Sony changes product abilities after sale... implications for customers

RobertoMoir

Interesting article on Sony firmware updates changing the function of a device after it is sold, consumer rights and implications for sellers

http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2010/04/19/sony_firmware_compensation/

Retailers face payouts to consumers that they will not be able to reclaim from manufacturers when software updates disable products' functions, an expert has warned.


Consumer law protects the buyers of goods if their functions change, but retailers generally cannot pass those claims on to the device makers who made the change, according to Richard Parkinson, a technology lawyer with Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind OUT-LAW.COM.

Sony has said that it will not compensate retailers who refund customers because of a firmware update to its PlayStation3. The change prevents the machine from using alternative operating systems, which it was previously able to do. Some owners installed the Linux operating system, allowing them to use their consoles as desktop computers as well as games machines.

Press reports indicate that one consumer received a refund for his console from online retailer Amazon. Sony itself has said that it will not reimburse retailers who do so.

Clicky link above quote for full article. Interesting. There may be trouble ahead... Sony's retailers are getting short shrift from Sony and this will make some shops less willing to give consumers their rights without a fight maybe?

exup

One problem with this is : if the supplier is able to prove that a change was necessary then it would be allowed. In this case Sony's reasoning for the update was because the installation of an alternative operating system was a security flaw. Admittedly they may have known it was a security flaw the moment they allowed the "Install other O/S" option with the PS3 but the option was a good selling point.

Although as a poster in another forum did bring up an interesting point concerning the other major console manufacturers:

Lets not Forget that Microsoft and Nintendo have already done the same, but the media seems to have swept that under the carpet.
Microsoft removed the ability to batch download all titles from XBLA in the NXE Update.
Nintendo removed the ability to play MP3 in a firmware update for the Wii.

so its a little infair to blast Sony for this

RobertoMoir

It's not a case of "blasting" sony imo, rather that they're the ones currently in the news. And the feature they've killed was one they promoted very heavily with geeks as a reason to buy their console.

It's an interesting point, regardless of which manufacturer or type of product is in the frame as this week's villain du jour.

hippyadam

Also covered in this many page thread...

Depends on the retailer, Amazon have refunded some, but Play say no...

Glad i purchased one of bills infernal machines now.