Sony says people who buy games technically don't own shit
The company made the argument in an August filing with California’s Northern District Court.
Sony claims that customers who purchase games do not actually own them, according to a legal filing submitted to California’s Northern District Court on August 21. This assertion follows a lawsuit filed in June by four PlayStation Store customers who argue that Sony does not adequately explain the difference between purchasing a license to a game and owning it outright.
The company's response to the suit maintains that Section 1 of its Software Product Licensing Agreement states that the software is "licensed, not sold." Sony further argues that a digital copy of a game cannot be "owned" because it is a digital file, and therefore cannot be physically possessed by any one individual. The company claims that reasonable consumers could not have believed they were obtaining ownership of a digital game.
This stance is a stark contrast to the days when players could borrow a friend's game disc after they had abandoned theirs due to repeated failures. The argument that gamers do not actually own anything when they click "Buy Now" and "Complete Purchase" comes after Sony recently reminded PlayStation account users of the Terms of Service agreement, which states that virtual content licenses are subject to purchase and cancellation terms, availability is not guaranteed, prices may change, and order sizes may be limited without prior notice.
Additionally, Sony's policy makes it clear that purchases of virtual content licenses may be non-refundable.
Written by urgent.news from The A.V. Club's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
