Sony recently issued a warning to PlayStation users who purchased tv shows made by Discovery Channel. Not only a warning, but more of a threat that the content will soon be removed. Discovery merged with Warner Bros. Pictures, and this move has already caused a slew of projects scrapped.
PlayStation wiping this content is just the latest casualty in the push towards an all-digital/cloud-based future.
“Due to our content licensing arrangements with content providers, you will no longer be able to watch any of your previously purchased Discovery content and the content will be removed from your video library,” the email to users reads.
Sony is providing yet another rude reminder that customers don’t actually own the digital content they purchase. Many users still believe once they buy a digital version of a show, movie, game, etc., it is theirs forever.
Unfortunately, due to the mess that is DRM and license agreements, this content can be taken away at any time.
Since Discovery was pretty good at churning out documentary-style shows, this means a lot will be purged. Including but not limited to “Mythbusters,” “Naked and Afraid,” “Say Yes to the Dress,” “Shark Week,” “Cake Boss,” “Long Island Medium,” and “Deadly Women.”
In the past users could transfer purchased movies and shows between devices, like the PlayStation Portable. But Sony removed the option beginning with the PlayStation 4, meaning that content will be lost even to those who purchased it. At this point, it is just better to classify digital purchases as infinite loans on streaming content.
The simple solution here would seem to be buying physical media instead. But it seems like Sony and Microsoft are planning to slowly phase out optical disc drives. Paired with the fact that more content is moving to streaming only and forgoing physical releases, that simply won’t be possible. Users losing access to content is not a bug in this system, it’s a feature.
