I dont understand why Sony dosent charge for PSN membership. Microsoft gets away with charging £40 a year and is still hugely successful, so why dosent Sony begin to charge? If i was in charge of Sony i would undercut Microsoft and charge £30 a year, and this would have only positive effects;

1.) They would get higher revenue from it and it would cost them nearly nothing to administer.

2.) PS3 sales would likely increase because  it would be in direct competition with Microsoft and consumers would likely choose the PS3 as they want the best deal.

It seems like a no-brainer to me, so why dont they do it? Is there a reason why they dont do it that i dont know? Are they making a stupid mistake?

because its something that should be free. paying to use your own internet connection is not cool

Well they don't make money, but it is added value. If they start to charge it's one less thing that separates them from Microsoft and the Xbox. Wouldn't be surprised to see it happen next-gen though.

2. "PS3 sales would likely increase because  it would be in direct competition with Microsoft and consumers would likely choose the PS3 as they want the best deal."

Could you please explain this one to me a bit clearer?

Because then they'd have to upgrade PSN to make it worth it.

And then they couldn't share Publishers fees anymore for releasing demo's and stuff.

It should be free. Paying for something that should come with the game and the system in the first place is retarded.

Because they don't need to.

A big draw for a lot of people to PS3, is being able to play online without having to pay extra.

They should not charge because they have stupid rules in place that force the users to create multiple accounts to actually use the service. If they start charging some people will have to pay for multiple accounts and they will run away from the system.

They definately do need to! They are in big trouble at the moment and if they were to charge £30 a year for PSN the PS3 sales would also increase i think, as they would be in direct competition with microsoft.

They don't like money?

No seriously, I really think they put profit below other things when they shouldn't be.

PS+ is stealthily their version of Gold but in my opinion, it's better.