[Reason077]

Just because something is written in T&Cs doesn’t make it okay. Consumer laws have precedence over T&Cs.

[apparent]

Consumer protection laws can prevail over terms and conditions, it's true. Are there any consumer protection laws that disallow terms and conditions like the ones Sony used?

[cogman10]

I believe the FTC could probably do something about it if they cared.

This seems to be something that the "Unfair or Deceptive Acts or Practices" charter of the FTC could address.

The three prongs of when it applies are

- Causes or is likely to cause substantial injury to consumers

- Cannot be reasonably avoided by consumers

- Is not outweighed by countervailing benefits to consumers or to competition

It seems like stealing movies users purchased thinking they owned them checks all 3 boxes.

[apparent]

Generally agree, if Sony is deleting things from user-owned devices. If they're simply not making them available for later download, it's trickier. The case against Sony would be stronger if customers could not move downloaded content from their current devices.

[jjav]

They should I agree, but consumer protection has been decimated in the US. Also the CFPB has effectively been dismantled. All is fair game as long as the oligarchs get a few more millions they don't need.