I think we need to start a digital rights category or something (the next version of OSNews will have it, for sure), because we have yet another article about this subject. After Sony removed the Other OS feature from the PlayStation 3, a European PlayStation 3 owner successfully secured a partial refund from Amazon under the European Sale of Goods Act. Sony has now retaliated, stating it is not going to reimburse retailers
While there’s enough to harp on when it comes to the European Union’s involvement with everyday life in its member states, it also does several things relatively well – one of those is consumer protection laws. Directive 1999/44/EC states that goods must “comply with the description given by the seller and posses the same qualities and characteristics as other similar goods” and “be fit for the purpose which the consumer requires them and which was made known to the seller at the time of purchase”.
This directive under his arm, a UK customer who bought his PlayStation 3 through Amazon contacted the worldwide retailer, and Amazon refunded him 20% of the original purchase price, without him having to return his console. The sad thing here is that European law places the responsibility on the shoulders of the retailer – not the manufacturer.
Sony seems to have understood this notion, and has stated that it does not intend to reimburse retailers who stick to the letter of the law. “We do understand the frustration a small number of consumers may feel at SCE’s decision to provide an upgrade to the firmware to disable the Linux operating system but we refute any suggestion that this action is in any way a contravention of the terms of Sale of Goods Act,” David Wilson said, the head of Sony PR in the UK.
“The provision in the Sale of Goods Act which requires an item to be fit for a purpose made known by the consumer to the retailer prior to purchase and confirmed by the retailer applies only to the contract between the retailer and the consumer,” he continued, “The decision by Amazon to give a consumer a partial refund is clearly between Amazon and the consumer, but we do not expect the decision to have a legal basis and we have no plans to compensate retailers.”
He is technically correct here, but that doesn’t mean it has to end here. If enough people were to complain to retailers about the removal of the feature and ask for refunds, maybe they could pressure Sony. Sadly, this won’t happen. The feature was only used by a small number of people; certainly not enough to put any serious pressure on retailers.
Where Sony is not technically correct – most likely – is by hiding behind the terms of service for the console. “The PS3 is first and foremost a games console and our marketing materials for the console reflect this,” said Wilson, “The console packaging and the in-box manual for the console do not refer to the use of Linux on the console. Rather, the console packaging states that the product’s design and specifications are subject to change without notice and that the system software within the console is subject to a limited licence between SCE and the consumer, and this licence permits SCE to update the system software and services offered from time to time.”
This license clause is not definitive in any way, most notably because the license is not shown as part of the purchase process. At least in The Netherlands, the clause will most likely not hold [Dutch], unless Sony can show beyond a doubt that people who install Linux ruin the PlayStation Network experience. Another interesting insight comes courtesy of the comments to that Dutch article: even if PS3-Linux users ruin the PSN experience, is Sony allowed to cripple one product (the PS3) to protect the other (PSN)?
I hope this isn’t the last we’ve heard of this. Sadly, I have no PlayStation 3, else I would’ve contacted the original retailer. I’m hoping enough people try to get the refund they are entitled to under European law to force Sony to reconsider its stance. A company should not be able to unilaterally cripple purchased products and/or change agreements – whether it’s Sony, Apple, or anyone else.
FWIW, I have contacted both the retailer and Sony. Still waiting for a reply.
It only takes a couple of minutes and it is your right to get compensated for a removed feature!
Please consider contacting your retailer or Sony.
sony is getting too arrogant with their user agreement.
they feel entitled to removing features from ps3. they might as well totally break it when ps4 comes out, to ‘encourage’ more people to upgrade.
Good thing I never bought a PS3 in the first place, what with you know—
1. The Sony rootkit fiasco
2. An unbelievable arrogant attitude “people will buy it regardless of what price it is”
3. Delaying the PS3 an entire year just to lock down AACS
4. GIANT ENEMY CRABS
5. Removing PS2 compatibility and then about-facing on promises to provide software compatibility
I’m sure there’s loads more to add to this list.
I will Defend sony here firstly AAC is in the options to enable. delaying is fine if once launched its relaible look at the first heck all Xbox 360s hardware reliability. and they sell it at a LOSS so i hardly think they are “bad” for doing that and i wouldnt punish them for wanting to make a better system that yes costs more to make but also is better made performs better and has more potential. i will agree with you removing PS2 compatibilty was wrong in newer models and think they could have improved the online gameplay system but all stuff that can be patch fixed unlike the Xbox360 which has worse problems the HARDWARE!!
Potential ? If I buy such an expensive hardware, I’d like to get its FULL potential usable, NOW ! Reliability ? Never heard of YLOD ? Com’on, make up your mind, you get screwed again and again, yet you seems to like that and are obviously ready to reiterate for PS4 or whatever stuff Sony is minded to provide to the world (US then JP then EU) :/ You fanboys… *sigh*
Kochise
expensive? even mobile phones cost more than PS3 =)
Remember the price, at least in EU, when the PS3 came out : 699 €
Kochise
You know little about business.
exploding batteries
This isn’t really Sony’s fault though as all consumer batteries are explosive (they’re basically chemical bombs).
It only takes a slightly weaker design and heavy usage over a prolonged period and you’ve got yourself a very serious problem.
Plenty of manufacturers have suffered from this (I myself nearly saw my house burn down due to a very serious instance). However most manufacturers also take this matter seriously so consumers don’t need to take the matter further. Sony, however, didn’t.
In some small way, we are to blame too. We demand ever more powerful devices with longer battery lives and and then use these devices excessively without any consideration that stored energy (be it chemical, nuclear, or whatever) has a natural “instinct” to escape.
Aren’t you an Apple user?
Absolutely, I’ve got what’s coming to me a few years down the line if Apple decides to retroactively cripple OS X. Apple’s craptacular restrictions only apply to the iPhone / iPad, neither of which I own. Mac OS X itself still stands as the best hybrid open/closed OS with a healthy software ecosystem. I can switch to Linux with realative ease; but an iPhone user is going to have zero data portability.
–edit:– Oh, and Apple weren’t arseholes before the iPhone came along, like, when I bought my laptop; so don’t apply their tactics now to my choice of purchase before—Sony were arseholes way before the PS3 was launched. Sony were awesome with the PSX, ever since the PS2 it’s been nothing but downhill.
Edited 2010-04-16 10:58 UTC
Oh I think they were. They just had less clout so it wasn’t really an issue
Even before the PS2, Sony have been like this.
I remember countless occations when fellow DJ mates came to blows with Sony over their faulty DJ headphones.
I remember the CD rootkits Sony was pioneering.
Okay, well relatively. It was 2005, Tiger had been launched, Intel switch over had been announced. It was a good time to switch to Mac and it was a good OS.
A computer is just a tool. The iPhone / iPad only does X. Apple don’t allow it to do Y. The blogosphere is so totally hung up on “It doesn’t do Y, it doesn’t do Y!!†that they are missing the fact that consumers can only see what it _can_ do—X—and are so blown away by how well it does X that they don’t care that it can’t do Y; they didn’t buy it because they expected it to someday do Y too, that would just be a pleasant bonus. It does X better than even things that do X and Y that they want it. It’s only developers Apple are screwing here, not users.
Sony, on the other hand have sold a product that can do X _and_ Y. Then they have removed Y after the user had bought the product, knowing that it can do Y. That is illegal in the UK and the EU.
That was the best description of the situation I have ever read on the internet.
Well, not completely true, read this :
http://updatednews.ca/?p=14003
Kochise
Bingo. My iPod touch is hands down the best portable computer I’ve ever owned, and I include my venerable old PowerBook G3 in that group. Why? Because it puts nearly every portable tool I need in my pocket. I have–via free apps all the way around–a remote desktop tool, a WiFi scanner capable of detecting “hidden” APs, several calculators including statistical, financial and graphing, a full featured PIM that syncs with my Mac with no clunky third party interface, a SIP phone, a police scanner, a GPS enabled mapping program…the list goes on.
I’ve even tried it jailbroken, and there was nothing of value to me in the Cydia and Rock stores compared to the official App Store, with the obvious exception of Google Voice. So, even though I had access to the “Y” stuff, I reverted to the stock “X” selections and am doing just fine.
And honestly, I really don’t think Apple is screwing the developers, at least from a financial sense. The App Store is (from my outsider-looking-in POV) one of the most financially sound and reliable sources of revenue a coder is likely to ever see, at least if they have the entrepreneurial spirit. Perhaps those programmers used to the code-monkey grind at a Fortune 500 company would be fearful of taking the plunge. Likewise, open-source coders probably won’t find anything they like about Apple’s model. All I can say is, if I had the programming skills I’d jump at the chance to make a buck on the App Store.
It’s not about finances. It’s about apple having the right to remove your application from their device without even having to explain their move clearly. And getting 50$ as a compensation for all your developing work.
Apple’s programming model is one of the most important regression ever seen in the recent computing history (the other being the whole cloud idea). Users and amateur developers had gotten the right of having personal programmable computers, where they can code and put any program they want. The apple model is basically throwing that and going back to the “we own your data, we own your code, we own your computer” model, back to the days of punch cards and insane fees per hour of computing.
Edited 2010-04-17 07:14 UTC
You’re right of course, but one might argue that that is the price one pays for such an easy market to get into. Personally I do think Apple makes some insanely stupid decisions regarding apps (Google Voice for example).
However, developers run into the same type of “we own you” mentality in the F/OSS world too. Just try contributing to Debian without being a favorite son, for example. The only difference is iPhone developers lose money as well as time spent on their projects.
Cretin alert..
You know it wasn’t Sony that created the Rootkit, that was First4Internet…
You might want to check facts before just passing on common (but wrong) myths.
Yet Sony shipped it, tried to cover it up, and then issued a fix that opened up a massive security flaw on the comptuer. Don’t be so naïve as to think Sony were totally oblivious to what was going on. Where do you think First4Internet got their orders?
Exactly. I bought walkmen, sony computers, sony receivers. The rootkit ended all that. Sony’s motto seems to be “Do Evil.”
You’re missing one little detail: I didn’t say Sony created it.
Furthermore I’m left wondering why you think your name calling and highly aggressive tone is in any way appropriate.
People like him are why I wish OSNews would implement personal blacklists. He is one of a few that I would add in a heartbeat.
or how they made the otherwise phenomenal mini disc players next to useless with the drm that locked you into their terrible, terrible software.
Yup. As a die-hard MiniDisc fan, that one still hurts. ‘t Was only recently that I joined the iPod generation, but only because I got my iPhone.
MiniDisc > any mp3 player.
I guess some people tend to equate masochism with technical excellence.
Looking at it as a musician’s tool, I would agree with you that the MiniDisc format was the best thing to ever happen to portable recording. However, for simple playback I much prefer solid state devices. They are more reliable (no moving parts) and withstand the worst shocks and jolts. Some even come with recording capabilities, though admittedly far inferior to MD recorders.
Now that flash based MP3 players can be had for under $20, there’s no need to subject your expensive and nigh irreplaceable MD player to possible loss, theft or damage.
All that said, I’d absolutely LOVE to have an MD recorder, preferably a Sony MZM200 or similar.
IIRC MD’s compression was pretty poor. Worse than 320Kb/s MP3s.
In an ideal world I’d have a personal FLAC media player. But I settle for MP3s for convenience (and most of the time the difference isn’t so significant)
Don’t have to wait for an ideal world for that one. Try the iRiver hd-based players, or else get any player that Rockbox will run on (Sansa are pretty nice).
Arguably I already have a FLAC media player as I just use my old PDA as a walkman.
But my point was:
1/ that there’s times when I use my phone (as of yet, there’s no FLAC codecs for Android) because it’s necessary to consolidate my gadgets (eg on a night out, during the summer when you don’t really fancy taking a jacket or bag just for extra storage space to place gadgets, etc).
2/ there’s the inconvenience of re-ripping all of my CDs and vinyl (I started my digital collection before FLAC was even released, let alone widely known).
So my point was that MP3 is a convenience rather than FLAC being impossible (ie in an “ideal world” I’d already have this set up). I explained this very badly though so I do apologise for the confusion.
I have considered ripping my new material to FLAC and just re-encoding my old media as-and-when I want to listen to it. Thus reducing the overall processing time when I do get motivated enough to upgrade my entire collection. But for now point 1 is a deal breaker for FLAC.
I had also considered having two sets of audio – FLAC and MP3. But I’m not sure I could spare the disk space (even my 3x 1TB raidz is getting full alarmingly quickly).
I’ll keep your suggestions in mind for when my PDA finally dies though.
[edit]
having just checked Google’s Market, it looks as if there are now some FLAC players added that where not there last time I checked.
Looks like I might start my MP3->FLAC migration….
Edited 2010-04-19 12:05 UTC
Well, ever heard about that iPod thing, with iTunes, and usb cables approaching the price of their weight in gold ?
Edited 2010-04-16 21:39 UTC
Same thing here.
Back in 2004, I bought the PS2 Linux kit, which I barely used, but it did allow almost full access to the hardware, even the graphics processor.
I was then disappointed to see the level that Sony has offering to support Linux on the PS3 and never bought one always hoping they would change their mind.
Now, if I ever end up buying a new games console, it will most likely be a XBox 360. We all know how Microsoft is, but at least they provide proper support to the Indie developers and homebrew community.
1. The Sony rootkit “fiasco” is one division of Sony only, SCE has nothing to do with it. The fact Sony is encompassing so many markets makes it easy to nitpick any problem somewhere and use it to debase the other divisions, but so with Microsoft, yet I see no troll trying to debase the XBox 360 with any of Microsoft shady dealings with other companies and/or consumers (and there’s a lot to hate, it’s just irrelevant when talking about their games division). There’s actually far more to hate with MS games division (delivery faulty hardware, then trying so badly to cover their two main failures – RROD and the dumb economy of not using protective pads o protect disc scratching; buying exclusives instead of Nintendo’s and Sony mostly in-house dev for their own exclusives).
Not being a Windows user, I’ve never had a problem with their music CDs. Basically, the rootkit fiasco should have also been a wake-up call for Windows users, yet they only point the fault to SME…
2. They made a very bad design decision (go with the Cell only) then had to add an Nvidia chip at the last minute when the Cell didn’t deliver what they expected. Basically, that plus the economy downturn and the awfull high value the yen got gave them a really expensive product on their hands, and no way (=cash) to correct it for a few years. The rest was just damage control. Yes, it had to sound like “people will buy it regardless of what price it is”, because they didn’t have any way to drop the price, and stressing the value you got was the only thing they could do. A SCE executive was interviewed a while ago by a specialised site (before the drop to 299$), and basically admitted that they had been frantically working on dropping the production costs as soon as possible, because the price they had to set was far from what they’d have wanted. They’re not dumb, they know what is too expensive, but you can’t say that in a big audience venue and not see your stock going south (which they really couldn’t afford).
Had they been Microsoft (first XBox); Nintendo (Gamecube) or Sega (Sega X32, Sega CD, Saturn, Dreamcast) they’d have abandoned their consumers after a few years of not-stellar hardware sales, releasing a PS4 early.
They didn’t.
They continued to support the PS3 against all, and kept adding features (Firmware, PSN) and value to the consoles of the first-time adopters.
That alone warrants far more respect than for Nintendo or Microsoft, and that’s actually the main value of a console (you fork the money once, and you trust the hardware maker will provide you years of great games and features. Microsoft and Nintendo showed they care only as long as it’s profitable enough for them, they’ll drop you as soon as their return isn’t as good as expected.
Basically, if I’m investing on the next generation, I know which one is a good choice, and which ones are a huge bet.
3. No, it’s not “just to lock down AACS”. Whatever the spin you add to a story, you don’t redesign your whole hw to add a graphic chip in just one month.
4. True. If the PS3 allowed anybody to burn their own games for free like the XBox 360 or the Wii (or the PS2 in its time), nobody would try to debase it. It doesn’t yet, and thus you’ll find all kind of people trying to justify their hating the PS3 without having to admit what’s the real deal breaker. Thus the completely dumb and ages-old complaint about the CD rootkit, since it’s the closest possible to their real problem with the PS3 (“I can’t get free games like I should!).
5. They didn’t remove it from the ones that were sold with it. And when they did announce it, there was plenty of PS3 on the shelves that people really valuing it could have bought. It comes at a cost, and if you paid that cost you still have PS2 compatibility.
Not to add that not offering the PS2 backward compatibility on cheaper models isn’t because they don’t want to -it’s for costs. They’d have been perfectly happy to sell you the PS2 games through the PSN (like they do with the PS1 classics).
The arguement that the user agreement and terms and conditions state they reserve the right to remove features does not in UK law necessarily give them the right to do so.
In UK law NO contract (which is what the terms effectively are) in ANY circumstance is aloud to contradict the law doing so can be ILLEGAL the sales of goods act is written into law therefore stating you reserve the right to “change the product” (negatively) is not aloud and would not(or should not) count in court. an example of this rule would be if you purchase an item from anywhere that states “SOLD AS SEEN no returns” if the product is faulty not as described or breaks within unreasonable time you ARE aloud a refund because “no returns” is not valid as it contradicts the LAW. not only that if in the UK you even see a sign stating “No returns or refunds” they are breaking the LAW for misleading the public.
so Sony i put it to you if you get this messege. READ UK and EU law AGAIN and stop hiding behind terms that are not LEGAL!!!!!!!! and therefor mean NOTHING!! the product has lost a feature it was sold with bring it back or refund!!
The thing I hate about purchasing any electronic device, is the EULA, warranties and manuals. I can’t read any of them before purchasing the item. Most of these are not posted on the websites. Never mind that the item is mostly discontinued once it reaches the store shelf. And these EULAs with their “changing the terms of the contract” at the manufacturer’s whim.
Sometimes I think I should just type up a EULA of my own and mail to the manufacturer. “I the user will according to my fancy, whim or ever changing mood, change the agreements and terms of the contract.” Which is the original intent of the device.
Well, manuals are almost universally available on the manufacturer’s website.
In the US, retailers are required to make available all warranty information upon request.
The same isn’t true for EULAs.
I think for software, consumers should be required to physically sign a EULA at the point of purchase.
This would do wonders eliminate them, or at the very least keep them sane.
Yup, I’ve been saying that for years. In addition, the main terms must be written in human-readable format, and not in legalese. This isn’t rocket science.
1. Bend over
2. *SMACK*
3. Thank you master, may I please have another?
4. Repeat.
The problem is either the consumer won’t bother reading it or because they have to read and sign something they won’t purchase the product. In case “A” I reckon the consumer deserves what he/she gets, in case “B” the companies and retailers would never allow this to happen because it could hurt their sales and of course their profits (which are often somewhat marginal at the retail level).
However when Microsoft and Nintendo do the same thing, nobody cares it seems..
You have to wonder if this whole Sony hate crusade is driven by Microsoft’s army of viral marketers…
Nintendo removed MP3 support (much more useful than OtherOS)
Microsoft removed XBLA Autodownload of demos in NXE
Seems nobody blinked an eyelid over those.. So you have to wonder why people appear to care about OtherOS (which before it was removed, was called “gimped” by the community).
Hypocrites…
But… did nintendo announced MP3 play on their console on launch ?
Did also Microsoft announced on the launch day that the console bring XBLA donwloads ? I don’t think so.
Sony announced and was one of the point of sales, the LINUX support.
Gimped OtherOS support sucks but it’s better than amputated OtherOS support.
The license clause isn’t valid under Swedish law either.
Doesn’t that apply to most euopean countrys? At least, count germany in.
My dad likes to tell me the story of how, when he was younger he had a poster of the EEC areas and used to look forward to all the great strides in democracy and pragmatism that this fledgling alliance would bring.
He is now pretty much a eurosceptic (and a massive cynic generally – no idea if there’s a connection :p ) IMO this is exactly the kind of situation that the modern EU should be addressing; more neo-functionalism and less neo-imperialism please
Uh, then why do it? Lack of engineers?? If they understand how annoying it is, then why not explain it better? It’s just not good enough to brush everyone off with random hints at “security concerns”, whatever that means. (And BTW, just because it only affects a “small” number of users shouldn’t justify it, those people should still count for something.)
And isn’t it technically called a “downgrade” when you remove something??
My PS3 is a first day EU version so is a bit noisy when watching BluRay movies. I was planning on getting a PS3 slim to to put in the in the living room for Blu rays and other media stuff.
After Sony *broke* my current PS3 I decided against this, I now have a nice new, very quiet BluRay player, from Philips.
I have spent thousands on Sony stuff over the years. Their higher end stuff is usually very good, and worth the extra money.
However, If they want to treat me like this, I’ll just go to other companies instead.
Talk about Motorola’s Milestone not being able to run custom firmware!
Why Droid can and Milestone cannot?