Sir, – I was disappointed, although hardly surprised, to learn that Oculus virtual reality headset users will be required to login via Facebook by 2023. This strikes me as simply another example of a big corporation imposing limitations on its products in order to both stifle competition, create even greater dependence on their services, and create more sources for data mining.
While one may certainly argue that it is Facebook’s free-market right to institute such changes and let the buyer beware, one should also bear in mind that this sort of carry-on is largely facilitated by intellectual property laws which themselves are antithetical to a free market.
To that end we need to seriously consider either abolishing intellectual property laws outright, or at least radically reforming them so imposed limitations, planned obsolescence and price-gouging are prevented. – Yours, etc,
NICK BUCKNELL,
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Bray,
Co Wicklow,