drive crash. You are solely responsible if you do not choose to download or access the content before it is removed and for ongoing storage and safekeeping of your content. SCEA is not obligated to provide you with replacement copies for any reason.
If you do not have sufficient funds in your wallet to make a purchase and you have previously entered your credit card information, we may automatically charge your credit card a minimum amount determined by SCEA (“Minimum Fee”) to make the purchase, even if the Minimum Fee exceeds the cost of your purchase. Any difference between the Minimum Fee and the cost of the purchase will be credited to your wallet. Additional procedures apply to subscription purchases. Please read Section 10 (“SUBSCTIONS”) of this Agreement for details. Purchases of access to content or services are not refundable.
7. GENERAL LICENSE RESTRICTIONS AND TERMS
Except as stated in this Agreement, all content and software provided through Sony Online Services are licensed non-exclusively and revocably to you, your children and children for whom you are a legal guardian (collectively for purposes of this section, “You” or “Your”), solely for Your personal, private, non-transferable, non-commercial, limited use on a limited number of activated PlayStation 3 computer entertainment systems, PSP (PlayStation Portable) systems, VOD Devices and any other hardware devices, including peripherals that are sold or licensed by a Sony company, authorized by SCEA in the country in which your account is registered. All intellectual property rights subsisting in Sony Online Services, including all software, data, and content subsisting in or in connection with the operation of Sony Online Services, the Online ID, the access to content and hardware used in connection with Sony Online Services (collectively defined as “Property”), belong to SCEA and its licensors. All use or access to Property shall be subject to the terms of this Agreement, other applicable agreements, if any, and all applicable copyright and intellectual property rights laws. You may not sell, rent, sublicense, modify, adapt, translate, reverse engineer, decompile, or disassemble any portion of the Property. Except as stated in this Agreement or otherwise expressly permitted by SCEA in writing, you may not reproduce or transfer any portion of the Property. You may not create any derivative works, attempt to create the source code from the object code, or download or use any Property for any purpose other than as expressly permitted. You may not bypass, disable, or circumvent any encryption, security, digital rights management or authentication mechanism in connection with Sony Online Services or any of the content or service offered through Sony Online Services. You acknowledge that Sony Online Services and content or service provided through Sony Online Services, may contain security or technical features that will prevent use of such content or service in violation of this Agreement. The Property is not licensed to you for resale, public performance, display, distribution or broadcast. You acknowledge that some content providers and licensors are intended third party beneficiaries who have rights to enforce this Agreement against you and your permitted users. Except as expressly granted in this Agreement, SCEA and its licensors reserve all rights, interests, and remedies in connection with Sony Online Services and the Property.
Additional terms and conditions, including use restrictions or purchase requirements may apply to a particular item. Use or license terms may be more restrictive depending on the item. Please read carefully all specific terms of use for a particular content or service before purchasing or accepting SCEA’s offer. The restrictions to which a particular content or service is subject are in the sole discretion of SCEA or its licensors and are subject to change at any time. Use of the terms “purchase,” “sale,” “sold,” “sell,” “rent” or “buy” on or in connection with Sony Online Services shall not mean or imply any transfer of ownership of any content, data or software or any intellectual property rights therein from SCEA or its licensors to any user or third party. All other company, product, and service names and logos referenced on Sony Online Services are the marks, trade names, trademarks/service marks, and registered trademarks/service marks (“Marks”) of their respective owners. You may not use or reproduce any Marks without the owner’s express written consent. You may not remove any proprietary notices or labels from any content.
8. VIDEO CONTENT
You may use either your Qriocity account or PSN account to purchase video content. Subject to the terms of this Agreement and any additional terms and conditions for the particular content, SCEA licenses digitalized content of programs, including television shows and movies (“Video Content”) to you for your personal, private, non-commercial viewing in the United States only using a limited number of activated PlayStation 3 computer entertainment systems, PSP (PlayStation Portable) systems, personal computers (“PSN Devices”) and VOD Devices (collectively, “Authorized Devices”) during the authorized viewing period (“Authorized Term”). Video Content may be made available to you as a rental or purchase. You may rent the content for a limited duration (“Rental Content”), or enjoy the content continuously (“Sold Content”). Use of Video Content is subject to certain digital rights management rules and terms and conditions of this Agreement. Except for rights explicitly granted to you, all rights in the Video Content are reserved by SCEA and its third party licensors.
Only one copy of Rental Content may be viewable on an Authorized Device for up to 24 hours after starting first playback from the first Authorized Device or 14 days after payment for the Rental Content, whichever is sooner. After such time, you will not be able to view the Rental Content. Rental Content may not be reproduced.
You may select which Authorized Device you want to use to view your Rental Content. If you have a Qriocity account, you may view your content from any one of your activated VOD Devices only. If you have a PSN account, you may view your Rental Content purchased on PSN or Qriocity from any one of your activated Authorized Devices, except that if the Rental Content is in high definition format, it may be viewed on one (1) activated PlayStation 3 computer entertainment system or one (1) VOD Device. Rental Content may not be transferred between a PSN Device and a VOD Device. Once playback has started on a VOD Device, you may not view that content using any other Authorized Device without another purchase. However, if you start playback on a PSN Device, the account that purchased the Rental Content may, during the Authorized Term, transfer that content to a limited number of activated PSN Devices, as described below.
Rental Content in standard definition format downloaded onto a PlayStation 3 computer entertainment system or a personal computer may be transferred to up to three (3) PSP (PlayStation Portable) systems. Rental Content in standard definition format for use with a PSP (PlayStation Portable) system may be transferred to up to one (1) PlayStation 3 computer entertainment system and two (2) personal computers.
You may view Sold Content for an unlimited number of times on an activated PSN Device only. The account that purchased the Sold Content may copy that content to a limited number of PSN Devices, as described below.
Sold Content in standard definition format downloaded onto a PlayStation 3 computer entertainment system or a personal computer may be copied for use on up to three (3) PSP (PlayStation Portable) systems. Sold Content in standard definition format for use with a PSP (PlayStation Portable) system may be copied for use on up to one (1) PlayStation 3 computer entertainment system and two (2) personal computers. Sold Content in high definition format may be viewed on only one (1) activated PlayStation 3 computer entertainment system.
You may have the option to purchase Video Content in high definition and standard definition format. You acknowledge that delivery of content is dependent on variables not under SCEA’s control, including but not limited to, the speed and availability of your broadband or network connection. You may experience delays or technical difficulties caused by or related to such variables. If you have purchased Video Content and view it using a VOD Device, you may not be able to view your content in the format that you’ve purchased due to such variables. To the extent permitted by applicable law, you will not receive a refund or credit for any content that you are not able to view or have difficulty viewing due to such variables. We strongly encourage you to purchase content suitable for your viewing capabilities. You bear all responsibility for ensuring that you have the viewing capabilities to view content in the appropriate format or at all.
Proper activation of an Authorized Device by the account that purchased the Video Content is required for all downloads, transfers, copies and viewings. Purchase of Video Content is connected to the purchasing account. An account can activate no more than the maximum number of Authorized Devices, regardless of the number of copies of Video Content purchased. Video Content may not be transferred from one account to another. You may not exceed the total number of accounts on any Authorized Device. Please refer to PlayStation® - PS3™, PS2™, PSP® & PSP® go Systems, Games & PlayStation®Network and Qriocity - Home for more information on the total number of permitted Sony Online Services accounts. SCEA reserves the right to limit the number of times an Authorized Device may be activated or deactivated.
Downloading or streaming is not permitted outside the Authorized Term. In addition, once Video Content has been downloaded or accessed, you will not be able to download it again from PSN without purchase of another copy.
Some content such as movie trailers may not be representative of the actual feature presentation. Digitalized versions of some content may not be identical with the original formatted content or previously released versions of the same titled content.
Video Content will play on displays ranging from standard definition to 1080p depending on the content. Video output in certain formats may require additional equipment, sold separately.
For more information on Video Content available on PSN, please visit Support - PlayStation.com. For more information on Rental Content available on Qriocity, please visit Qriocity - Home.
For specific information on ratings for some Video Content, please visit You must login or register to view this content. and Com.org - Only the best links ....
9. COMIC CONTENT
Subject to the terms of this Agreement and any additional terms and conditions for the particular content, SCEA licenses to PSN account holders digital comic book content (“Comic Content”) via purchase or download on PSN for your personal, private, non-commercial viewing in the United States on up to three (3) activated PSP (PlayStation Portable) system(s). Additional software for viewing Comic Content may be required. Except for rights explicitly granted here, all rights in Comic Content are reserved by SCEA and its third party licensors.
Some Comic Content may not be identical with the original formatted content or versions of the same titled content not provided by SCEA.
10. SUBSCTIONS
SCEA may offer you the opportunity to purchase subscriptions that provide access to particular products or services for a specified period of time. Subscriptions renew automatically unless you cancel the subscription. The cost of each subscription will automatically be deducted from your wallet at the beginning of each subscription term without further notice to you. Subscriptions may not be shared among any PSN accounts, including the Master Account with its associated Sub Accounts.
Some subscriptions may be single--product- or service-specific, while other subscriptions may be comprised of several content items, services or features, which may include special offers, discounted, free, paid-for, exclusive or early access content or automatic download of SCEA selected content. Individual content items and service within a composite subscription may also be offered for sale separately as a one-time purchase or single-product-specific subscription. Subscription charges may be increased at the end of each subscription term. As each product offering will have terms and conditions that vary, please review each product description, cost and subscription term carefully before purchase or download. As with all purchases, please print and retain a copy of your email purchase receipt for your reference.
SCEA may also offer a free trial period with some subscriptions. If you do not cancel your subscription before expiration of a trial period, your wallet will automatically be charged the cost of the subscription at the beginning of each subscription term without further notice to you. To avoid being charged, you must cancel your subscription prior to expiration. Please review all terms and conditions carefully before you accept any offer or promotion.
If you do not have sufficient funds in your wallet to cover the cost of your subscription at the time the subscription is renewed, the subscription will be cancelled unless the automatic funding feature on the Master Account is set to “ON.” If the automatic funding feature on the Master Account is set to “ON,” your credit card will be charged automatically the greater of the subscription cost or the Minimum Fee. Every time you or one of your associated Sub Accounts purchases a new subscription, the automatic funding feature in the Master Account is set automatically to “ON.” The Master Account holder may change this setting to “OFF” at any time. However, the setting will return to “ON” upon subsequent purchase of any subscription, so setting your automatic funding feature to “OFF” may not effectively cancel your subscription. In order to stop receiving a subscription and avoid being charged, you must cancel your subscription in the Account Management area.
If you no longer wish to receive your subscription, you must cancel your subscriptions via PSN account management or contact SCEA’s customer service at Contact Us | Press Releases | About | Corporate - PlayStation.com or the address located at the end of this Agreement. Cancellation will take effect at the beginning of the next subscription term. Except as otherwise stated in this Agreement, upon cancellation of your subscription or termination of the Master Account or Sub Account, you will not receive a refund or credit for any subscriptions for which you have paid. Further, you will not be able to access content or services provided in your subscription except as permitted by SCEA. Content which you downloaded onto a device and which was provided to you through a subscription at no additional cost beyond the subscription price may not be accessible. Game play information, including trophies earned during a trial offer, promotional period or subscription term may not be available.
11. MAINTENANCE AND UPGRADES
From time to time, it may become necessary for SCEA to provide certain content to you to ensure that Sony Online Services and content offered through Sony Online Services, your PlayStation 3 computer entertainment system, the PSP (PlayStation Portable) system or other SCEA-authorized hardware is functioning properly in accordance with SCEA guidelines. Some content may be provided automatically without notice when you sign in. Such content may include automatic updates or upgrades which may change your current operating system, cause a loss of data or content or cause a loss of functionalities or utilities. Such upgrades or updates may be provided for system software for your PlayStation 3 computer entertainment system, the PSP (PlayStation Portable) system, or other SCEA-authorized hardware. Access or use to any system software is subject to terms and conditions of a separate end user license agreement found at You must login or register to view this content.. You authorize SCEA to provide such content and agree that SCEA shall not be liable for any damages, loss of data or loss of functionalities arising from provision of such content or maintenance services. It is recommended that you regularly back up any archivable data located on the hard disk.
12. USER MATERIAL AND INFORMATION
You may have an opportunity to permit SCEA to share with third parties information relating to your participation in Sony Online Services, including your sign-in ID, friend’s list, communications, purchase history and game play history (“Information”). If you choose to do so, use or distribution of your Information on any third party website or service may be subject solely to that third party’s terms of service and privacy policy. Before electing to share your Information, please be aware of the kinds of Information you will be sharing and review the third party’s terms of service and privacy policy. SCEA may also provide your Information to its subsidiaries or affiliates and vendors in order to provide you the Sony Online Services. You hereby authorize SCEA to use, distribute, copy, display, and publish your Information for any legitimate business purpose, including tournaments and ranking, without payment to you. In addition, you will have the option to create, post, stream or transmit content such as pictures, photographs, game related materials, or other information through PSN to share with others (“User Material”), provided no rights of others are violated. To the extent permitted by law, you authorize and license SCEA a royalty free and perpetual right to use, distribute, copy, modify, display, and publish your User Material for any reason without any restrictions or payments to you or any third parties. You further agree that SCEA may sublicense its rights to any third party, including its affiliates and subsidiaries. You hereby waive all claims, including any moral rights, against SCEA, its affiliates and subsidiaries for SCEA or any third party’s use of User Material to the extent permitted by applicable law. By creating, posting, streaming, or transmitting any User Material, you represent and warrant that you have the appropriate rights to use, create, post, distribute, and transmit User Material and to grant SCEA the foregoing license. You further agree to cooperate with SCEA in resolving any dispute that may arise from your Information or User Material. SCEA reserves the right to remove any Information or User Material at its sole discretion.
Some games played on or provided through PSN may have features that allow your information, including game play, Online ID, Friend’s list, messages and related gaming information to be recorded by a user and distributed to any third party publicly, including users outside of PSN. You agree that any third party may record, use and distribute such information for any reason without any restrictions or compensation to you. Additional terms and conditions may apply, including SCEA’s Privacy Policy and the terms and conditions of any game publisher or service provider. Please review all terms carefully. If you do not want your information to be used, recorded or distributed, please do not play the game online through PSN.
Through your use of Sony Online Services, you may be provided with information about SCEA’s or a third party’s products or services. This information includes, but is not limited to, promotions, advertisements, product placements or marketing materials within Sony Online Services or a game, irrespective of whether the game is connected with or provided through PSN. You agree that SCEA and its partners and providers may collect information regarding your activities, access, or game play, and may use and distribute such information subject to the terms of SCEA’s Privacy Policy or the policies of third parties where applicable. SCEA does not endorse any of the third party products or services advertised, promoted or marketed.
13. TERMINATION/ CANCELLATION
If SCEA determines in its sole discretion that you or your associated Sub Accounts have violated any term of this Agreement, the Usage Terms, or any other terms and conditions connected with Sony Online Services or have otherwise injured or damaged the Sony Online Services community, SCEA may take all actions to protect its interests, including termination or suspension of your Sony Online Services account (both the Master Account and any associated Sub Accounts), automatic removal or blockage of content, implementation of upgrades or devices intended to discontinue unauthorized use, or reliance on any other remedial efforts as necessary to remedy the violation. If the violation is in connection with content that you or your Sub Accounts have accessed, you must immediately cease use of such content and delete all copies from all of your devices. Upon termination of your account for any reason, you will not receive a refund for items (including subscriptions and pre-paid products or services), value accumulated on in-game items or any unused balance in your wallet except as required by law or as expressly provided in this Agreement. Any game ranking or scores, or information in connection with Sony Online Services will not be retained or accessible by you or your associated Sub Accounts. In some situations, we may suspend or terminate your Master Account, but permit you to retain your associated Sub Accounts. If you do not terminate your Sub Accounts, you will be liable for all their acts. You may not alter any of the settings on your Master Account, including parental control settings placed on your Sub Accounts prior to the termination or suspension of your Master Account. Your Sub Accounts will be permitted to use the remaining funds in your wallet provided that the Sub Account has not exceeded the limit you placed on the Sub Account. Additionally, you will not receive further correspondence from SCEA about your Sub Accounts, including purchases made by your Sub Accounts. SCEA reserves the right to bring legal action and to participate in any government or private legal action or investigation relating to your conduct, which may require the disclosure of your information. Unless as otherwise stated in this Agreement, SCEA, at its sole discretion, may indefinitely suspend, or discontinue any and all online access to content at any time, including for maintenance service or upgrades, without prior notice or liability.
14. GENERAL LEGAL
SCEA, at its sole discretion, may modify the terms of this Agreement at any time, including imposing a fee for creating PSN accounts. By accepting this Agreement or by accessing Sony Online Services, you agree to be bound by all current terms of the Agreement. To access a printable, current copy of this Agreement, go to You must login or register to view this content. or Qriocity - Home on your personal computer. If material changes to this Agreement are made, you will be notified by e-mail or a posting as you sign in to Sony Online Services. If necessary, you will be given additional choices regarding such change(s). Your continued use of Sony Online Services, including use of your associated Sub Account(s), will signify your acceptance of these changes. If you do not accept material changes to the Agreement, then you may contact us to terminate this Agreement and your account(s). If there are funds in your wallet as of the date SCEA terminates your account, those funds may be refunded to you and you will not be able to access Sony Online Services.
This Agreement shall inure to the benefit of the parties, including any successors in interest of SCEA. SCEA has the right to assign any and all of its rights and obligations hereunder to any affiliate(s) or to any company in the Sony family group of companies.
If any provision of this Agreement is held illegal or otherwise unenforceable by a court of competent jurisdiction, that provision shall be severed and the remainder of the Agreement shall remain in full force and effect.
Except as otherwise required by applicable law, this Agreement shall be construed and interpreted in accordance with the laws of the State of California applying to contracts fully executed and performed within the State of California. Except as otherwise required by applicable law, both parties submit to personal jurisdiction in California and further agree that any dispute arising from or relating to this Agreement shall be brought in a court within San Mateo County, California. In the event of litigation to enforce any part of this Agreement, all costs and fees, including attorney’s fees, shall be paid by the non-prevailing party to the extent permitted by applicable law.
15. WARRANTY DISCLAIMER AND LIMITATION OF LIABILITY
No warranty is given about the quality, functionality, availability or performance of Sony Online Services, or any content or service offered on or through Sony Online Services. All services and content are provided “AS IS” and “AS AVAILABLE” with all faults. SCEA does not warrant that the service and content will be uninterrupted, error-free or without delays. In addition to the limitations of liability in Sections 1, 2, 11 and 13 of this Agreement, SCEA expressly disclaims any implied warranty of merchantability, warranty of fitness for a particular purpose and warranty of non-infringement. SCEA assumes no liability for any inability to purchase, access, download or use any content, data or service. YOUR SOLE AND EXCLUSIVE RECOURSE IN THE EVENT OF ANY DISSATISFACTION WITH OR DAMAGE ARISING FROM SONY ONLINE SERVICES OR IN CONNECTION WITH THIS AGREEMENT AND SCEA’S MAXIMUM LIABILITY UNDER THIS AGREEMENT OR WITH RESPECT TO YOUR USE OF OR ACCESS TO SONY ONLINE SERVICES SHALL BE LIMITED TO YOUR DIRECT DAMAGES, NOT TO EXCEED THE UNUSED FUNDS IN YOUR WALLET AS OF THE DATE OF TERMINATION. EXCEPT AS STATED IN THE FOREGOING SENTENCE, SCEA EXCLUDES ALL LIABILITY FOR ANY LOSS OF DATA, DAMAGE CAUSED TO YOUR SOFTWARE OR HARDWARE, AND ANY OTHER LOSS OR DAMAGE SUFFERED BY YOU OR ANY THIRD PARTY, WHETHER DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL AND HOWEVER ARISING, AS A RESULT OF ACCESSING OR DOWNLOADING ANY CONTENT TO YOUR PLAYSTATION 3 COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT SYSTEM, THE PSP (PLAYSTATION PORTABLE) SYSTEM, BRAVIA TELEVISION, SONY BLU-RAY DISC PLAYER OR ANY HARDWARE DEVICE, OR USING OR ACCESSING SONY ONLINE SERVICES. UNLESS THIS PROVISION IS UNENFORCEABLE IN YOUR JURISDICTION, THE FOREGOING LIMITATIONS, EXCLUSIONS AND DISCLAIMERS SHALL APPLY TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, EVEN IF ANY REMEDY FAILS ITS ESSENTIAL PURPOSE. Internet Service Provider fees are the full responsibility of the user. Authorized Devices sold separately.
16. PHOTOSENSITIVITY NOTICE
A very small percentage of individuals may experience epileptic seizures or blackouts when exposed to certain light patterns or flashing lights. Exposure to certain patterns or backgrounds on a television screen or when playing content such as video games may trigger epileptic seizures or blackouts in these individuals. These conditions may trigger previously undetected epileptic symptoms or seizures in persons who have no history of prior seizures or epilepsy. If you, or anyone in your family has an epileptic condition or has had seizures of any kind, consult your physician before playing. IMMEDIATELY DISCONTINUE use and consult your physician before resuming play. If you or your child experience any of the following health problems or symptoms:
dizziness
altered vision
eye or muscle twitches
loss of awareness
disorientation
seizures or any involuntary movement or convulsion.
RESUME PLAY ONLY ON APPROVAL OF YOUR PHYSICIAN.
Use and handling of content, including video games, to reduce the likelihood of a seizure:
use in a well-lit area and keep as far away as possible from the television screen;
avoid large screen televisions
use the smallest television screen available
avoid prolonged use of the PlayStation system;
take a 15-minute break during each hour of play; or
avoid playing when you are tired or need sleep.
Stop using the content or Sony Online Services immediately if you experience any of the following symptoms: lightheadedness, nausea, or a sensation similar to motion sickness, discomfort or pain in the eyes, ears, hands arms, or any other part of the body. If the condition persists, consult a doctor.
17. 3D DEVICE USE NOTICE
Some people may experience discomfort (such as eye strain, eye fatigue or nausea) while watching 3D video images or playing stereoscopic 3D games on 3D televisions. If you experience such discomfort, you should immediately discontinue use of your television until the discomfort subsides.
SCEA recommends that all viewers take regular breaks while watching 3D video or playing stereoscopic 3D games. The length and frequency of necessary breaks may vary from person to person. Please take breaks that are long enough to allow any feelings of discomfort to subside. If symptoms persist, consult a doctor.
The vision of young children (especially those under six years old) is still under development. SCEA recommends that you consult your doctor (such as a pediatrician or eye doctor) before allowing young children to watch 3D video images or play stereoscopic 3D games. Adults should supervise young children to ensure they follow the recommendations listed above.
PLEASE CONTACT SONY COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT AMERICA LLC CONSUMER SERVICES FOR FURTHER INFORMATION OR QUESTIONS VIA OUR WEBSITE Contact Us | Press Releases | About | Corporate - PlayStation.com OR BY PHONE AT 877-971-7669 OR AT THE FOLLOWING ADDRESS: SONY COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT AMERICA LLC CONSUMER SERVICES DEPARTMENT, P.O. BOX 5888, SAN MATEO, CALIFORNIA, 94402-0888, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. YOU MAY ALSO CONTACT US FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ON QRIOCITY VIA OUR WEBSITE Qriocity - Home OR BY PHONE TOLL FREE AT 888-868-1986, TOLL CALL AT 239-768-7669 OR AT THE FOLLOWING ADDRESS QRIOCITY CONSUMER SERVICE, SONY NETWORK ENTERTAINMENT INTERNATIONAL LLC, 6080 CENTER DRIVE, SUITE 1000, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, 90045, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
© 2010Sony Computer Entertainment America LLC

I'm guessing you didn't want to read through all that so here's what's new in it:



If you want to continue using homebrew and pirated games I suggest you don't accept. Sony probably just wanted a final reason to ban if using custom firmware because, now you will be further breaking the "Terms of Service" and they've clearly stated they don't want to see any of that.

In my opinion this is Sony's last warning/chance to you. I don't know if you will be banned from here on out but just look at the facts. They've sent out thousands of emails warning you to remove all hacks from your PlayStation 3, now they've even upped their "Terms of Service".

Decisions yours.

xcm crossfire may get you banned. Damn. Can't use my Xbox 360 controller anymore. 2 scared.

I wonder if this will effect mw2 patches as well.

It's about time they stepped up their game.

I think the big part was
"14. INDEMNITY
You agree to defend, indemnify and hold harmless SCEA, its affiliates, subsidiaries, officers and directors, shareholders, agents, employees and partners, and any other parties with whom SCEA may contract to provide the Sites, from and against any and all claims, actions, suits, costs, liabilities, judgments, obligations, losses, penalties, fines or forfeitures, expenses or damages (including reasonable legal fees and expenses) of whatsoever kind and nature imposed on, incurred by or asserted against SCEA arising out of
your User Generated Content; or
your breach or alleged breach of any representation, warranty, covenant or obligation pursuant to these Terms of Service, the Privacy Policy or the PSN ToSUA.
We reserve the right to take over the exclusive defense of any claim for which we are entitled to indemnification from you. In such event, you shall provide us with cooperation reasonably requested by us."

Basically saying if we agree to these terms and service we lose to right to claim or take SCEE to court. I'm all for custom firmware and all but against piracy but you have to give Sony some credit for going so tough on this issue, but it does show corruption where the big Multinational Corporations always get an advantage over the small guys

Im beginning to like this. less hackers

I've got to hand it to them, them certainly don't back down...

And then the hackers fell.....

sony are a bunch of dickheaeds they took this hacking way to far i mean its only third party games. and they are sueing people for watching hacking vids they are crazy

Give me watcha got Sony.