A smart move by Sony (SNE) -- the company has just changed its Terms Of Use for the PS3, and gave itself free reign to eavesdrop on and censor its users at will. Already generating controversy:

SCEA reserves the right to monitor and record any online activity and communication throughout PSN and you give SCEA your express consent to monitor and record your activities. SCEA reserves the right to remove any content and communication from PSN at SCEA's sole discretion without further notice to you. Any data collected in this way, including the content of your communications, the time and location of your activities, your Online ID and IP address and other related information may be used by us to enforce this Agreement or protect the interests of SCEA, its users, or licensors.

In most cases, we're on the side on free speech, but here's why PS3 speech-oversight is a good idea: User-generated content is coming to the PS3 via "Home," a virtual domicile Sony users can decorate as they wish, and "LittleBigPlanet," a platforming game where gamers can create and share objects and levels. And where there's user-generated content, there's always sex.

Don't think so, because Sony won't allow the creation of adult-themed animations or avatars? Well that hasn't stopped sex from creeping into Google's Lively, a service expressly designed to be PG. If the exact same thing happened online via a PS3, the PR would be frightful for Sony. Parents have a (rightful) expectation that kids at game consoles require less oversight than those at an Internet terminal. And unlike Lively, people actually use and pay attention to the PS3.

See also:
Sony: What Recession? No Price Cuts For PS3
Is Sex Coming To Google's Lively After All?