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I don't see how it's legal for any company to tell me what I do with my hardware once I purchase it.

That's like selling me bread and telling me I can only use it for bologna sandwiches, and that PB & J is against the rules, especially if I tell someone how to make one.

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Or someone selling you an operating system and telling you you can only install it on hardware purchased from them. These things are far from uncommon in technology. (I will refrain from mentioning the other example that came to mind because I don't wish to target a specific company to the exclusion of others, since such practices are widespread.)

> Or someone selling you an operating system and telling you you can only install it on hardware purchased from them.

How ridiculous!

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The difference there is that software isn't sold, it's licensed. Hardware on the other hand is a physical object which is bought.

The DMCA provides the legal basis. The hardware controls access to protected works, so circumvention of it (i.e. modifying the hardware) is a crime.

But does the hardware prevent copying? It prevents you from running a game without Sony's imprimatur, but that's not the same thing.

If the hardware does not effectively prevent copying, the DMCA does not apply.

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