My blender manufacturer has retroactively revoked my ability to make smoothies, and my auto manufacturer says I am no longer able to transport groceries.
... more a case of better consumer protection legislation required.
Whilst I agree that a class action suit is probably quite likely, it should not be necessary for consumers to have to file a civil suite against a cavalier vendor/technologist in a situation like this. And no, in case anyone pipes up with, "But all that will happen is that vendors will display huge disclaimers all over the place", that's not a solution, because "reserving the right to alter a product or surface" after *purchase* can materially impact the value proposition of that product in the eyes of the buyer.
I see an opening for a clarification to consumer protection law, perhaps something to the effect that a vendor has to give a reasonable period of notice at least equal to the average lifespan of a product, before modifying it in a way that removes a service provided or included at the point of sale. So if I purchase a new Samsung SmartTV that included Google Play yesterday, I should have a reasonable expectation that the TV would function as sold for, what? 5 years?
I think this should be pretty easy to enforce with respect to software functionality. It might be harder when the functionality includes consumable hardware. For example, say a manufacturer produces a home soda-maker that uses those small cannisters of compressed carbon dioxide... but say that all the cannisters, "sold separately", come from a completely different vendor over which the appliance manufacturer has no control and no business relationship. The appliance manufacturer can't reasonably be held liable if the consumable supplier decides to stop trading. But for anything included with the original product - including spares - the vendors should be required to support their product for at least the average lifespan of the product type.
But for sure the law needs to be tightened to stop companies arbitrarily doing this.
a) you can still access any movies you purchased through YouTube. You've lost nothing.
b) the apps available on a smart tv or other device can change over time. Where on earth the expectation arises that any given app should be available in perpetuity I don't know, but it's certainly not a right enshrined in law. There is no case.
A debugged program is one for which you have not yet found the conditions
that make it fail. -- Jerry Ogdin
In other news (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2, Interesting)
This. It was sold with that capability clearly advertised on the actual box. Implied that it would be for the functional life of the product.
Class action waiting to happen. And hopefully this will sort out anyone else trying the same shit.
Not so much Class Action... (Score:3)
Whilst I agree that a class action suit is probably quite likely, it should not be necessary for consumers to have to file a civil suite against a cavalier vendor/technologist in a situation like this. And no, in case anyone pipes up with, "But all that will happen is that vendors will display huge disclaimers all over the place", that's not a solution, because "reserving the right to alter a product or surface" after *purchase* can materially impact the value proposition of that product in the eyes of the buyer.
I see an opening for a clarification to consumer protection law, perhaps something to the effect that a vendor has to give a reasonable period of notice at least equal to the average lifespan of a product, before modifying it in a way that removes a service provided or included at the point of sale. So if I purchase a new Samsung SmartTV that included Google Play yesterday, I should have a reasonable expectation that the TV would function as sold for, what? 5 years?
I think this should be pretty easy to enforce with respect to software functionality. It might be harder when the functionality includes consumable hardware. For example, say a manufacturer produces a home soda-maker that uses those small cannisters of compressed carbon dioxide... but say that all the cannisters, "sold separately", come from a completely different vendor over which the appliance manufacturer has no control and no business relationship. The appliance manufacturer can't reasonably be held liable if the consumable supplier decides to stop trading. But for anything included with the original product - including spares - the vendors should be required to support their product for at least the average lifespan of the product type.
But for sure the law needs to be tightened to stop companies arbitrarily doing this.
Re: (Score:1)
Zero chance of a class action lawsuit succeeding.
a) you can still access any movies you purchased through YouTube. You've lost nothing.
b) the apps available on a smart tv or other device can change over time. Where on earth the expectation arises that any given app should be available in perpetuity I don't know, but it's certainly not a right enshrined in law. There is no case.