Zen Moment: Do you own the 3DS or does it Own You?

[Mr. Analog]

The 3DS Terms of Service and Privacy Policy make it very clear, anything you do with the 3DS is property of Nintendo. Do something they don't like and they are allowed to brick your device.

Particularly draconian, even for Nintendo:
http://games.slashdot.org/story/11/05/18/0624256/The-FSFs-Campaign-Against-the-Nintendo-3DS

[Melbosa]

Doesn't a  Terms of Service and Privacy Policy only become legal binding if it doesn't interfere with governing body Legal standings?  So say in a country that determines physical product purchases to be the property of the individual, not of any intellectual or otherwise ownership of the product, would then you have legal bounds to go back at Nintendo should they brick your device when you say, reload it with a Linux distro (not that they may have the ability at that point, but just saying in theory)?

[Mr. Analog]

Well, this is where Privacy/Ownership rights are a bit behind with DRM devices, if you agree to Nintendo owning content you generate on their device (by accepting the ToS) then it's TS for you (fair enough, you agreed to it). This is of course the negative scenario most DRM opponents have been raising for some time, now it's not about protecting content producers but owning what end users do with the device.

But that's not the real meat here though, Nintendo can take a look at what you're doing with the device and conditionally choose to brick it.

Imagine if Honda decided that all Civics with "coffee can" mufflers doth offend and could remotely slag the engine block.