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Sony is erasing digital libraries that were supposed to be accessible “forever”

Sony is erasing digital libraries that were supposed to be accessible “forever”::Casualties afoot as Sony merges Funimation with 2021-acquired Crunchyroll.

19 comments
  • I guess you shouldn't expect any tech company to provide anything "forever," as forever for them, and the fine prints, mean totally different things than what you and I think it is.

  • This is the best summary I could come up with:


    Funimation, a Sony-owned streaming service for anime, recently announced that subscribers' digital libraries on the platform will be unavailable after April 2.

    For years, Funimation had been telling subscribers that they could keep streaming these digital copies of purchased movies and shows, but qualifying it: “forever, but there are some restrictions.”

    But in addition to offering video streaming, Funimation also dubbed and released anime as physical media, and sometimes those DVDs or Blu-rays would feature a digital code.

    For people lacking the space, resources, or interest in maintaining a library of physical media, this was a good way to preserve treasured shows and movies without spending more money.

    It also provided a simple way to access purchased media online if you were, for example, away on a trip and had a hankering to watch some anime DVDs you bought.

    Regarding refunds, Funimation's announcement directed customers to its support team "to see the available options based on your payment method," but there's no mention of getting money back from a DVD or Blu-ray that you might not have purchased had you known you couldn't stream it "forever."


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19 comments