Xbox 360's latest dashboard update has a revised TOS that includes a very similar clause.
I'm a big fan of the Xbox 360, but I wouldn't mind seeing Microsoft get hit by this as well.
As much as I like the Xbox 360 and Xbox Live products, I hate this increasing practice of revising the TOS as part of an update which, because of the design of the system, is essentially a required update unless you want to turn the product you already own into a brick (game updates often require the latest system updates to be present, playing games online require the latest game updates, basically you either have to update or the system quickly becomes totally useless, and you can't update without "agreeing" to the new terms).
Especially with no refund option. If I don't agree to the new software terms, I can't sent the console hardware back to Sony/Microsoft.
But I've always questioned the legality of waiving your legal rights in such a manner. It's always seemed paradoxical to me, at best. Using the systems provided by the courts against me to ensure I have no further recourse in using the courts against them.
It especially pisses me off when one group (Apple) does it and I am also financially bound to AT&T so I can't even walk away. Those need to be decoupled: Apple changes their TOS, I refuse, and thus I am released from my AT&T contract. That, I believe, would at least slow down these changes for the coupled contracts.
Uh no; they can't. Or more precisely: It probably very much depends on the jurisdiction (or country).
The absolute fundamental basis of contract law (at least around here, but I strongly suspect this to be a more or less universal concept) is that a contract is negotiated in good faith from both parties.
I'd wager (and no IANAL) that a bait and switch scheme (and it's exactly that when a contract is suddenly unilaterally changed on the whim of one party) is fundamentally contradictory to this very concept and thus invalid.
Sure: They try it anyway, but I would be very, very surprised if such a scam is upheld by a court.
Well, certain rights can't be signed away. I really suspect this is one of them. If you stand in front of a Jury and say "yes, I signed it. I couldn't use what I paid good money for if I didn't!" all 12 of them are going to feel your pain.
I'm a big fan of the Xbox 360, but I wouldn't mind seeing Microsoft get hit by this as well.
As much as I like the Xbox 360 and Xbox Live products, I hate this increasing practice of revising the TOS as part of an update which, because of the design of the system, is essentially a required update unless you want to turn the product you already own into a brick (game updates often require the latest system updates to be present, playing games online require the latest game updates, basically you either have to update or the system quickly becomes totally useless, and you can't update without "agreeing" to the new terms).