Disabling online features in retaliation

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Disabling online features in retaliation is a practice in which businesses deny access to online functionality because the user of a product did not adhere to terms / policies unrelated to the online service. Making the product less useful and less valuable.

How it works

Business may use this practice in a situation where the product has online features that most customers would find valuable, the customer cannot chose the provider for this online service (usually by the same manufacturer as the device) and the business has an anti-competitive reason to enforce restrictions on the product that are technologically difficult to enforce directly.

The product will use some kind of detection mechanism to determine if the customer breaks one of the manufacturers terms and in retaliation disable the online features the customer cared about.

As a result the product has decreased utility and (resale) value, harming the customer.

Why it is a problem

If the theme or common term is positive for the consumer this section can be omitted.

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Examples

Some examples of disabling online features in retaliation include:

• Nintendo Switch 2 consoles disabling Nintendo Switch Online functionality when MIG Switch cartridges are detected.
• Molekule Air Purifiers disabling Molekule Services (required for using the Molekule app) when 3rd party replacement filters are detected.