AI everywhere
Microslop is what happens when the roadmap stops listening
Microsoft’s AI-everywhere strategy gave its own customers a new word for software decay. The nickname is crude. The product lesson is not.
Read the investigationLatest reportingEverything gets worse. We keep receipts.
Subscriptions
Click to subscribe. Call, beg and wait to cancel.
America’s federal click-to-cancel rule was struck down days before taking effect. The dark pattern survived the reform designed to kill it.
Locked hardware
You bought the printer. HP kept the keys.
Firmware locks and subscription cartridges turn an ordinary appliance into a permissioned service—with your urgent document held in the middle.
The record
More case files
The theory
Enshittification is a business model, not a vibe
The word became famous because it names a repeatable transfer of value: from users, to business customers, to the platform itself.
Digital ownership
Sony is taking the disc away. The price tag gets to stay.
From January 2028, new PlayStation games will be sold digitally only. Retail boxes may still exist—but as download codes, not copies you can lend, resell or preserve.
Digital ownership
You bought the movie. Sony kept the licence.
PlayStation customers in the UK were told that 551 StudioCanal films would disappear from their libraries in September 2026 after licensing agreements expired.
Locked hardware
Bambu sold a printer. The cloud kept the keys.
When Bambu Lab restricted direct third-party cloud access, owners discovered that a fast, polished printer can still be a platform with a gate around it.
AI everywhere
GitHub put the code in public. Copilot put the questions in court.
GitHub publishes DMCA notices and says Copilot’s training on public repositories is lawful. Developers still have to ask who gets attribution when an assistant reproduces familiar code.
AI everywhere
SQL Server got a Copilot button. Then came the troubleshooting guide.
Microsoft’s SSMS integration promises an assistant inside a serious database tool. The official docs also read like a map of the setup, authentication and context failures users have to debug first.
Subscriptions
Shutterstock made the subscription easy to start—and hard to leave.
The FTC says Shutterstock charged consumers without informed consent and built a cancellation process that pushed people through support channels instead of a simple exit.
Subscriptions
Netflix raised every plan. The catalogue did not get bigger overnight.
A 2026 price increase touched every Netflix tier, continuing a pattern in which streaming services move customers from growth pricing to extraction pricing.
Locked hardware
Bose updated the headphones. Some of the useful bits went missing.
A 2026 firmware update for Bose QuietComfort Ultra 2 headphones added new audio features while removing or obscuring controls customers already relied on.
Subscriptions
Amazon called the cancellation flow an Iliad. Customers called it a trap.
A $2.5 billion FTC settlement over Prime enrollment and cancellation practices turned a notorious dark pattern into a refund process.
AI everywhere
The chatbot got an ad slot. The conversation got a business model.
As ChatGPT moved toward advertising in 2026, the promise of a neutral assistant collided with the oldest platform incentive: turn attention into inventory.
Digital ownership
A game can be paid for, downloaded and still be designed to die.
California’s Protect Our Games Act would require publishers that shut down online games to offer a refund or a version that can keep running without the operator’s services.
AI everywhere
The AI vendor lock-in arrives with a usage meter.
As enterprise AI vendors move from fixed plans to usage-based pricing, switching models can mean rewriting prompts, workflows and budgets at the same time.
Australia desk
Microsoft told 2.7 million Australians: take Copilot or leave.
The ACCC alleges Microsoft concealed a cheaper Classic option when it told Microsoft 365 subscribers that Copilot and a higher renewal price were the only way to continue.
Australia desk
Telstra raised the mobile bill again. The network stayed the same shape.
Most Telstra postpaid plans rose by $4 a month from May 2026, with prepaid plans rising by around $5 as the company pointed to network investment and support costs.
Australia desk
NBN raised the wholesale price. Your provider will explain the bill.
From July 2026, nbn wholesale prices rose by up to $2.34 a month on popular residential speed tiers, leaving retailers to decide how much reaches customers.
UK desk
Adobe charged for leaving. The CMA wants to know why.
The UK Competition and Markets Authority opened an investigation into early termination fees on certain Adobe membership plans.
UK desk
Virgin Media made cancellation a customer-service problem.
Ofcom fined Virgin Media £28 million over alleged failures that made it harder for customers to cancel broadband and phone contracts.
UK desk
Virgin Media sells a movie you can lose in five years.
The UK Virgin Media Store terms say purchased content may only remain available for a maximum of five years because third-party rights can expire.