Amazon disables Instant Video on LG devices

Sorry for cross posting...

I have just learned that as of 9/14/15 (three weeks from now) Amazon has arbitrarily decided to disable instant video capability on my 4 year old LG 3D bluray home theater, and I am totally ticked.

I have spoken to Amazon customer support and informed that due to an "upgrade" they "will no longer support" the device. Interesting euphemism, hey? In what sense is turning off existing capabilities an upgrade for existing customers? Furthermore, while to other vendors "no longer supporting" a product means things like no more tech support, no upgrades, no bug fixes etc. apparently to Amazon it means that they can actively disable existing features that are working fine. Microsoft no longer supports Windows XP, but I still have a old XP machine running one particular piece of hardware and its working just fine, and will continue to do so until something eventually breaks. Microsoft did not suddenly disable my computer when they stopped supporting the software, but that is exactly what Amazon is doing! Buyers of LG products should be aware that third parties can arbitrarily disable features that came with the products when they purchased them, with little warning and no recourse for the customer (beyond venting on sites like this.)

When it was purchased, our system came with Amazon instant video (and a number of other instant video services). That was a selling point and a significant factor in our decision to buy the system we did. But as of September 14th Amazon has decided that as far as they are concerned, our system is obsolete and they are disabling the instant video app. if I want to continue to receive instant video, I have to replace at least part of the hardware - at our expense of course.

I don't expect Amazon to support software/hardware indefinitely, but why make changes that actively disable systems that are currently working? Haven't Amazon's developers/software engineers ever heard of backward compatibility? Upgrades do NOT necessarily mean disabling existing features. But buyers should beware that products, including LG products, that come with preinstalled apps from Amazon may later find those features permanently disabled and those features eliminated.

We are not talking about devices that belong in the Smithsonian, we're talking about a 4 year old 3D home theater system. Far from an antique and not cheap (or easy) to replace.

I don't know if this is due to some "issue" between LG and Amazon, (I can only assume that that is the case) but either way its a pretty crappy way to treat customers (of both). Looks like we will have to either give up Amazon streaming video or replace our perfectly serviceable LG product. In either case customers and potential customers of LG products should know that this may be in their futures and if streaming video is important to them, they should probably look elsewhere.