https://consumerrights.wiki/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=MediaMallMediaMall - Revision history2026-05-15T09:24:10ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.44.0https://consumerrights.wiki/index.php?title=MediaMall&diff=53148&oldid=prevLouis: new company article on MediaMall Technologies, NY-based maker of PlayOn streaming DVR; covers the lifetime license discontinuation incident, EULA-vs-Cloud-ToS legal asymmetry, and product timeline2026-05-09T00:05:17Z<p>new company article on MediaMall Technologies, NY-based maker of PlayOn streaming DVR; covers the lifetime license discontinuation incident, EULA-vs-Cloud-ToS legal asymmetry, and product timeline</p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{CompanyCargo<br />
|Founded=2003<br />
|Industry=Software<br />
|Logo=<br />
|ParentCompany=<br />
|CompanyAlias=MediaMall, MMT, MediaMall Technologies<br />
|Type=Private<br />
|Website=https://www.playon.tv/<br />
|Description=NY-based maker of PlayOn streaming DVR software; abandoned $69.99 lifetime license customers in October 2021 with the PlayOn Home subscription<br />
}}<br />
<br />
'''MediaMall Technologies, Inc.''' is a privately held New York software company that develops the PlayOn streaming DVR product line. The company is most prominently associated with the October 2021 discontinuation of [[PlayOn Desktop discontinued|PlayOn Desktop]], a Windows recording program it had sold for thirteen years under a $69.99 "Lifetime License", which it replaced with the subscription-only PlayOn Home and offered affected lifetime customers a minimum of three free months of the new service as compensation.<ref name="techhive">{{Cite web |last=Newman |first=Jared |date=2021-10-21 |title=PlayOn strands lifetime subscribers as it overhauls its desktop DVR software |url=https://www.techhive.com/article/579775/playon-streaming-dvr-just-got-a-lot-pricier.html |website=TechHive |access-date=2026-05-08}}</ref><ref name="upgrade-archive">{{Cite web |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126210706if_/https://www.playon.tv/upgrade |title=PlayOn Upgrade page (Internet Archive snapshot) |date=2021-01-26 |website=playon.tv via Wayback Machine |access-date=2026-05-08}}</ref><ref name="welcome-home">{{Cite web |url=https://www.playon.tv/blog/welcome-playon-home |title=Welcome to PlayOn Home |author=Tracy Burman |date=2021-11-24 |website=PlayOn Blog |access-date=2026-05-08}}</ref> Newer PlayOn products use a Terms of Service with mandatory binding arbitration & a class-action waiver, an asymmetry from the older Desktop end user license agreement that allowed New York court litigation.<ref name="cloud-tos">{{Cite web |url=https://www.playon.tv/cloud-tos |title=PlayOn Cloud Terms of Service |website=playon.tv |access-date=2026-05-08}}</ref><ref name="eula">{{Cite web |url=https://www.playon.tv/eula |title=PlayOn End User License Agreement |website=playon.tv |access-date=2026-05-08}}</ref><br />
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== Consumer-impact summary ==<br />
<br />
* MediaMall sold PlayOn Desktop with a $69.99 "Lifetime License" up through at least January 2021; it discontinued the product in October 2021 and migrated holders into PlayOn Home, a $5/month or $40/year subscription, with a minimum of three free months as the only direct compensation.<ref name="upgrade-archive" /><ref name="techhive" /><ref name="welcome-home" /><br />
* The company's older PlayOn Desktop end user license agreement specifies New York governing law & exclusive jurisdiction in New York state or federal courts, with no arbitration clause & no class-action waiver.<ref name="eula" /><br />
* The newer PlayOn Cloud Terms of Service mandates binding individual arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association under its Commercial Arbitration Rules & explicitly forbids class actions, consolidated proceedings, & private attorney general actions.<ref name="cloud-tos" /><br />
* The Better Business Bureau profile for MediaMall Technologies, Inc. records consumer complaints clustered around the lifetime license dispute, with customers describing the rebrand to PlayOn Home as a forced repurchase of software they had already paid for.<ref name="bbb">{{Cite web |url=https://www.bbb.org/us/ny/new-york/profile/computer-software-developers/mediamall-technologies-inc-0121-110476 |title=MediaMall Technologies, Inc. BBB Business Profile |website=Better Business Bureau |access-date=2026-05-08}}</ref><br />
* No class-action lawsuit, [[Federal Trade Commission|FTC]] action, state Attorney General action, or [[DMCA Section 1201|DMCA]] anti-circumvention claim against MediaMall has been documented in published reporting on the company as of May 2026.<br />
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== Products ==<br />
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MediaMall's products are streaming-video recording & aggregation tools, listed below in chronological order of launch.<br />
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'''PlayOn Desktop''' launched in August 2008 as a Windows UPnP/DLNA media server that aggregated streaming video from sites such as [[Hulu]] & [[Netflix]] and transcoded it for game consoles & set-top boxes.<ref name="techhive" /> It received its final software update on October 7, 2021, & is no longer available for purchase; per TechHive, the program does not function on Windows 11.<ref name="techhive" /><br />
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'''PlayLater''' launched in 2011 as a separate "DVR for online video" application that recorded streams to local MP4 files. MediaMall later retired the standalone PlayLater product, folding its recording functionality into PlayOn Desktop as "PlayOn Recording".<br />
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'''MyMedia''' was a free media-server application that cast personal media files from a Windows PC to Roku devices & gaming consoles, later merged into the PlayOn Media Library.<br />
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'''PlayOn Cloud''' is a cloud-based streaming DVR for iOS & Android, charging per-recording credits rather than a flat license fee.<ref name="cloud-tos" /> It is governed by the arbitration-with-class-waiver Terms of Service.<ref name="cloud-tos" /><br />
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'''PlayOn.tv Australia''' is a regional configuration of PlayOn Cloud for the Australian streaming market.<br />
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'''PlayOn Home''' launched in October 2021 as the direct PC replacement for PlayOn Desktop. It costs $5 per month or $40 per year & cannot be purchased outright.<ref name="techhive" /><ref name="welcome-home" /><br />
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'''Younify TV''' launched on June 29, 2023 as a free streaming-aggregation app that consolidates watchlists & recommendations across services into a single interface.<ref name="younify">{{Cite web |url=https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/mediamall-technologies-announces-the-launch-of-younify-tv--your-new-favorite-streaming-app-301866832.html |title=MediaMall Technologies Announces the Launch of Younify TV - Your New Favorite Streaming App |date=2023-06-29 |website=PR Newswire |access-date=2026-05-08}}</ref><br />
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== Incidents ==<br />
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=== PlayOn Desktop discontinued ===<br />
<br />
{{Main|PlayOn Desktop discontinued}}<br />
<br />
On October 7, 2021, MediaMall released the final software update for PlayOn Desktop & stopped selling it, replacing it with PlayOn Home, a $5/month or $40/year subscription product.<ref name="techhive" /> The company had marketed a "Lifetime License" to PlayOn Desktop for $69.99, archived on the PlayOn upgrade page as recently as January 26, 2021.<ref name="upgrade-archive" /> Lifetime customers were not refunded; they were instead offered a minimum of three months of PlayOn Home for free, with longer trial periods for more recent purchasers, after which continued use required a paid subscription.<ref name="welcome-home" /><ref name="techhive" /> No class action has been documented in published reporting on the discontinuation as of May 2026.<br />
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== Leadership ==<br />
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Jeff Lawrence serves as President & CEO. Tracy Burman serves as Chief Operating Officer & is the public face of the company's product communications, signing the November 24, 2021 PlayOn Home launch blog post & speaking on the record to TechHive about the PlayOn Desktop discontinuation.<ref name="welcome-home" /><ref name="techhive" /> Skip Sullivan holds the title Head of Customer Delight per the company's June 29, 2023 PR Newswire release announcing Younify TV; his published support email is skip.sullivan@playon.tv.<ref name="younify" /><br />
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The company's New York corporate address of record is listed in the BBB profile as 20 River Terrace, Suite 5N, New York, NY 10282.<ref name="bbb" /><br />
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== Legal posture ==<br />
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The contractual terms governing MediaMall's products differ sharply between the older PlayOn Desktop end user license agreement & the newer PlayOn Cloud Terms of Service. The Desktop EULA, drafted for the original software product, specifies New York governing law & exclusive jurisdiction in New York courts. Section 7 of the EULA reads:<br />
<blockquote>''This Agreement is governed by the laws of the State of New York, without regard to its conflicts of law provisions. All disputes hereunder shall be resolved in the state or federal courts of the State of New York. You consent to the exclusive jurisdiction of such courts, agree to accept service of process by mail, and waive any jurisdictional or venue defenses otherwise available.''</blockquote><ref name="eula" /><br />
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The PlayOn Cloud Terms of Service replaces that framework with a binding individual-arbitration clause administered by the American Arbitration Association under its Commercial Arbitration Rules. The Cloud ToS expressly waives class-action & representative-action procedures:<br />
<blockquote>''You may only resolve Disputes with MMT on an individual basis, and may not bring a claim as a plaintiff or a class member in a class, consolidated, or representative action. Class arbitrations, class actions, private attorney general actions, and consolidation with other arbitrations are prohibited under our agreement.''</blockquote><ref name="cloud-tos" /><br />
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The practical effect is that any consumer dispute arising from the post-2016 PlayOn Cloud or PlayOn Home products must be resolved through individual AAA arbitration, with the cost of an individual claim typically exceeding the value of a single subscription. No class action has been filed against MediaMall as of May 2026.<ref name="techhive" /><br />
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== See also ==<br />
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* [[PlayOn Desktop discontinued]]<br />
* [[List of products and services with post-purchase license change]]<br />
* [[VitalSource "Lifetime" false advertising]]<br />
* [[TeamViewer terminates perpetual licenses]]<br />
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== References ==<br />
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{{reflist}}<br />
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<!-- INCIDENT SEVERITY SCORES (for pipeline orchestration, not displayed)<br />
INCIDENT_SCORE: PlayOn Desktop discontinued | 58/100 | Documented thirteen-year lifetime-license abandonment with TechHive coverage, archived $69.99 pricing, and clustered BBB complaints; no class action filed and no FTC/state AG action, which keeps the score below the threshold for "severe."<br />
--><br />
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[[Category:Companies]]<br />
[[Category:Software companies]]<br />
[[Category:United States companies]]</div>Louis