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New PlayStation 3 Terms of Service: Sony Can Record Anything You Say or Do Online
Posted by Matt Buchanan at 3:45 AM on October 22, 2008
You know, I spew a massive amount of trashtalk when online. I can't help it. It just flows out, like oral diarrhea or something. So Sony's new PS3 terms of service for the PlayStation network is kind of frightening. I mean, I'm sure you've said some regrettable things to the snotty 12-year-old bastards running around online nowadays too. Or maybe you'd like to talk about the ROMs running on your PSP. Also not a good idea with Sony's LittleBigBrother plan to record everything you say or do online:
I'm not sure how many of you are buying (aka not renting) movies from Sony's PlayStation 3 video store, but to those who are willing to drop $US15 on a permanent, DRM'd digital product, know that Sony only allows you to redownload these products one time.
If you're a US PS3 owner who wants to play some game that's only been released to Japan's PlayStation Network, you can simply sign up for a Japanese account and download the game. However, it appears that Sony will not allow the same exploit for movie downloads. Some of Kotaku's non-US contingent tried downloading a movie from the US store and found that, nope. Sony isn't having it. It's not a huge surprise, but at least a few of us were hoping that Sony would leave their easy regional purchasing exploit there for films. [
A small, but happy change in the PlayStation Network: Starting this fall all PlayStation users will have a single sign on that works across PS3, PC and PSP. One. That works across all three platforms. Simplicity and logic, meet Sony.
Sony revealed some new numbers about their PlayStation Network today. There are 9.8 million registrants worldwide and they've downloaded 170 million files. All in all, PSN has distributed 86 peta bytes of data worth something like 17 million (single layer) DVDs (read: not Blu-ray discs). Now think about those 17 million DVDs stacked in a big, stinky pile and tell us with a straight face that digital distribution, despite how much we love our pretentious vinyl collection and ripping our own CDs, is not progress that will make for a better world. [
That PlayStation 3 with its PlayStation Network has been around for a while now, but Sony is juuusst getting their act together enough to produce and distribute PSN cards. To most of us with credit cards, these Sony gift cards (good for purchasing downloadable games from the PlayStation Network) are no big deal. But for the young masses who are still sneaking cigarettes out of mom's purse and wearing Groucho Marx mustaches to buy dirty magazines, this is pretty exciting news. Try PixelJunk Monsters if you haven't yet. [
Sony Entertainment Europe has just revealed the new redesign of the PSN Store, due to hit European PS3s sometime this April. In preparation for the launch of the new store, there won't be any new updates for the next two weeks. Current items will still be available for purchase, however. 
