hirokazu said:
If the law was just and well defined, there would've been no way Sony's actions would've fallen into the grey area either.
The law isn't, and can never be, so precise. It will always be tested and there are grey areas and loopholes and questionable aspects to many, maybe all, aspects of the law. Looking at the area which protects the consumer, it's not a grey area. The fact Sony's breach is done through a firmware update does not make it so either because they still removed a feature they advertised.
For the EU at least, it is not grey, it may be difficult to show as it's not as prominent as damaged or faulty goods (for example) but that doesn't mean the law does not support the notion. The law is there to be used, applied, interpreted and this falls well within the ambit of EU legislation. It may not say 'Sony are not allowed to do x, y, z' but the principle is there and applies to any company. The fact iapetus managed to get a refund shows that it is possible, if people don't know how to or decide not to exercise their rights - that's a different issue.
There is not a lack of clarity, just difficulty in getting Sony to take responsbility for their actions. This would go for any company and you are right, in terms of the Wii removing the mp3 playback - in principle you are correct but you need to consider the level of impact. There is a distinction -
The Wii box does not advertise mp3 playback as a feature, as far as I know.
I don't recall anyone from Nintendo going down the Sony route, they didn't say - 'hey, DVD playback, mp3 playback etc.'
mp3 playback is trivial compared to an OS.
I wasn't aware of any such capability and that does make a difference - if it is something that is not advertised, known or utilised, you can't say it has had a big impact on you.
The PS3 was advertised as more than just a games console, Linux wasn't a footnote or something which you can call trivial (like mp3 playback) - it was a selling point (the ability to play mp3s on your wii would not be a comparison)
You could complain to Nintendo but it would be a lot more difficult because of the stuff I outlined above. Technically, you are right (the removal of a feature) but losing an OS and mp3 playback, and under those conditions (ie. Sony advertising the feature as a selling point) it is not the same thing. Also, this is a thread about what Sony have done and you could compare with Nintendo but I've taken it on its own merits. Sony is not a special case, any company who does this is wrong but Nintendo, in this instance, is not an equivalence.