Shame on you, Sony, shame on you. (#ps3)

Do we all remember when Sony got hacked a few months back? It was one of those shady moments for a global(?) corporation - since I couldn't access my account (i.e. no BlackOps online) for a few days, I asked a student who knows about games and he informed me of the hack. I find it odd that I find out from a 15-year old that all my user data may have been hacked. Whatevs.

Flash forward: today I get an email about new terms of service, etc. I don't know about you, but I rarely read those things - I assume the service I choose to use will work and I assume the "risks" are "typical." Today, though, I figured I'd read through. Here's an interesting snippet, near the end:

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. SNEA 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, 12 and 14 of this Agreement, SNEA expressly disclaims any implied warranty of merchantability, warranty of fitness for a particular purpose and warranty of non-infringement. SNEA 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 SNEA'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, SNEA 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.

The first and last lines give me pause: "No warranty is given about the quality, functionality, availability or performance of Sony Online Services." Wait, what?

In a system BUILT on online platforms, you deny all responsibility for the quality of your online service? Where is the sense in this? Rather than be proactive (and logical) and take steps (publicly) to ENSURE the stability of your platform, you shirk that obligation and hide behind legal walls? WTF?

Why are we so afraid of responsibility for our actions (past, present, AND future)? What happened to ownership of a mistake? Simple as it is, the phrase "my bad" captures it perfectly - you screwed up, and it it your bad...YOU fix it. Don't run away and let the problem happen again and claim freedom from responsibility - that is a definition of cowardice.

Let's extend the concept further: here is a role-model for a generation (I use the term loosely). Playstation and XBox are probably more important to my students than email, and I wonder how much these attitudes filter down. Maybe it happens subconsciously, maybe it occurs with slight attitude shifts here and there. But, in my mind, this is the same problem as catching a student cheating and hearing him/her say "It wasn't me." Bullshit. Stand and face your consequence.