You're here because I would like to explain some of the history of the Sony Corporation and give my opinion about why it's in your best interests to change your shopping habits accordingly. I appreciate your consideration.
Note: Following are the facts as best as I have been able to research them; if you find any inaccuracies, please contact me. Any other feedback is welcome as well.
In 2005, Sony BMG (a joint-venture music company in which Sony was a partner) published music CDs with software on them that was intended to prevent the music from being copied. The software was automatically installed on Windows computers on which the CDs were played, without the computers' owners giving their permission or even being notified. The installation of this copy-protection software made nearly permanent changes and could not be removed except by expert intervention. The software damaged the computer in several ways: it created vulnerabilities that other pieces of malware could exploit, it ran continually and slowed the computer down even if no CD was playing, and it could even crash the computer in some situations. Under pressure from consumers and the law, Sony BMG eventually recalled the CDs. They were later found legally liable for damages to their customers' computers.
In 2006, Sony released the PlayStation 3, a gaming console that was advertised with many features beside gaming: it plays CDs and DVDs, can store a photo gallery, and can stream movies from the Internet. Most interesting of all, to some of us, the PS3 had the so-called "Other OS" feature, which allowed computer operating systems such as Linux to be installed, which could effectively turn the PS3 into a fully-capable desktop computer while still being a multimedia game console. This feature excited many users and a hobbyist community sprung up around its use. Some people even bought PS3s solely for this feature.
In March 2010, Sony pushed out a firmware update to the PS3 called version 3.21. This update permanently disabled the Other OS feature on any PS3 console to which it is applied, not only preventing users from installing Linux and similar operating systems, but retroactively removing any existing installations and destroying any data saved there. Although the update was, strictly speaking, optional, it was required in order to use much of the PS3's online functionality including online gaming. The update followed closely on the publication of a technique published by George Hotz that would allow hobbyists to tinker with hardware features that were meant to be available only to official games. Although Sony never officially acknowledged piracy as a motive, the community widely suspected that Sony feared that, as a side effect to Hotz's trick, the Other OS feature could be used to play pirated video games, so they disabled it entirely.
Users were not even properly warned that they would be losing a feature by installing the update; although the removal of the Other OS feature was mentioned in the update documentation, PS3 users were not warned while being prompted to install the update, and it was irreversible once installed. It was a routine update and many users deleted their Linux installations without knowing they were doing so. In the best-case scenario, PS3 owners were forced to sacrifice either their ability to use Linux (an advertised feature they paid money for) or to play online (another advertised feature they paid money for), and only then if they were paranoid enough to research the innocuous-looking update before they installed it. Sony has offered no refunds on this basis and is the defendant in a class-action lawsuit over it.
If you buy Sony products, you are taking a risk that your private property will be sabotaged because someone, somewhere, is afraid that someone else, somewhere else, is pirating copyrighted material. Even if you don't care to try to punish Sony with a boycott on principles, it is in your own best interest to avoid Sony products simply to protect the functionality of your computer and electronics. Sony has sabotaged privately-owned hardware on both occasions described above, it has an economic incentive to do so again, and they have provided clear evidence that they have no ethical qualms against acting on those incentives.
P.S. If you're like me, you're in an awkward situation since you already spent money on a PS3 but don't want to support Sony by buying any more games. After all, you would only hurt yourself if you reduce the utility of your PS3 by not using it to play new games. A good compromise, in my opinion, is to buy only used games for the PS3: Sony only receives royalties for the first retail sale of a copy of a game, and any private transaction between you and a reseller does not directly send any money to Sony. There are more elaborate concerns about Sony's patent and licensing interests in various other technologies, but unfortunately I don't have simple answers for those.
Thank you very much for taking the time to read this.