Sony, didn’t we learn a lesson about DRM after your debacle with Minidisc and Sonicstage? It appears that the Playstation team is enforcing an unrealistic limitation for PS3 users who purchase movies off the Playstation Video Store. Ars Technica writes, “Renting movies is a joy on the system, although it would be nice to have longer than 24 hours to watch the content, but what happens when you buy a movie? As one Ars reader found out, and Sony confirmed for us, you have to be careful about what happens to your system once it’s filled with video content: you have one download, one redownload, and that’s it.
“Purchased content can be downloaded to a single PLAYSTATION 3 or a single PSP system,” it reads. “Content cannot be redownloaded once it has been downloaded to either a PLAYSTATION 3 or PSP system.”
This isn’t that horrible, but it does show you one of the negative aspects of downloadable content in comparison to owning it on a disc. I think that Sony should allow users complete freedom, but they don’t. Apple doesn’t do the same with iTunes, so why should Sony? There is probably royalties out the ying-yang that would make it difficult for Sony, anyways. Lincoln Davis, who handles media relations for the PlayStation Network, told Ars that you are in fact allowed one extra download, but you have to contact Sony. “If a consumer deletes a purchased movie from their PS3, they will not be able to redownload the movie without assistance from SCEA’s consumer services,” he told Ars. “Consumer service can issue a redownload as a one-time courtesy, as provided by our guidelines, for the title to allow the consumer to go back and download the movie from their PSN download list.”
