This issue drew attention to consumer protection laws. Norway is not a member of the European Union, but it is part of the European Economic Area (EEA), which means EU consumer-protection directives (such as those barring unfair commercial practices) are incorporated into Norwegian law. Observers noted that retroactively charging a subscription for a product that was sold under a no-fee premise might violate these rules, though as of mid-2025 it remained unclear if any official action would be taken. Some users discussed the possibility of legal recourse or a class-action lawsuit in response to Futurehome’s move.
Good reference! For the non EUropeans it’s worth mentioning that enforcement initially falls to the country itself, though subsequent appeals may be made to European courts. This depends on a ton of things.
In the US at least, you can’t change a terms of purchase via a terms of service.
So if it was stated at point of purchase that your system will be getting 10 years of updates, and then they decided six years in, you know what? We’re actually only going to do six years of updates, and then posted a terms of service that changed how long they were able to update it. That wouldn’t be legally binding.
In this case, though it doesn’t sound like they’re changing existing buyer’s agreements, it sounds like they are changing the purchase agreement for new consumers who haven’t purchased the product. which is far more legally enforceable as no agreement has been done in that case.
Still a shitty thing for them to do though, considering that they had promised that Chromebooks would have 10 years of updates but I don’t think they’re in violation of anything since it sounds like it’s only going to new consumers.
Your jurisdiction may vary
You might be more protected in theory than you are in practice.
Whom I had in mind was actually a Noreweigan company, FutureHome, who ransomwared their own cameras.
https://www.consumerrights.wiki/w/Futurehome_Smarthub_mandatory_subscription_fee
Good reference! For the non EUropeans it’s worth mentioning that enforcement initially falls to the country itself, though subsequent appeals may be made to European courts. This depends on a ton of things.
Yeah, I do agree your jurisdiction may vary.
In the US at least, you can’t change a terms of purchase via a terms of service.
So if it was stated at point of purchase that your system will be getting 10 years of updates, and then they decided six years in, you know what? We’re actually only going to do six years of updates, and then posted a terms of service that changed how long they were able to update it. That wouldn’t be legally binding.
In this case, though it doesn’t sound like they’re changing existing buyer’s agreements, it sounds like they are changing the purchase agreement for new consumers who haven’t purchased the product. which is far more legally enforceable as no agreement has been done in that case.
Still a shitty thing for them to do though, considering that they had promised that Chromebooks would have 10 years of updates but I don’t think they’re in violation of anything since it sounds like it’s only going to new consumers.