You are not a partner but a customer.
{take partner}
“I see no partners here.”
“There is a maze of twisty little passages, all alike”
If you didn’t ensure the software was suitable for your purpose before you bought a licence then bringing up these legalistic arguments about how it doesn’t meet your ideal will not correct that mistake now.
The fact that the Software Companies were affected is a decision for them to take up the battle and sue Sony for loss of income if they so choose. This may be a costly exercise but they may have grounds if Sony altered the copyrighted Software to cripple it on their machines (ie Sony undertaking Reverse Engineering and then re-compiling with removed sections). However if to get the product on the PS hardware in that it was altered by the producers of the software it would then be hard for them to argue a case.
As a user the choice is either to buy the software or not to buy the software, a user either then agrees to the EULA or they return the product stating that they cannot accept the terms of the licence. A user also has the choice to boycott the hardware ie not use the Sony PS. Both these choices will send a signal to Sony about a person’s dis-satisfaction, the more productive one is to cease using their products such as the Playstation, the VR headset, the other peripherals that are PS specific, and this will stop PS software sales and so Sony will neither gain profits from their products nor from the software licencing they obtain for PS supporting software.
To be honest X-Box has similar issues in that it has a specific format market, a user can’t buy a PS based product and play it on an X-Box, there are also certain titles only available on an X-Box (they are not ported to any other format or only to a set of limited formats).
MS Windows is pretty much locked into only supporting MS supporting products though they now have the Linux Subsystem built into Win 10 (WSL), a user can, once it is enabled, install a varied choice of Linux Distros eg Ubuntu, Debian, OpenSUSE.
There are Apps for Android that aren’t on the Apple Store and Vice Versa. Even varied Linux Distros don’t always happily have similar programming roots eg Debian vs Fedora vs OpenSUSE vs Slackware vs others out there. So not all repositories for those have the same software packages available though as they are open source you can port freely between them if users have the skill and the software is open source.
Basically every participant in the Hardware and Software production out there licences their products and controls what is available for them. Just some are much more stringent than others when it comes to what they allow to happen. Linux is perhaps the least controlled but even on that they have strictly controlled software licencing for some components eg some drivers, but also production software that isn’t open source and is pay for use and not able to be altered legally by the user to port to a different Linux Distro.
Microsoft does not stop other companies using their programming language to develop applications. It is freely available for study.
That is not an apples to apples comparison.
There are two cases I am personally aware of where the actions of Sony PlayStation would have obviously resulted in reduced sales. However the companies exist outside of Australia and may not enjoy the rights they would have in Australia? There is more detail in my response to BrendanMays.
The EULA can not legally impose restrictions on a consumers
normal rights.
But yes it is a problem with this “exclusive platform” nonsense.
It’s obviously appropriate for a physically isolated device but any network capable computerised device should have access to software from anyone who can provide it.
But of course I am no longer spending my money on SonyPS products and will not unless there is an obvious change in it’s management.
I understand there is a new CEO who plans to make changes.
Whether he will be effective and whether he will stop this culture of unnecessary and damaging interference remains to be seen?
This seems quite disingenuous?
I did not specifically purchase the operating system installed on the Playstation4Pro console that I purchased. It came preinstalled and there are no alternatives?
Whether I am a partner or not does not alter the fact that the company is behaving abusively towards it’s partners and consumers alike.
As to ensuring software purchased on the platform is suitable?
There is almost no relevant information provided for any software sold on the site.
There is a seemingly standardised spiel for every item with very little difference between any.
One thing that you should have taken into account if you did your research before purchasing your PS 4 and VR head set is that the PS 5 with a new VR head set will be released at the end of 2020 . Sony will not give a definitive answer on backwards comparability .
Most of their developers are now working on launch titles for the PS 5 .
But you were aware of this before purchasing a PS4. You have absolute right to install your own software provided it doesn’t use their encryption/code. Sony has no legal obligation to provide that software however, and the fact that none exists is not their responsibility.
As for the software, as stated on the box it’s subject to the EULA which you opened and agreed to. You don’t own that software
To summarise all above arguments:
It would be if you purchased the device under the impression the software had no limits. But you agreed to the EULA which clearly states this is not the case. If you had an issue you needed to raise it then, before agreeing
Thank you for the correction. It appears that the people who classify games are still unaware that many are written for and played by adults (and no, I’m not talking about any X-rated stuff).
ROFL! Sorry, but theory and practice are very different. Australia has signed up to a wide range of international agreements (sometimes referred to as relating to ‘free trade’) that limit the Commonwealth’s ability to do a whole bunch of things and require it to do a lot of other stuff that the average person may find quite offensive - such as adopting US intellectual property rules.
Except that it does.
XYZZY!
Microsoft’s programming languages are available (to buy), and their use benefits Microsoft. The code behind them, however - as with the code behind Windows - is very carefully protected.
Sorry, but no. Again, our trade agreements protect encryption in software, and reverse engineering this (along with lots of other things) is illegal. Sony and other major hardware and software manufacturers include encryption to prevent consumers from simply copying stuff. There were (illegal) DVD movie-ripping programs back in the day, and presumably there are also illegal BluRay ripping programs - but to repeat, these are designed to defeat encryption and are thus illegal.
One final note about Sony, from a personal perspective: I dislike the company immensely, and try not to buy its products (damn the music and movie lineup!). Why? It put a rootkit on a music CD!
By Grabthar’s Hammer, by the Suns of Warvan, you shall be avenged.
As I stated, HARDWARE wise you can do what you want. My next point states that the shipped software cannot be modified or tampered with. If you want to make your own software and run it on a PS4, there’s nothing stopping you provided you don’t copy any of their encryption or code
I will update my comment to make this clearer
I purchased the unit twelve months ago and encountered no news of the PS5 during the month or so I spent looking into the technology. There was news of the imminent arrival of the Oculus Quest and that may well have been the better option? But at the time it was an unproven if promising product?
