TERMS OF SERVICE AND USER AGREEMENT
Registering for PlayStation®Network («PSN») and Qriocity™ services («Qriocity») (collectively «Sony Online Services») gives you access to a wide variety of services, including, but not limited to, the PlayStation®Store, the Qriocity branded store, game, movie, music and other content, online game play, virtual communities, firmware, fixes, updates, software, new releases and peripheral materials («Services»). These Terms of Service and User Agreement and the Sony Online Services Privacy Policy (the «Conditions») govern the provision and use of Services provided through or in connection with Sony Online Services, whether delivered via a PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system, a portable device such as a PSP™ (PlayStation®Portable) system («Portable Device»), a personal computer, an internet enabled television, home audio or video device or another authorised device (each a «Sony System»).
Sony Online Services are provided to you by PlayStation®Network Europe Limited of 10 Great Marlborough Street, London W1F 7LP, United Kingdom (Company Reg. no 6020283) («we», «us», «our»). When we refer to «you» or «your» we mean the user of Sony Online Services.
FOR YOUR OWN BENEFIT AND PROTECTION, PLEASE READ THESE CONDITIONS CAREFULLY AS WE WILL RELY UPON THEM. IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT THESE CONDITIONS, PLEASE GO TO THE ABOUT US SECTION OF SONY ONLINE SERVICES WEBSITES.
When you first register for Sony Online Services (via PSN or Qriocity), you must indicate whether or not you agree to the conditions by clicking the «accept» or «do not accept» button at the bottom of these conditions. Accepting these conditions forms a legally binding contract between you and us. You will only be able to access Sony Online Services if you accept these conditions. If you are under 18, you must ask your parent or legal guardian to read these conditions and to click to accept or not accept. By clicking the «accept» button, you are telling us that you are 18 years or older and you are accepting these conditions.
SONY ONLINE SERVICES MAY NOT BE AVAILABLE, OR MAY NOT BE SUPPORTED, IN SOME COUNTRIES AND SOME LANGUAGES. See www.eu.playstation.com/legal and www.qriocity.com for further details.
1. SONY ONLINE SERVICES ACCOUNT REGISTRATION AND CHILDREN
You must create an appropriate Sony Online Services account (either a PSN account or a Qriocity account) to participate in Sony Online Services. All the information you give us during this account registration must be truthful and accurate. We may refuse a request for registration at our discretion. You will not be charged for creating a Sony Online Services account but you may be charged for Services you access through Sony Online Services. If you have a PSN account, you will not have to create a separate Qriocity account to enjoy the benefits of Qriocity. If you have a Qriocity account, you may need to provide additional information before you can access PSN.
You must keep your password and other account details secret (other than your Online ID), and not share them with anyone else, to prevent unauthorised use of your Sony Online Services account. If you share account details with someone who uses your account in breach of these Conditions or we believe that your account has been compromised, your account and/or access to Sony Online Services may be suspended or terminated. We are not liable for any unauthorised use or sharing of your Sony Online Services account.
There are two types of Sony Online Services accounts: Master Accounts and Sub Accounts. You must be 18 years or older to create and hold a Master Account. Sub Accounts are for children from ages 7 to 17. Each Master Account holder can create up to six (6) associated Sub Accounts for children to whom they are parent or legal guardian. There is a limit on the total number of accounts which can be created on a system – see your system manual for more information.
The Master Account holder is responsible for all activity on its Sub Accounts, including all purchases and online conduct of the Sub Account holder. The Master Account holder must ensure that all Sub Account holders understand these Conditions, and any changes to these Conditions, and know what they can and cannot do through Sony Online Services. Deletion or suspension of a Master Account will automatically result in the deletion or suspension of all associated Sub Accounts.
The Master Account has access to information about the Sub Account’s activity on all Sony Online Services, including all transactions and communications. Correspondence from us about a Sub Account’s purchases from Sony Online Services will also be sent to the associated Master Account holder.
Your Online ID, and any Online ID you create for a Sub-Account, will be publicly available to all users of Sony Online Services. Your child may receive communications from other Sony Online Services users, which will not be copied to you. Some Sony Online Services may contain explicit language or content and may not be appropriate for children under a certain age. Children may not be able to access Services (including, but not limited to, online game-play) via Sony Online Services rated higher than their registered age; however, not everything is rated. Once content is downloaded, it may be accessed by children who are under the rated age. It is your responsibility to supervise your child’s access to or use of Sony Online Services, including, but not limited to, any communications sent or received by your child through Sony Online Services and to check any ratings or descriptions where relevant. Please see www.eu.playstation.com/legal and www.qriocity.com for more information about parental control tools for Sony Online Services and your Sony Systems.
2. COMMUNITY CODE OF CONDUCT
Whenever you participate in online communities via, or in connection with, Sony Online Services (including forums, games and social networks), you must act reasonably and with common sense; respect the rights and privacy of other members of the communities; and follow any particular rules applying to those communities. You must not do, attempt or threaten to do, any of the actions set out below. Breach of these Conditions may result in suspension or termination of your account and/or access to Sony Online Services.
- You must not stalk, bully or otherwise abuse or harass other users or invade their privacy.
- You must not take any action, or upload, post, stream, share or otherwise transmit any content, language, images or sounds, in any forum, communication, public profile, Online ID, clan name or otherwise via, or in connection with, Sony Online Services which is defamatory, which compromises the privacy or security of yourself or others, or which we in our sole discretion find abusive, offensive or vulgar. This includes any action, content, language, image or sound that is racially, ethnically, sexually or religiously demeaning or offensive; defamatory, threatening or discriminatory; sexually explicit; illegal; or uses or promotes hate speech, violent behaviour or illegal substances.
- You must not cheat or engage in deceptive, fraudulent or misleading practices.
- You must not phish for or harvest other users’ account details or use or share another person’s account, credit card or billing information.
- You must not scrape, copy, aggregate, redistribute or re-use for any purpose any information accessed via, or in connection with, Sony Online Services, whether relating to a particular user or not.
- You must not use any unauthorised hardware or software to access or use Sony Online Services or make, or distribute unauthorised software or hardware via, or in connection with, Sony Online Services (including but not limited to cheat code software or devices that circumvent any security features or limitations included on any software or devices).
- You must not modify or attempt to modify the online client, disc, save file, server, client-server communication, or other part of any Service or cause disruption to any account, system, hardware, software, or network connected to Sony Online Services for any reason, including to gain an unfair advantage in any Service.
- You must not bypass or attempt to bypass any user authentication systems or security feature or attempt to hack or reverse engineer any code or equipment in connection with Sony Online Services (unless permitted by applicable law).
- You must not take any action that we consider to be disruptive to the normal flow of chat, gameplay or other Sony Online Services, including uploading, posting, streaming or otherwise transmitting unsolicited or unauthorised material, including, but not limited to, junk mails, spam, excessive messages or chain letters.
- You must not use Sony Online Services in any way for commercial purposes, unless expressly authorised by us (including without limitation introducing commercial content or services such as advertisements, solicitations, promotions of goods and services or links to web sites).
- You must not introduce content or communications that could be harmful to us, our licensors or other users, such as any virus, worm, spyware, time bomb or other code that may damage any property or interfere with the use of any Sony Online Service or otherwise misuse Sony Online Services.
- You must not access, use, post, stream, transmit or distribute any content or material that you know or should have known to be pirated or which infringes copyright, trade marks or other third party rights, any law or regulation, or contractual or fiduciary duty.
- You must not impersonate any other person (famous or otherwise), including another user, our employee or employee of any third party company.
- You must not provide us or any third party company with false or inaccurate information, including reporting false complaints to our customer services or providing false or inaccurate information during account registration.
- You must not engage in any activity to gain access to or interfere with any account, system, hardware, software, or network connected to Sony Online Services.
- You must not sell, buy, trade or otherwise transfer your Online ID, your personal access to Sony Online Services or any Services accessed via Sony Online Services, through any means or method, including via web auction sites.
- You must not do anything illegal or in breach of applicable laws or incite or endorse any illegal activity.
- You must not do anything that harms us or any of our affiliates, licensors, service providers, partners, employees, moderators or users or is a breach of the terms of any other agreement between us, our affiliates, licensors, service providers or partners and you.
We are not responsible and accept no liability to you for the activity of other users of Sony Online Services or for material published or shared by other users via, or in connection with, Sony Online Services. While using Sony Online Services, you may interact with users from other regions where content, services and age restrictions may be different. Please read the Sony Online Services Privacy Policy to understand how we may monitor and record your online activity and communication to enforce these Conditions and to protect ourselves or others.
3. SERVICES ASSOCIATED WITH SONY ONLINE SERVICES
Some Services which we provide through or in connection with Sony Online Services, the PlayStation®Store or the Qriocity branded store may have specific additional conditions («Additional Conditions»), for example, specific rules for certain games and usage or access rights for Services. Please read these carefully as these Additional Conditions will also form part of your contract with us and may change from time to time. In the event of any conflict between these Conditions and the Additional Conditions, the Conditions will prevail. These Conditions and Additional Conditions apply in addition and without prejudice to any terms and conditions relating to any disc-based product used in conjunction with any Sony Online Service.
While using or logged into Sony Online Services, you may access other services provided by third parties for which we are not responsible, such as online services for game titles published by third parties. Your access to third party services may be subject to third party terms and conditions which you should read and understand before you access those services and any complaints about those services should be made to the third party provider. All Services purchased through the stores provided by Sony Online Services, including the PlayStation®Store, and the Qriocity branded store are sold to you by us, including where you access the PlayStation®Store, or Qriocity branded store via a third party game or website.
4. WALLET
From some countries, you can buy Services from the PlayStation®Store, its associated in-game stores or the Qriocity branded store by using funds from a Sony Online Services wallet associated with your Sony Online Services account. You can buy funds for your Sony Online Services wallet using payment methods approved by us from time to time in your country. We will notify you of the minimum amount which can be added in any one transaction and the maximum amount which can be held in your Sony Online Services wallet. You can check the funds in your Sony Online Services wallet at any time by going to the Sony Online Services Account Management area. If you do not have sufficient wallet funds to complete a purchase and your credit card is registered with us, we will use your registered credit card to automatically fund your wallet with the minimum amount required to complete your purchase (or the minimum transaction amount, if greater).
Wallet funds have no value outside Sony Online Services and are not redeemable for cash. Wallet funds can only be used to access Services from us. Sony Online Services wallet funds are not your personal property and cannot be transferred to any other person. Please understand that the Sony Online Services wallet is not a bank account and we are not operating as a bank. You will not be entitled to a refund for any unused funds, except where expressly provided by these Conditions or by applicable law.
Only Master Accounts can have a Sony Online Services wallet. The Master Account can allow its Sub Account to use funds out of the Master Account wallet up to a maximum spending limit set by the Master Account. Any spending limit set by the Master Account holder will take immediate effect. Wallet funds must be used within 24 months of purchase.
5. PlayStation® CARDS AND VOUCHERS
In some countries, you can purchase prepaid PlayStation®Network cards to fund your Sony Online Services wallet or PlayStation®Network and Qriocity vouchers which entitle you to specific Services on redemption. Purchase and use of prepaid cards and vouchers is subject to the restrictions set out on the cards or vouchers and the Terms and Conditions available at http://eu.playstation.com/legal or www.qriocity.com, as appropriate.
Unless otherwise expressly stated, prepaid cards and vouchers may only be used on a single account and may not be transferred or sold to any other person. Subject to applicable law, prepaid cards and vouchers cannot be redeemed or exchanged for cash or credit.
6. PURCHASES
When you choose to fund your Sony Online Services wallet, select Services which you want to buy using your Sony Online Services wallet, choose to redeem your PlayStation®Network or Qriocity voucher to access specific Services, or choose to access free trials of subscription Services you place an order with us. We reserve the right to reject your order for any reason. If we accept your order, you will receive email confirmation of your order, at which time a contract is formed between you and us on the terms set out in these Conditions and/or any Additional Conditions. If we reject your order made using your Sony Online Services wallet, any sums deducted from your Sony Online Services wallet will be refunded to your Sony Online Services wallet. If we reject your order made by redeeming your PlayStation®Network or Qriocity voucher, the value of that voucher will be refunded to your Sony Online Services wallet.
By placing an order through your Master Account using your Sony Online Services wallet (or allowing an order to be placed through your Sub Accounts), you (i) agree to pay for all orders placed by the Master Account and associated Sub Accounts; (ii) authorise us to deduct the price of your purchase from your Sony Online Services wallet; and (iii) agree that these Conditions and any relevant Additional Conditions will apply to that purchase.
By placing an order by redeeming a PlayStation®Network or Qriocity voucher, you agree that these Conditions and any relevant Additional Conditions will apply to that purchase.
You expressly agree that we may make Sony Online Services wallet funds and Services available to you immediately after we have accepted your order. As a result, subject to applicable law, you will have no right to cancel or to a «cooling off period» for your purchase of Sony Online Services wallet funds or Services. Your purchase of Sony Online Services wallet funds is complete as soon as we make those funds available to you.
All purchases are made in the currency displayed in the relevant pricing information. Prices, promotions and Services, including the content of certain Services, are subject to change or withdrawal at any time. No refund is payable if prices are reduced after purchase. Services may be available on the PlayStation®Store, its associated in-game stores or the Qriocity branded store at different prices for subscribers and non-subscribers. No refund is payable if a subscriber purchases Services at the higher price applicable to non-subscribers. Special prices or promotions are no longer valid once changed on or removed from Sony Online Services.
Prices shown are inclusive of any applicable indirect taxes. This does not include import VAT and duties. Where indirect taxes do not apply, no indirect taxes will be charged. Prices do not include any additional charges made by banks or card issuers.
You can place orders with us only if you are resident in certain countries and your order may be rejected if information indicates you are not a resident of one of these countries. Your country of residence and other card details may be verified by us sending a request to your card issuer for a minimum transaction. This verification transaction will expire automatically but may appear temporarily on your card statement before expiry.
We will send an email confirmation for each transaction to the last email address you have provided to us. All email confirmations for Sub Account transactions will be sent to the Sub Account and the associated Master Account. You can view the transaction history for your account and any associated Sub Accounts in the Sony Online Services Account Management area.
After sending confirmation, Services will be made available to you through your Sony Online Services account. You are solely responsible for the download, storage and safekeeping of your purchases. We do not guarantee to provide you with replacements if your purchases are lost or damaged due to file corruption, hard drive crash or for any other reason and any facility which we provide for re-download for certain Services may be withdrawn at our discretion.
We will try to ensure that prices, ratings and descriptions shown on Sony Online Services are accurate but errors may occur. We will try to correct any errors as soon as these come to our attention. If we discover an error in the price of items you have ordered, we will contact you as soon as possible. You will have the option of either reconfirming your order at the correct price or cancelling it. If we are unable to contact you, your order will be cancelled and the purchase price refunded to your wallet. To the extent permitted by applicable law, we exclude all liability to you for errors made in product descriptions.
7. PROMOTION CODES
From time to time, we may issue special promotion codes which can be used to access Sony Online Services. Separate terms and conditions apply to promotion codes which are available at http://eu.playstation.com/legal or www.qriocity.com, as appropriate. Promotion codes may be offered by us, by one of our affiliated companies or as part of a third party promotion. If part of a third party promotion, they will also be subject to the promoter’s specific terms and conditions. Unless otherwise expressly stated, promotion codes may only be used on a single account and may not be transferred or sold to any other person. Subject to applicable law, promotion codes cannot be redeemed or exchanged for cash or credit.
8. YOUR RIGHTS TO SERVICES
All Services provided through Sony Online Services, are licensed non-exclusively to you solely for your personal, private, non-commercial use subject to these Conditions and any relevant Additional Conditions. The Services may be used only on a limited number of activated Sony Systems associated with your Sony Online Services account, as specified in the Service description, these Conditions or any relevant Additional Conditions.
All intellectual property rights in the Services belong to us and/or our licensors. All use of or access to such Services is subject to these Conditions, any relevant Additional Conditions and all applicable laws.
Unless expressly authorised by us, you must not:
- share, sell, transfer, rent or sublicense any Service or part of any Service to anyone else; or
- modify, adapt, translate, reverse engineer, decompile, or disassemble any Service or part of any Service (unless permitted by applicable law); or
- create any derivative works, attempt to create the source code from the object code, or download a Service or any part of any Service for any purpose not authorised by us; or
- copy, reproduce, communicate to the public or transmit, use for public performance or exploit any Service or part of any Service.
Services are subject to digital rights management technologies («DRM») that are designed to control the manner in which you consume and use the Services. We are able to offer the Services to you at the price specified only on the basis that they are managed by the DRM. Proper activation of the relevant Sony System by the Sony Online Services account that purchased the Service may be required to access and use certain Services or parts of Services. If you delete the account that purchased the Service or deactivate the relevant Sony System, you may lose the right to access and use the Service. We reserve the right to limit the number of times that a Sony System may be activated or deactivated.
Except as expressly granted in these Conditions, we and our licensors reserve all rights, interests and remedies in connection with the Services. All other company, product, and service names on Sony Online Services are trade names, trade marks or registered trade marks of their respective owners.
9. VIDEO SERVICES
Subject to these Conditions (including Clause 8 above), certain DRM rules, and any Additional Conditions, we may license digitalised audio visual Services, including television shows and movies, («Videos») to you for viewing on a limited number of Sony Systems. Videos may be available via streaming or download, depending on the Sony System. Some Sony Systems may only support either streaming or download. You may rent Videos for a limited duration («Video Rentals») or purchase Videos for viewing an unlimited number of times («Video Purchases»). You may not be able to access or view your Video Rentals or Video Purchases if you are not located in your country of registration.
9.1 Video Rentals:
Subject to the terms below, you may commence viewing one copy of your Video Rentals only on one of your Sony Systems during the applicable Access Period and you may only view that Video Rental during the applicable Viewing Period. Both the Access Period and the Viewing Period will be specified at the time of rental. Be sure to read all such terms carefully before completing or confirming any rental. The Access Period is a limited number of days from the date of your rental. If you have not started playback during the Access Period, then you will no longer be able to view the Video Rental. The Viewing Period starts to run from the time you first playback the Video Rental within the Access Period and will be at least 48 hours long. Playback is permitted until the end of the Access Period or the Viewing Period, whichever is earlier.
Subject to the rules set out below, you may select which Sony System you want to use to view your Video Rental:
- You may only view high definition Video Rentals on one PS3™ or other Sony System that supports streaming and may not transfer them to any other Sony System.
- If you start to playback a standard definition Video Rental via streaming, you may not transfer that Video Rental to any other Sony System.
- If you start to playback a standard definition Video Rental via download you may, during the Access Period, transfer that Video Rental to a limited number of Sony Systems, as described below:
- If you download the Video Rental to your PS3™ or a personal computer, you can transfer that Video Rental during the Access Period to up to three of your Portable Devices. Following this transfer, the Video Rental will no longer be available on the original PS3™ or personal computer.
- If you download the Video Rental to your Portable Device, you may transfer that Video Rental during the Access Period to one of your PS3™ or up to two of your personal computers. Following this transfer, the Video Rental will no longer be available on the original Portable Device.
9.2 Video Purchases:
You may view your Video Purchases an unlimited number of times on your Sony Systems that support downloads, subject to the following:
- You may view standard definition Video Purchases that were downloaded to your PS3™ or personal computer on that system and you may copy and transfer those Video Purchases for viewing on up to three of your Portable Devices. Following this transfer, the Video Purchase may still be available on the original PS3™ or personal computer.
- You may view standard definition Video Purchases that were downloaded to your Portable Device on that system and you may copy and transfer those Video Purchases for viewing on one of your PS3™s or up to two of your personal computers. Following this transfer, the Video Purchase may still be available on the original Portable Device.
- You may only download high definition Video Purchases directly to your PS3™, and you may only view your high definition Video Purchase on that PS3™. You may not copy your high definition Video Purchase to any other of your Sony Systems.
Videos may not be transferred from one Sony Online Services account to another. Proper activation of your Sony System by your Sony Online Services account that purchased or rented the Video is required for all downloads, transfers, copies and viewings. Video Purchases or Video Rentals are connected to the purchasing Sony Online Services account and any one Sony Online Services account can activate no more than the maximum number of Sony Systems stated in these Conditions or in any Additional Conditions provided for the particular Video during purchase or rental. Making multiple rentals or purchases of the same Videos will not increase that limit. Downloading will be not permitted outside the licensed term. Once the Video has been downloaded from Sony Online Services, you will not be able to download it again for any reason without further payment.
Some Videos, such as movie trailers, may not be representative of the actual feature presentation. Digitalised versions of some Videos may not be identical with the original formatted item or previously released versions of the same titled item. Videos will play on displays ranging from standard definition to 1080p, depending on the Video. Video output in certain formats may require additional equipment, sold separately.
You will require MediaGo software version 1.4 or above to view Videos on an activated personal computer.
Prior to purchase, you must ensure that you have sufficient network capacity to stream or download your chosen Video Rentals or Video Purchases. We do not accept liability for any difficulties in viewing Video Rentals or Video Purchases caused by insufficient network capacity.
10. SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES
Subject to availability, you may be able to buy a subscription Service for a period of online game play, access to music or other services or activities. Subscriptions last for a fixed period of time specified on purchase, for example, seven days, ninety days or one year («the Subscription Period»). A one year Subscription Period will last for 365 days. The Subscription Period will vary for different services and will be explained to you before you purchase the subscription.
Only the account that buys a subscription can use that subscription. You must not share your subscription with another account or account holder (not even with your associated Master Account or Sub Accounts).
Provided (i) you have enough funds in your wallet or (ii) Automatic Funding (see below) is set to «On» and your payment method is registered with us, your subscription will renew automatically at the end of the Subscription Period, unless you cancel this renewal prior to the renewal date via Sony Online Services Account Management or there is an increase in the subscription charge. You can view the end date of your current subscriptions in Sony Online Services Account Management.
When you purchase a subscription using a Master Account, Automatic Funding for that Master Account will automatically be set to «On». Automatic Funding is not available for Sub-Accounts. If, on the renewal date Automatic Funding is set to «On», your credit card is registered with us and your wallet does not have enough funds to cover the subscription charge, your wallet will be funded automatically from your registered credit card with the greater of the minimum top-up amount or the renewal cost. Funds added to the wallet are non-refundable. You can switch Automatic Funding to «Off» at any time after purchase via Sony Online Services Account Management.
If you purchase a subscription using a voucher code, Automatic Funding may not be set to «On». We recommend that you set Automatic Funding to «On» via Sony Online Services Account Management and ensure your registered credit card details are accurate so that your subscription does not automatically expire at the end of the Subscription Period.
If you cancel a subscription, cancellation will take effect from the end of the current Subscription Period*. You can continue to use the relevant service until cancellation takes effect and will not receive any refund of subscription charges already paid. After cancellation, you may no longer be able to access or use any Services downloaded during your Subscription Period or any additional items related to those Services.
Subscription charges may be increased at the end of each Subscription Period. If charges are increased, you will be informed and asked to confirm whether you want the subscription to continue.
*For consumers subject to German law only: you may cancel your subscription within 14 days of the date of purchase. To exercise this right, email networksupport@de.playstation.com within the 14 day period, stating that you wish to cancel your subscription. If you cancel your subscription during this period, we reserve the right to reduce the value of any refund by the value of any services that you have accessed before cancellation takes effect. Any refund will be provided to your Sony Online Services wallet.
Specific information about individual subscription Services is set out below:
a) PlayStation®Plus
When you purchase a subscription to PlayStation®Plus you will have access to a package of Services («PlayStation®Plus Elements») which will vary throughout your Subscription Period. Some PlayStation®Plus Elements will only operate on PS3™. Some PlayStation®Plus Elements may not be supported in some languages.
Some PlayStation®Plus Elements may be made available for download during limited periods only. If you do not access these PlayStation®Plus Elements during those periods, you may not have another opportunity. Unless otherwise notified at the time of download, your ongoing rights to access and use PlayStation®Plus Elements after your Subscription Period expires are as set out below:
Type 1. You will still be able to access and use the following PlayStation®Plus Elements after your Subscription Period expires, provided that you downloaded them before expiry:
- Premium avatars
- Premium themes
- Game add-ons
Type 2. You will no longer be able to access and use the following PlayStation®Plus Elements after your Subscription Period expires, even if you downloaded them before expiry:
- PlayStation®Network games
- PS one® games
- minis
- Premium game elements
If you do not renew your subscription immediately at the end of each Subscription Period, but later renew your subscription, you may lose your rights to access any Type 2 PlayStation®Plus Elements.
PlayStation®Plus Elements may also be available for non-subscribers to purchase from the PlayStation®Store.
The following PlayStation®Plus Elements are only available for subscribers to access and use during the Subscription Period. Additional terms relating to individual PlayStation®Plus Elements are set out below:
Automatic download
You can choose to activate automatic download on your PS3™ via System Settings on the XMB. This feature can only be activated or deactivated by one PSN account per PS3™ and the setting will then apply to all PSN accounts registered to that console. Each PSN account may only activate this feature on one PS3™ at a time.
When automatic download is activated on your console, provided that the console is on stand-by and connected to the internet, the console will be automatically activated approximately every 48 hours during a time period set by you. During that period, various Services such as system software, game patches and game demos may be automatically downloaded to the console («Automatically Downloaded Material»).
Any system software updates made available as Automatically Downloaded Material will not be installed until you have accepted the relevant terms for that system software. Game patches will be based on the games most recently played on your console. There may be a limit on the number of automatically downloaded game demos available per console at any time. Once this limit is reached, un-accessed game demos may be deleted to make room for new game demos during each subsequent automatic download. Automatically Downloaded Material which has not been accessed within one month of download may be automatically deleted from your console.
Automatically Downloaded Material may not be downloaded if the remaining disk space on your console is less than 5GB, your console is already switched on at the time you have chosen for the automatic download or the system software is not the most recent release.
Automatic Download does not affect your rights and obligations set out in Clause 10.
Discounts
From time to time, during your Subscription Period, you will be offered discounted prices on certain PlayStation®Store Services. Rights to those Services will be specified in the product description at the time of purchase.
Early access to new releases
From time to time, during your Subscription Period, you may have the chance to purchase new releases on the PlayStation®Store before they become available to non-subscribers.
Full game trial
From time to time, during your Subscription Period you may be offered the opportunity to download full versions of games to play on a free trial basis. The length of the trial will be specified in the product description. You must be connected to the PSN when the game is booted for the first time. The trial period will run from first boot. During the trial period, save files will be created and trophies can be unlocked, but will not be uploaded to the server. If you later purchase the game, your saved files and trophies will be applied.
Priority access to beta game titles
From time to time, during your Subscription Period, you may be offered priority access to beta game titles. Participation in beta trials is not guaranteed, and will be subject to Additional Conditions.
b) Music Unlimited powered by Qriocity™
When you purchase a basic or premium subscription to Music Unlimited powered by Qriocity (the «Music Service») you will have access to the features indicated below:
Basic subscription: Premium subscription:
Listen to millions of music tracks from your BRAVIA TV, Blu-ray Home Theatre System, PS3™ or personal computer, including VAIO
Basic subscription: Premium subscription:
Add your existing music and playlists from your personal computer to My Library managed in the cloud using Music Sync™
Basic subscription: Premium subscription:
Full access to Basic channels – enjoy a variety of advertisement free music channels grouped by era, genre and mood, or «SensMe™», compiled from millions of tracks and personalised to your taste. For the basic subscription only, on demand playback of each track is limited to 30 seconds.
Basic subscription: Premium subscription:
Full access to Premium channels – in addition to the basic channels, further enjoy a variety of premium music channels including the Global Top 100 channel compiled from the music service library.
Basic subscription: Premium subscription:
Full unlimited search and playback from millions of tracks
Basic subscription: Premium subscription:
Create your own playlists
You may purchase subscriptions, including free trial subscriptions, to the Music Service if you hold a Sony Online Services Master Account with registered credit card details. Free trial subscriptions are subject to the terms of this Agreement and any Additional Conditions and, unless cancelled by you prior to the end of the initial Subscription Period, will automatically renew into a paid subscription. It may be possible to upgrade a basic subscription to a premium subscription, subject to payment of any applicable subscription fees. If you upgrade your subscription during a Subscription Period, you will not receive a refund for any unused portion of your basic subscription. Upgrades will take effect immediately.
You must activate each Sony System prior to using it to access the Music Service for the first time. You may only playback the Music Service from one Sony System at a time, using your Sony Online Services account that purchased the subscription. Repeated breach of this requirement may result in your Sony System being temporarily de-activated from the Music Service. Please note that not all Sony Systems may have access to the features set out above.
When you subscribe to the Music Service you may choose to enable Music Sync. If enabled, Music Sync will automatically scan the hard drive of your activated personal computer and extract data relating to music tracks in your music files, including playlists, ratings and information about the number of times a song was played and the date it was last played. This information will only be extracted in relation to music tracks that: (i) do not have DRM protection, and (ii) are already held within the Music Service library. The data will be used to provide you with the Music Service. Use of Music Sync may be subject to Additional Conditions.
11. MAINTENANCE AND UPGRADES
From time to time, we may want to provide you with new Services to ensure that Sony Online Services or your PS3™, Portable Device or other Sony Systems are functioning properly in accordance with our guidelines. Any such Services may be downloaded automatically and without further notice when you sign into Sony Online Services, and may include automatic updates or upgrades which may change your current operating system and could cause loss of data or content, or loss of function or utility. Such upgrades or updates may be provided for system software for your PS3™, Portable Device or other Sony System. Access to or use of any system software is subject to terms and conditions of a separate end user licence agreement. Data and content may also be lost during maintenance or repair of your equipment. You must archive your personal photo, music and video content regularly to prevent such loss of data. You hereby authorise us to provide such Services and agree that, to the extent permitted by applicable law, we are not liable for any loss of data, content, function or utility.
In addition, you may be able to set your PS3™ or other Sony System to download new content from Sony Online Services automatically without further notice to you when you sign into Sony Online Services. These Conditions shall apply to any such content.
12. USER MATERIAL
You may have the opportunity to post, stream or transmit pictures, photographs, game-related materials, music, home video content or other information through or in connection with Sony Online Services to share with others («User Material»). We may provide you with material («SCEE Material») to use in the creation of User Material. User Material created by you will belong to you, although any SCEE Material will still belong to us and/or our licensors as explained in Section 8 above.
You authorise us, our affiliated companies and other Sony Online Services users, to use, distribute, copy, modify, display, and publish your User Material throughout Sony Online Services and other associated services. You also authorise us and our affiliated companies, without payment to you, to license, sell and otherwise commercially exploit your User Material (for example, selling subscriptions to access User Material and/or receiving advertising revenue related to User Material), and to use your User Material in the promotion of Sony Online Services products and services. You must not commercially exploit User Material without our consent. You waive any moral rights you may have in your User Material. By posting, streaming or transmitting User Material you represent and warrant that you have all rights necessary to use, post, stream and transmit such User Material and to grant the rights set out in this paragraph.
You agree to cooperate with us and our affiliates and subsidiaries in resolving any dispute that may arise from your User Material. We reserve the right to refuse to upload and/or to remove any User Material at our discretion.
13. TERMINATION/CANCELLATION
If we believe that you or a Sub Account for which you are liable are in breach of any of these Conditions or any other terms of service or agreements connected with Sony Online Services or other services provided by us or our affiliates (including any Additional Conditions) or we believe that your account has been compromised, we may take all actions to protect our interests as we believe are reasonable in the circumstances, including terminating or suspending your account and/or disabling access from your Sony System to all or any part of Sony Online Services. This may include disabling access to services and online game features provided by us or third parties, removing Services or amending Services, implementing upgrades or devices intended to discontinue unauthorised use, or such other steps as are reasonably necessary to protect ourselves, our affiliates, third parties or other users, and to prevent the unauthorised use or exploitation of Sony Online Services. Unless otherwise required by applicable law, we will not refund the cost of any purchased Services, or redeem any unused Sony Online Services wallet funds, on termination or suspension of your account or disabling of your Sony System for these reasons. However, we reserve the right (but have no obligation) to cancel your subscriptions with immediate effect, in which case we would not deduct further payments. If your account is terminated or suspended under these circumstances and you want to ensure your subscriptions are not renewed, please contact customer services.
We reserve the right to bring legal action against you if you are in breach of these Conditions and to participate in any government, criminal or private legal action or investigation relating to your conduct on Sony Online Services.
We reserve the right to temporarily or permanently discontinue any or all Sony Online Services and any and all Services available through Sony Online Services at any time, including for service maintenance and upgrades. If Sony Online Services are permanently discontinued, Master Account holders will be able to obtain a refund on request for unused wallet funds and unused portions of subscriptions. Subject to applicable law, we reserve the right to cancel your account if it has not been used for 18 months.
You may cancel your account by contacting us (see About Us section for details). Unless otherwise expressly provided by applicable law, you will not be entitled to a refund of unused wallet funds upon cancellation.
14. CHANGES TO THESE CONDITIONS
We may make changes to these Conditions from time to time. You will be notified of material changes by a posting as you sign in to Sony Online Services, by PSN message or by email to your current email address as registered on your Sony Online Services account. To access a printable, current copy of these Conditions, go to http://eu.playstation.com/legal or www.qriocity.com. Please check regularly to ensure that you are aware of any changes. Your continued use of Sony Online Services (via a Master Account or Sub Account) after any changes signifies acceptance of these changes by you and any Sub Account holders. If you do not accept changes to these Conditions you must stop using Sony Online Services. If you are a Master Account holder and there are funds in your wallet prior to your refusal to accept changes to the Conditions, you must contact us and we will terminate your account (and any associated Sub Accounts) and refund any unused wallet funds. You will not be able to access Sony Online Services.
We may assign our rights and obligations under these Conditions without your consent provided that such assignment does not adversely affect your rights under these Conditions.
15. GOVERNING LAW AND JURISDICTION
To the extent permitted by applicable law, these Conditions, and any non-contractual obligations or liabilities arising out of or in connection with these Conditions, or your use of Sony Online Services, shall be construed and interpreted in accordance with the laws of England and the contract between you and us shall be deemed to have been formed and performed in England.
16. WARRANTY DISCLAIMER AND LIMITATION OF LIABILITY
Other than as set out in these Conditions, we give no warranty about the quality, functionality, availability, completeness, accuracy or performance of Sony Online Services or any Services available via Sony Online Services. We do not guarantee Sony Online Services will always be available or error free and we assume no liability for your inability to purchase or use any Services.
Services purchased from us may not be compatible with software, consoles or other Sony Systems licensed for sale outside Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Oceania; we give no warranty about compatibility with such software, consoles or other Sony Systems and you will not be entitled to a refund if you cannot use Services for this reason.
We exclude all liability for loss of data or unauthorised access to your data, Sony Online Services account or Sony Online Services wallet and for damage caused to your software or hardware as a result of using or accessing Sony Online Services. You are responsible for your Internet Service Provider fees and any other fees related to your use of Sony Online Services, including any increase in such fees resulting from your use of Sony Online Services.
If we are liable to you for failure to deliver Services, our liability is limited either to re-providing the relevant Service or (at our option) refunding the amount you paid for the Service to your Sony Online Services wallet. Our liability in any other circumstances is limited to £25 (or equivalent in local currency) or, if higher, the amount of unused funds in your Sony Online Services wallet.
These Conditions set out your sole and exclusive rights in connection with Sony Online Services. These Conditions and the above limitations, exclusions and disclaimers apply to the maximum extent permitted by applicable law. However you may have other legal rights as a consumer which are not affected by these Conditions.
Version 4.7 (20 December 2010)
Privacy Policy
PlayStation®Network Europe Limited will collect personal information about you when you access or use PlayStation®Network («PSN») and/or Qriocity™ services («Qriocity») (collectively «Sony Online Services»), including, but not limited to: the PlayStation®Store; the Qriocity branded store; game, movie, music and other services; and virtual communities. This Privacy Policy tells you how we will use this information and how you can contact us about this.
1. Creating a Sony Online Services Account
There are two types of Sony Online Services accounts: Master Accounts and Sub Accounts. For more information about this, please see our Terms of Service and User Agreement. When we use the term «you» in this Privacy Policy, we are referring to the user of Sony Online Services.
When you register a Master Account with Sony Online Services, we collect information from you, such as your name, email address, postal address, date of birth, gender, language, password and any parental control options. We may also ask you to complete market research surveys. If you create any Sub Accounts, we will collect information from you about the Sub Account holders. You must obtain the consent of the Sub Account holder to provide this information and for us to store and use their personal information in accordance with this Privacy Policy.
2. Your Online ID
When you register a Master or Sub Account, you may choose an Online ID. Your Online ID is your public nickname while you are using Sony Online Services and may be visible to all Sony Online Services users. Other users, such as people whom you meet or play online, can use your Online ID to send you messages or chat. If you accept other users as your «Friends» in Sony Online Services, they can check what you are doing within Sony Online Services at any time. Your Online ID, «About Me» statement, avatar, language, country and gaming statistics may be displayed in Sony Online Services or on websites related to Sony Online Services. Your online activity, including your Online ID and public statements, may be recorded and distributed outside Sony Online Services by us, or by other users without your knowledge. We recommend that you don’t include any information which could be used to identify you in your Online ID or other public statements.
3. Using Sony Online Services
Each time you sign in to Sony Online Services, we will collect information automatically without further notice to you, for example:
- your Online ID
- your IP address and device MAC address (the unique numbers which identify the network and device you are using) and date and time of sign in;
- information about the hardware you are using and how you have used it, such as model and serial number, parental control settings, photograph and music settings, remote play settings, information about devices connected to the hardware, how many items are stored on the hardware or have been used with the hardware and other related information;
- how you use Sony Online Services, for example, what games or music you play, what content you browse or download, what services you access and for how long, including how often you use chat, message boards or other communication services;
- your gamer profile, game matching, uploaded scores and rankings, your Friends and block lists and your appearance on other user’s Friends or block lists.
If you buy funds for your Sony Online Services wallet or make any other payments via Sony Online Services, you must provide your payment details, such as credit card numbers, cardholder name, commencement and expiry date, and security codes, in order to process your payment. Credit card details will be stored for future purchases, unless you remove them from your account via your Sony Online Services Account Management area. We will keep a record of payments into your Sony Online Services wallet and the purchases you make via Sony Online Services.
4. What do we do with your information?
We use your personal information to operate Sony Online Services and to provide the services you ask for, including online gaming, community features, communications, downloads, subscriptions, beta trials, promotions, in-game advertising and competitions. We may retain, use and disclose your personal information, subject to applicable laws, to:
- maintain your account (including ensuring the accuracy of the billing on your account)
- deal with your customer service requests
- confirm your Sony Online Services account details and any transactions on your account and give you information about Sony Online Services (for example, if you lose your password or if changes are made to the Sony Online Services Terms of Service and User Agreement or this Policy)
- carry out research and analysis to improve our products and services, for example via crash reports
- process your purchases and carry out credit checks; we will provide your payment details to banks and to other relevant third parties in order to complete your purchase and obtain payment
- keep records of transactions for our internal records and for internal auditing, accounting, compliance and legal purposes
- market and promote new products and services to you, both within Sony Online Services and, if you choose, by email and other direct marketing (see Clause 9 below for information about opting out). This may include using your personal information to identify products, services and promotions which we believe will be of particular interest to you
- enforce the Sony Online Services Terms of Service and User Agreement and any rules or codes of conduct applying to your use of Sony Online Services.
5. Who else has access to your information
Your information will be available to other Sony group companies who need that information to provide you with Sony Online Services and to companies who help to operate Sony Online Services and to process your payments for us (for example, companies who support our IT systems, provide customer services, carry out credit checks and monitor communications). They will comply with this Privacy Policy and we will be responsible for their use of your information.
You may also be invited to use your Sony Online Services account details to log in to online game features, online services and websites offered by other companies who are not part of the Sony group, such as third party game publishers, social networking and game consolidation sites. If you use your Sony Online Services account to access these services, we will share your account details with those companies, so that they can operate these services, conduct their own research and analysis on these services and they may also market their products and services to you in accordance with applicable law. For example, we will share gameplay information and your parental control options with the publishers of games which you play online. We are not responsible for how these companies use or publish your personal information. They may have their own privacy policies governing how they will use your information, which we encourage you to access and read before using any service supported by them. By using your Sony Online Services account details to log in to third party websites or online services, you confirm that you want us to share your account details in this way.
You should always take great care before providing your Sony Online Services account details to a third party as some sites may use your details to access your Sony Online Services account without your consent or for other fraudulent purposes.
Your information may be available to third parties during negotiations for a transfer of all or part of our business and may be transferred by us as part of that business. We may retain, use and/or disclose any of your information as required or permitted by law, regulation or order, including to the police or other appropriate authorities, to investigate complaints made by or against you, or to protect or defend ourselves, or others, against illegal, criminal or harmful activities.
6. Transfer of your information outside Europe
As Sony Online Services is a global service, your information will be processed, stored and transferred for the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy to countries outside the European Economic Area (EEA), such as the United States, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. It will be processed by staff operating outside the EEA who work for us or for one of our group companies or suppliers and may be seen by other users in those countries. Data protection laws in these countries may not offer the same level of protection as in the EEA and you may have fewer legal rights in relation to your information. If you are not happy for this transfer to take place, you should not access and use Sony Online Services.
7. In Service Advertising
Some Sony Online Services incorporate dynamic advertisement serving technology which enables advertising to be temporarily uploaded into the service on your device and replaced while you are online. If you use those services, we will log information from your device to ensure that the appropriate advertising is presented at the right location within the service and to calculate the number of unique and repeat views of advertising. Logged data may include IP address and console or device MAC address, in service location, length of time an advert was visible, size of the advert and angle of view. We may use information which we have about you to present adverts which we believe will be of particular interest to you. Logged data will be shared with third party companies who operate the advertisement serving technology.
8. Monitoring of Communications
We cannot monitor the whole of Sony Online Services and make no commitment to do so. However, we reserve the right in our sole discretion to monitor and record your online activity and communication throughout Sony Online Services and to remove any content from Sony Online Services at our sole discretion, without further notice to you. Any information collected in this way, including the content of your voice and text communications, the time and location of your activities, and your Online ID and IP address, may be used by us to enforce the Sony Online Services Terms of Service and User Agreement, to comply with the law and to protect our rights and those of our licensors and users, and the personal safety of our employees and users. This information may be passed to the police or other appropriate authorities. By accepting this Privacy Policy or the Sony Online Services Terms of Service and User Agreement, you expressly consent to this.
9. Changing Details and Unsubscribe
If you want to change or update your details, you can do so via your Sony Online Services Account Management area. If you want to opt-out of receiving marketing information and advertising, you can also do so via your Sony Online Services Account Management area or by switching off the relevant feature. We will aim to process your request as soon as reasonably practicable and in any event, within 28 days.
10. Cookies
We use cookies to store specific information about you and to track your access to and use of Sony Online Services, and to operate Sony Online Services, including recognising your country/language selection for PlayStation®Store and the Qriocity branded store. Cookies are small text files automatically sent by us to your system, stored on your system and then sent back to us by your system each time that you access and use Sony Online Services. By accepting the Sony Online Services Terms of Service and User Agreement and this Privacy Policy, you consent to our use of cookies for this purpose.
11. Security
We will take appropriate technical and organisational steps to prevent unauthorised access to or disclosure of your information. However, we do not guarantee that we will eliminate all risk of misuse of your personal information. You are responsible for keeping your password secret to prevent unauthorised access to and use of your Sony Online Services account and any payment details which you have saved for your account. We ask you not to share your password with anyone. Remember to turn «Save Password» off before letting anyone else use your Sony Online Services account or giving your PSP® (PlayStation®Portable), PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system, personal computer, BRAVIA® television or Blu-ray™ Disc player to anyone else, including for return to a shop or for repair.
12. Children
You must be 18 to hold a Master Account on Sony Online Services. Children under 18 may only hold Sub Accounts associated to a Master Account held by their parent or legal guardian. Depending upon the age of the child and local laws, we may email the parent or guardian of any child registered on Sony Online Services in order to confirm the parent or guardian’s consent to registration and to use of their child’s personal information as explained in this Privacy Policy.
13. Your Rights
You have the right to know what information we hold about you and how that information is used. If you would like to know what information we currently hold about you, please contact customer services via the contact details on the About Us page or write to Data Protection Officer, PlayStation®Network Europe Limited, 10 Great Marlborough Street, London W1F 7LP, United Kingdom. Where you require access to information we hold about you, we will require you to put your request in writing and provide proof of identity and you may be charged a small administration fee, subject to applicable laws.
14. Changes to this Privacy Policy
We may make changes to this Privacy Policy from time to time. To access a printable, current copy of this Privacy Policy, go to www.eu.playstation.com/legal or www.qriocity.com. Please check regularly to ensure that you are aware of any changes.
You will be notified of material changes by a posting as you sign in to Sony Online Services or by email to your current email address as registered on Sony Online Services. Your continued use of Sony Online Services (via a Master Account or Sub Account) after any changes signifies your acceptance of these changes. If you do not accept changes to this Privacy Policy you must stop using Sony Online Services. If you are a Master Account Holder and there are funds remaining in your wallet, you must contact us and we will close your account (and any associated Sub Accounts) and refund any unused wallet funds. You will not be able to access Sony Online Services.
Version 4.3 (November 2010)