Enlight of the hackings that were performed on PSN and caused a large number of user's personal data to be stolen, Sony has taken steps to avoid being served with future class action lawsuits.

This move will protect Sony from consumers joining together as was seen in aftermath of the events which somewhat tarnished Sony's reputation.

Included in the Terms of Service is a section pretaining to class action lawsuits:

"ANY DISPUTE RESOLUTION PROCEEDINGS, WHETHER IN ARBITRATION OR COURT, WILL BE CONDUCTED ONLY ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS AND NOT IN A CLASS OR REPRESENTATIVE ACTION OR AS A NAMED OR UNNAMED MEMBER IN A CLASS, CONSOLIDATED, REPRESENTATIVE OR PRIVATE ATTORNEY GENERAL ACTION, UNLESS BOTH YOU AND THE SONY ENTITY WITH WHICH YOU HAVE A DISPUTE SPECIFICALLY AGREE TO DO SO IN WRITING FOLLOWING INITIATION OF THE ARBITRATION. THIS PROVISION DOES NOT PRECLUDE YOUR PARTICIPATION AS A MEMBER IN A CLASS ACTION FILED ON OR BEFORE AUGUST 20, 2011."

These actions are understandable from a business prospective, but in the eyes of the consumers, if you fail them on such as level as was seen from the hackings, a company must be liable for their neglience or wrong doing.