They got killed by making it inconvenient to use legally purchased media by adding unskippable trailers, copy protection, things like the Sony rootkit,… and also empty boxes on the shelves with the actual media hidden behind the counter.
Making life harder for people trying to buy your product is never a good idea.
Ask the physical movie and music industries how well that worked out for them.
They got killed by streaming, not locked shelves.
They got killed by making it inconvenient to use legally purchased media by adding unskippable trailers, copy protection, things like the Sony rootkit,… and also empty boxes on the shelves with the actual media hidden behind the counter.
Making life harder for people trying to buy your product is never a good idea.
That was a mistake on our part… Shoulda killed them with “piracy” matey!