Gizmodo 
Enter your username and password.
Tip your editors:
tips@gizmodo.com
Editorial Director:
Brian Lam | Email | Twitter
Editor:
Jason Chen
Email | AIM | Twitter
Features Editor:
Wilson Rothman
Email | Twitter
Senior Contributing Editors:
Jesus Diaz
Email | AIM | Twitter
Mark Wilson, Reviews
Email | AIM | Twitter
Contributing Editors:
Matt Buchanan
Email | AIM | Twitter
Adam Frucci
Email | Twitter
Sean Fallon
Email | Twitter
Jack Loftus
Email | Twitter
John Herrman
Email | Twitter
Dan Nosowitz
Email
Chris Mascari
Email
Danny Allen
Email | Twitter
Rosa Golijan
Email | Twitter
Chris Jacob
Email
Columnist:
Brendan I. Koerner
Interns:
Don Nguyen
Email
Kyle VanHemert
Email
Comment Intern:
Nick Ellenoff | Email
Comment Account Questions:
Comments@gizmodo.com
Original material is licensed under a Creative Commons License permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution.
11/24/09
11/23/09
11/23/09
It would be interesting if Sony expands it to a more Apple iDrive-esque route where you can save GBs of storage space for thing beyond gaming. Maybe allowing you to stream movies, pictures, music via browser you have stored on your online storage space, etc. Or maybe they allow digitally-distributed game rental service.
But whatever these 'premium' services are they better not be at the cost of core services. It would be a mistake to charge for basic online gameplay and delay demos like XBL Gold service does.
They need to add value, not remove value from their core customers...
11/23/09
They're not being very subtle about this, are they?
11/23/09
I'm not sure but is it legal for them to charge for the services they currently provide free? They advertise FREE PSN as a feature when you purchase the product (PS3). If they change the terms while you own the product you should have some sort of recourse to get your money back or be subsequently compensated.
Any lawyers out there?
11/23/09
The article mentions that everything that is free now will stay free.
Xbox also says free live. Fine print however mentions free silver live.
11/23/09
11/23/09
The short answer should be that Sony can change the service to a paid for deal without any problems as they are giving you notice of the change.
Your suggestion creates a few questions which do not seem to have been thought through. For example, what would be fair compensation? How could you determine the fair term of time that should be compensated for? What is the injury if no costs have been charged without the owners permission? What would be a fair compensation for those people who have enjoyed the free service as promised? Also, if you purchased the console and received the promised service for free and it was later changed, could you actually represent that you did not receive the free service?
In my opinion, a service provider should have more leeway to alter the terms of an agreement because the duration of the interaction period is longer (as opposed to buying a product which is a single instant sorta thing). Because more leeway appears due, I would presume that a basic position is that the fair thing would be to allow service providers to alter terms of service as necessary to continue to provide their service... unless the consumer is bound to continue using that service, at which point it would swing the other way.
To truly answer your question it is much more complicated than is appropriate for this forum. It sounds like you are combining a suggestion for a breach of contract with a false advertising claim. To evaluate these claims, it would be necessary to determine all sorts of facts and other matters. Ultimately though it is probably moot because, the agreement might, AND PROBABLY DOES, expressly provide for a change of terms at any time, with notice, making it totally appropriate for them to make such changes. This sort of language would be expected with a service like PSN because operating costs may change and financial situations might affect the parties (the consumer and Sony) in a way that would require an alternate business model.
This is only my opinion and not legal advice, as I am not an attorney, but only a humble law student and not capable of any representations as such.
11/23/09
I'm just thinking of an extreme case where I may purchase a device with free services that a short time later I am then charged for after a TOS revision. I imagine there would have to be some sort of consumer protection from that.
11/26/09
Retroactive charges are unlikely because it would create exactly the situation you are suggesting (and Sony would likely want to avoid that situation), it would create HORRIBLE ill will towards Sony most likely, AND, in my experience, Sony has a very clear way of changing the Terms of Service.
The first assumption I would make is that Sony will adopt a model of payment similar to Xbox Live Gold Accounts. This model has users pay in advance of service for a set rate that provides access to the service for a certain number of months, or, alternatively, pay prior to receiving service each month. It would not be retroactive charges if Sony sends you a bill for the Next months services. There, they are making the presumption that you want to continue service and so are sending you a bill to enable that, however, because they have not provided the services yet, you should be free *not* to engage such services by notifying them you are uninterested (or presumably by not using the services at all). Ultimately, retroactive charges would be the sort of fiasco that Sony should easily side step and is a very unlikely situation.
This is only my opinion and not legal advice, as I am not an attorney, but only a humble law student and not capable of any representations as such.
11/23/09
Do they always have to go fuck up a good thing?
11/23/09
11/23/09
There is absolutly no moderation in some games. I was playing CoD4 at a friend's place (on PSN). First of all half of teh people didn't have mics when they did it was shitty bluetooth with ridiculous amount of noise and static. Clan names that has words such as f** and nigr.
11/23/09
11/23/09
11/23/09
11/23/09
Microsoft does it, why can't Sony? I mean sony had the meanest censorship when PS2 online was abrely launched. I remember playing tiwsted metal black and there was no chat feature. however after entering some codes you'd get this basic on screen qwerty sort of chat. You couldn't even say "Hard one".
11/23/09
As far as early demo access and paid goodies for free, they do that already with Qore (Which runs on a subscription BTW so that system has been in place a while for FXIV).
Hopefully this will just be some subscriptions for things like comics, movies and paid themes(I wonder how well those are selling).
11/23/09
11/23/09
Jokes aside, it will be interesting to see how Sony differentiates this.
11/23/09
11/23/09
*goes back to PC*
11/23/09
11/23/09
11/23/09
It's still incredibly hard to justify when you can play the same game on a PC without the extra charge...
11/23/09
It is making Microsoft a shit-ton of money though.
#tips
11/20/09
Taking a true-cost approach, I'll ignore subsidies, though that certainly cuts the time in half for early buyers.
Pulling $180 per month out of my butt as an estimate for conventional power, I come up with about 32 years to pay off the difference. Which... is actually pretty good aside from the pile of Li-ion and silicon waste left at end-of-life.
07/23/09
07/23/09
07/23/09
07/23/09
07/23/09
05/21/09
It comes down to content, ease of use and design (as well as price of course). I have owned SonyEricsson phones since they exist (SonyEricsson t68i for those who remember) until the K800i. They were really good but I also wondered why on earth there was no legit and easy way to put music on a WALKMAN phone... Moreover... I also had a Vaio notebook with their music system installed. A real pain, I never purchased any song. The system was incompatible with my SonyEricsson phone...
The point is: Sony is a media jaggernaut and yet all of their content failed to materialize on their own phones and devices. They failed to integrate content and devices out of fear (I guess) and corporate culture and now they are paying the price for it. Sony makes wonderful devices, I still own a couple of them (HD handycam) but, in order to get out of this mess they should:
- heavily invest in software. A unified, OPEN (not PROPRIETARY), GUI and OS for all their devices. This would allow them to have the same feeling, design and percieved quality. I think PS3 PSP OS looks interesting in this regard.
- heavily invest in putting content on devices. Make a joint venture with Amazon or something...
- stop branding SonyEricsson. The Walkman series and Cybershot series and then the Bravia series... Every time they dilute the brand.
Just let them be SonyEricsson phones. But please stop using Windows for everything you do...
You have a PS3, PSP, SonyEricsson phones... How long will it take for Sony to realize they better put their resources in developing an OS (not CRIPPLED but open, maybe based on Unix or something).
05/21/09