Idea: insurance (that looks like or is part of an extended warranty or service contract) for cloud services.
Companies should be required to label whether a device depends on cloud service. Customers could buy a guarantee, like a service contract, that the service will keep running {for some amount of time, forever}.
If the company itself sells the guarantee, then it has to price the cost of breaking these contracts into decisions about whether to maintain the service. This doesn't protect the customer from a company going out of business, though. Maybe the provider is required to put the money in escrow; or maybe they're backed by re-insurer.
This allows customers to opt in or out, depending on their risk aversion and other factors. And it's more predictable, and maybe more efficient, than a class action lawsuit.
There's a model for this: consumers buy extended warranties and service contracts for some goods, especially appliances.
Companies should be required to label whether a device depends on cloud service. Customers could buy a guarantee, like a service contract, that the service will keep running {for some amount of time, forever}.
If the company itself sells the guarantee, then it has to price the cost of breaking these contracts into decisions about whether to maintain the service. This doesn't protect the customer from a company going out of business, though. Maybe the provider is required to put the money in escrow; or maybe they're backed by re-insurer.
This allows customers to opt in or out, depending on their risk aversion and other factors. And it's more predictable, and maybe more efficient, than a class action lawsuit.
There's a model for this: consumers buy extended warranties and service contracts for some goods, especially appliances.