Comments on: Sony is Remotely Downgrading Your PS3

By: atr257

atr257 — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 18:13:54 +0000

I agree I think a label on these “tethered” products would be important to make users aware of the possibility their electronic can be downgraded, however I think it may offer them some sort of legal loophole. But as someone stated it probably is in the user manual somewhere, or I’m not sure how you sync PS3s but there is probably some terms and conditions you must agree to when registering your product that continues to evolve with each update. It would be interesting if someone less aware of these contracts we sign tried to sue Sony for tampering with their property, they would loose but it would set a groundwork and perhaps even a dialogue with the producer and consumer to perhaps offer us more of a reasoning behind these usual updates.

By: Taylor

Taylor — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 17:34:27 +0000

Check out what happens if you decline the upgrade:

It will be impossible to play PS3 games online.
It will be impossible to play new PS3 games.
It will be impossible to watch new Blu-ray videos.
New Blu-ray discs could even disable the Blu-ray drive entirely if they contain an AACS Host Revocation List that affects the old firmware version.
Videos on DTCP-IP media servers will be disabled.

They are serious about removing this feature!

I don’t know how I feel about this. I mean, I use iTunes and continue to voluntarily buy songs and play music on there and have just come to terms with the fact that I am renting the songs and Apple can do whatever they want with the iTunes program, features-wise. If I don’t like it, I could seek out an alternative, right?

But is this (in my opinion, very common) attitude making us complacent when we should be standing up for more consumer rights?

By: Natalie

Natalie — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 19:25:51 +0000

This reminds me of how we are constantly being sent upgrade reminders by Firefox, iTunes, etc, until the version we’re currently using is out of date. Whenever I get the option to upgrade from iTunes, I put it off for as long as possible, not wanting to go through the process, and eventually give in. In the end, nothing appears different to me and the functions are all the same. This upgrade, on the other hand, certainly changes the way users interact with PS3, and limits them too. The control factor that Alena brings up further proves how power/money hungry these companies are.

I’m curious to eavesdrop on one of their boardroom meetings…

By: Alena

Alena — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 13:55:34 +0000

I was wondering the same, and the article says Sony did this because “a hobbyist named Geohot announced that he was able to use the Other OS feature along with a bit of soldering in a manner that gave him more control over the PS3 hardware than Sony had intended. Sony responded with the “upgrade” that removes the Other OS feature.”
I do wonder what kind of “control” Sony is really afraid of their customer having, though, and also if there is any way one could sue Sony for this… but I’m not sure it’s worth going through that 4-point font manual for the details to find out!

By: Lauren C

Lauren C — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 17:54:27 +0000

I am finding that our class has really been making me take a closer look at money hungry companies and Chelsea, I think your post just adds to the concrete information that it seems copyright and all the elements that surround the issue do hurt the consumer more than help. It’s wildly frustrating!

By: anthonydiionno

anthonydiionno — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 20:29:46 +0000

Did they specify any reason why they decided to do this? I think that the warning label is a great idea, although it probably does come with a warning label, just disguised in 4 point font in a 50 page user manual.