Sony has recently announced that any video game purchased on their PlayStation platform will now require that you check in online every 30 days in order to retain access to the content that you purchased. Fail to meet that check in and you will be locked out from any of the digital games that you purchased. Needless to say, the backlash has been pretty brutal.
Any PlayStation game purchased digitally after March's sytem update will reportedly now require an internet connection once every 30 days to validate the license 🎮
— Culture Crave 🍿 (@CultureCrave) April 27, 2026
If the console stays offline longer than that, the games will not launch until you reconnect
(via… pic.twitter.com/yN6ZPzEN3L
Now I’m not exactly a gamer, so this doesn’t have much of an impact on me, but it gives you a good glimpse into where things are going in terms of digital content. Things like audio books or movies that you have purchased and downloaded will clearly be going the same way.
And the issue won’t limit itself strictly to the digital world. As we covered pretty extensively on Townhall yesterday, car companies are set to implement kill switches in their new vehicles next year. Patents have been filed that would allow for AI to unilaterally determine whether or not you are in the right state-of-mind to operate the vehicle that you purchased.
Every new car in the U.S. will be required by law to have tech that puts constant surveillance on the driver by 2027.
— Pubity (@pubity) April 25, 2026
AI in your car will determine if you're sober and fit to drive, automatically turning off the vehicle if it determines you're a danger on the road. pic.twitter.com/7SDbAJ2GyC
Ownership and control over your own possessions continues to become more and more bleak. If some random software or company is allowed to determine whether or not you are free to use your own property, what is to stop a repressive left-wing administration from pressuring companies to cut off service to their political adversaries? We already saw that the Biden administration pushed social media companies into suppressing content that they deemed to be dangerous.
Stories like these give you a good indication that we are heading toward a permanent renter’s economy. Nothing that you purchase will truly be yours. You will own nothing. You will be happy.
