PlayStation Network breach lawsuit dismissed

A U.S. judge has dismissed much of a lawsuit filed by a group of PlayStation Network users against Sony, in relation to last year's PSN hack.

Gamasutra reports the users behind the complaint said that Sony "failed to follow basic industry-standard protocols to safeguard its customers personal and financial information," which led to the hack which exposed more than 69 million people's personal and bank details.

However, judge Anthony J. Battaglia noted that the privacy policy signed by all of the plaintiffs before using their PlayStation 3's included "clear admonitory language that Sony's security was not 'perfect, therefore no reasonable consumer could have been deceived."

He added that personal information was stolen from Sony as a result of a criminal intrusion, and since the original complaint had not alleged that Sony was involved in the intrusion itself, there would be no bailment charge with prejudice. Sony did not violate consumer-protection laws because none of the named plaintiffs subscribed to premium PSN services, and thus received the PSN services free of cost.

The judge threw out seven of the eight motions. The users have a short period in which they can file an amended complaint.