PlayStation To Delete A Ton Of TV Shows Users Already Paid For::Sony says Mythbusters and more Discovery TV shows are going away whether you bought them or not

264 points

If you can’t own digital copies since they’re not property, then piracy isn’t theft.

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45 points

Easy there on the sound logical arguments buddy, you’ll have the lawyers shitting their pants.

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13 points

You will own nothing, we will bleed you dry, and you will love it.

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3 points

You will love getting used to less

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7 points

It’s not theft. It’s why they named it piracy instead of theft. Because it’s different.

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10 points

It’s weird this needs to be repeated so often. Just goes to show how often media corpos repeated the lie that creating a copy of something and sharing it with someone else is the same thing as stealing physical property from someone.

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153 points

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71 points

The irony is that I feel like I own my pirated content more than any of the digital content I’ve actually purchased in the past.

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34 points

Piracy gives you freedom, whereas paying for content just deprives you of your money

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6 points

Feel? Without question you have ownership in a way legal distributors no longer allow for. Physical media aside of course, but even that has a hassle to it that pirated content circumvents.

There is simply no downside to having a collection of movies, tv shows and music on your HDD that no one can take away and plays in any modern operating system hassle free.

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-1 points

Buy Blu-ray’s then.

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26 points

I’m occasionally buying used Blu-rays from eBay, ripping them using MakeMKV, putting the content on my Jellyfin server and sharing it with my friends and family over Tailscale. Works like a dream and no one can do anything about it. https://youtube.com/watch?v=RZ8ijmy3qPo

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6 points

Here is an alternative Piped link(s):

https://piped.video/watch?v=RZ8ijmy3qPo

Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.

I’m open-source; check me out at GitHub.

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2 points

Can you ELI5 why you need/use Tailscsle on your setup?

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1 point

How much are you paying for tailscale?

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2 points

You’re missing the point.

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-12 points

No, you guys are missing the point. If you want to own something buy Blu-ray’s, piracy isn’t justifiable just because you don’t want to buy it.

You don’t have to justify piracy like you idiots always tries to do. Who cares?

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2 points

That’s where all the good pirated content comes from

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143 points

They just want us to pirate everything right? Like, that is the only logical response to this.

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41 points

The content you bought is available to be streamed on Discovery Plus, for a small subscription fee.

Just buy your content again, that’s fair right? You wouldn’t expect a perpetual license for the cash you parted with, that would be crazy!

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27 points

It’s the perfect model. People only buy a DVD once, but this way you can keep them paying forever!

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7 points

But iTs CoNvENiEnT

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-17 points

Or, you know, buy media you can store on your own devices.

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24 points

I don’t have a house big enough to store a ton of DVDs, and the Playstation Digital Edition solidified that we don’t have to buy physical media anymore. So the only option is piracy.

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-2 points

There is this lovely invention called dvd binders, it let’s you keep a ton of them in a much smaller space

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-24 points

No, there are plenty of ways to buy digital only media, where you store it on your own drives.

I have a NAS full of media that I own that I bought. None of it physical.

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77 points
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Deleted by creator
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61 points

Well whoever is taking them away should reimburse the clients if they were not made aware that they didn’t own the show but were just renting it.

These behaviors are dangerous and shouldn’t be legal. You press « buy », you own the product, not the right to watch it for a few years.

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13 points

Slowly turning the whole world into pirates…

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5 points

disingenuously points to the indecipherable ToS

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8 points

and that’s why it should be illegal, the big “buy” button ahould have higher precedence over any “renting” claims in the ToS and any attempt of misrepresentation should be fined.

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43 points

Thanks for pointing that out, it is Discovery’s decision. For their part though, Sony is still at fault as they didn’t demand perpetual use rights for content sold on their store, or at least a full refund for the customer.

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23 points

This. Offer a refund. Discovery caused the problem, but Sony enabled it.

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9 points
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Sony isn’t in a position to demand refunds, though. Discovery pulling their content means there’s no negotiation happening.

As for demanding perpetual use rights, yes, that’d have been nice, but that wouldn’t have been granted and then that content wouldn’t have been in the store at all. No company will ever sign an agreement to license their content in perpetuity like that.

That’s the crux of the issue with digital content. When it was physical media, companies had no choice but to release their media with perpetual licenses because there was no means of revoking it later. They weren’t compelled into doing this, they had to because the only other option was not releasing that media at all. Digital content has removed this issue for them, and they have no reason to ever willingly go back to the old method of content distribution.

This is something that has needed regulation for a very long time. If there’s no incentives for companies to do something, it won’t happen, unless they’re forced to do it.

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7 points

No company should ever buy the rights to something if they aren’t willing to provide a proper consistent experience to the user.

In the case of streaming services where you pay an ongoing subscription, specific content being removed is fine. In the case of a store where the user is presented with the idea that they are “buying” the content, being able to view that content in perpetuity should always be expected. Sony is to blame for not requiring this.

They don’t have to keep access to the content for new purchases forever. If Discovery wants to pull their content so anyone who hasn’t already paid for it can access it, fine. But if they’re able to say “you paid for this already, but too bad”, Sony and Discovery are both equally to blame and deserve the harshest criticism.

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31 points

The absolute minimum they should be doing here is refunding everyone’s money in full.

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-22 points

In full? So the period where the content was accessible is valueless? Pulling the licenses is bullshit, but a full refund is equally asinine.

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21 points
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If Hyundai Kicks down your door down and takes your car. They don’t get to say 'Well it was worthless per (depreciation math they made up)."

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10 points

The retractors reneged on a contract that they had already performed from. When you pay for a product and then the salesman takes it back from you months later that’s called theft. They just legalized piracy.

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7 points

Yes, in full. Even Google did that when they shut Stadia. If you’re a big company this is the cost of business. Even if it’s just in store credit or whatever, wouldn’t even cost them much.

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-10 points

Not sure why you’re getting downvoted. This is true. People like to complain, but I’m sure somewhere in the TOS this was stated that you don’t own it… Still a bad move to pull the content but I agree should not be full refund.

I get that people don’t like paying for things. I don’t mind paying, but I make myself aware of what I’m paying for. CONVENIENCE… Don’t spend your money on bad platform’s and services people. If you don’t like how the business model of that company is, don’t give them your money. Vote with your wallet.

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31 points
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This is absolutely Sony’s fault. Sony owns the platform, Sony took the money, Sony signed the terms and agreements with Discovery that let them pull the content users paid for.

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18 points

I blame Discovery too, but you’re right that Sony is to blame. They have an army of lawyers to go over the terms of the agreements. The buyers don’t. When I push the button that says buy, that should mean I own it. Not that I’m renting it for some unspecified period of time.

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23 points

I don’t care who’s at fault for this massive scam

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12 points
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At best you could say Sony didn’t know you thought you now own the car they were actually lending you. They probably spelt it out this could happen in their legal codex but that doesn’t negate the fact they took your money or they made a system wherein they can deny you from using what you paid for. Sony takes part in this degeneration of ownerships.

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9 points

If it’s not something that lets you straight download and keep a native, non-drm video file, then you never owned it.

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11 points

Just Max, not HBO Max. They changed the name because they literally planned on making it worse and didn’t want it reflecting badly on the HBO brand.

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9 points

No, it’s also Sony’s fault for not making a contract that says “bought means bought forever”. Sony isn’t making contracts like that where they can get screwed over later. Just making them that way when it affects you.

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8 points

This is what I wrote on the other thread about the same article. The question is, on what possible grounds are they allowed to revoke licenses for completed sales?

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9 points

Someone in legal on Sony’s side fucked up.

They should issue refunds. Whether they will or not though…

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4 points

They will ALMOST CERTAINLY. But my point is this doesn’t really help… Let’s say a game I really like, I dunno Wreckfest (substitute you own idc) gets yanked from Steam. Here is my 24.99 EUR back. Okay fine, fair enough (it isn’t but whatever), where can I buy the game again? Well REALLY you can’t, you can either buy gamepass forever (Until it gets yanked from there again), or you can go and hunt down a rare an expensive Xbox physical release.

So have I been reimbursed for my loss? No, because the 24.99 is no substitute for the game I had and wanted.

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66 points

This seems illegal unless Sony reimburses everyone for the removed content.

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66 points

It should be. But I would be extremely surprised if everything in the terms of service isn’t worded something like “you’re buying a license to view this content that can be revoked whenever”.

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23 points

It is, and IIRC you don’t even “own” a movie even if you physically have it. You own the physical disc, not the content on it. Granted, it’s a lot harder for Sony or Discovery to come kick down your door and take your copy of Ice Road Truckers so you have to rebuy it…

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16 points

That’s not really a big deal with regards to physical items. If you buy a book you don’t own the rights to the text either.

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8 points

I wouldn’t be surprised if the TOS says “We reserve the right to change this agreement at any time in any way without notice and you agree to be bound by all future versions of this agreement”

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6 points

There’s a line in the EULA when you purchase digital media that says they can revoke your access to it at any time that they see fit. Look it up for yourself.

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