Is Erik Estavillo, the 29-year-old San Jose man suing Sony for allegedly depriving him of free speech, who he says he is?
We now have more information about the gamer, who says Sony banned him from playing the PlayStation 3 game "Resistance." The agoraphobic gamer is suing Sony for $55,000 after, he says, they took away his only avenue of communication.
Estavillo doesn't know why Sony banned him from playing the game, but some YouTube viewers might find reason to disagree. The gamer's YouTube page shows videos of conversations between Estavillo and other players where he is often vulgar and sexually explicit. One video shows Estavillo cursing at a Sony operator.
But Estavillo says there's nothing wrong with that and he should have the right to say those things: "I'm not inciting violence, I'm not actively threatening anyone. I'm not a hateful person, but I believe hate speech should be protected. Sony shouldn't be able to censor what people say in a public forum".
Online bloggers, like Annie Lin, believe that Estavillo may have a case if he can prove that virtual gaming communities are the same as real-life social settings.
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Questions surfaced regarding the gamer's true identity after viewers of his YouTube page noticed he introduced himself to Sony operators as "Michael Davidson", but Estavillo claims that's an alias and that Erik Estavillo is his legal name.
Estavillo attended UCLA, but put college on hiatus in 2003 after he was diagnosed with Crohn's disease, along with a list of mental disorders. He currently lives with his father, a Vietnam vet and poet, and two other relatives. Estavillo says he walks around in a hospital gown and has converted his bed into an ER room to make himself more comfortable in his own home.
Currently without a lawyer, the banned PS3er is reading law books and studying up on the Internet for tips on how to win his case against Sony, which he says will take place by October.
Estavillo filed a suit against Sony for $55,000 after he says Sony violated his first amendment rights by banning him from the game. Estavillo has agoraphobia, a fear of crowds, and says Sony took away his only way to socialize.
The gamer did sign a Sony agreement before playing "Resistance", agreeing to their rules and regulations. Such so-called "clickwrap" agreements have dubious legal standing, but Sony could use his consent to the agreement to bolster their case. The banned player is also suing for theft, claiming he has money in the PS3 online store that can no longer be accessed.
Sony has yet to respond to the suit.
