[quote name='IAmTheCheapestGamer']I already paid for the system(40 gb non-BC model) and I already paid for the games(mostly from clearances), so why the

would I pay even a buck to be able to play a single game I already own?
They're going to try and charge people a second time for things they already own? If I already paid $5 for a game, I'm not paying another dime to be able to play it.
Keeping the price as high as it still is and removing the BC have been the two largest blunders Sony has made this gen. It seems almost like they WANT to fail this gen.[/QUOTE]
You'll notice the game says quite prominently on its box that it is for the Playstation 2. Sony is under no obligation whatsoever to make this game usable on anything other than the Playstation 2, which is still widely available for purchase. To make the game work on the PS3 would be an additional service which they can attempt to monetize if they choose.
From Sony's perspective, anyone acquiring a large PS2 library almost certainly has a PS2 or intends to buy one. Anyone with just a small handful of favorite PS2 games they would like to play on their PS3 is not likely to quibble over a small one-time fee, especially when that fee is quite little compared to the download purchase route also offered.
This isn't about right or wrong. It's about the struggle to make money on the platform and what the majority of the market will accept. If 5% shake their fists and refuse to have anything to do with it, that is a small loss compared to the revenues to be had from the remaining 95%.
If it were up to me, Sony would have taken a more rational course in the PS3's development and chosen an architecture that made use of the PS2 circuitry while in PS3 mode, thus making the cost of including the PS2 hardware far easier to absorb.
But they didn't do it that way.
Because of that, supporting BC without a pure software emulator has been a severe cost center for Sony. Even with a pure software approach that added no cost to the PS3's manufacture, it would still carry significant costs for testing and verification of the massive library. Convincing Sony to continue down this path with little or no discernible reward is an uphill battle at best.
If the original Xbox had not been burdened with an unviable cost issue and remained in production after the 360 came to retail, it is unlikely Microsoft would have invested nearly as much effort in making the 360 able to play a large portion of its predecessor's library. They'd have been in the same postion as Sony, able to continue offering one platform while another newer platform matured.
Microsoft was in a very similar position to what Sega had when they were bringing the Genesis to market in the US. Retailers had large amounts of Master System software still unsold and increasingly unsellable if not supported on the Genesis. So the Genesis was designed to provide most of what was needed for compatibility, with the Power Base Converter covering the remaining need for an adaptor for the Master System cartridge and card connectors. Thus the cost to customers uninterested in Master System games was minimized while still allowing a profit to be made on sales of the Power Base Converter.
Everybody remembers the bitter complaints over that, don't they? Bueller? Bueller?
So there were tons of Xbox games left on store shelves when the Xbox ceased production and the new Xbox 360 was on its way to stores. Take away that motivation and Microsoft's interest in supporting already sold games from a previous platform on the new machine would have been reduced quite a lot.
As it is, Sony hasn't even pushed the price of the PS2 down much in quite a long time. Not only is it still selling well but at a good profit to boot. A small bright spot in Sony's current woes. As such, Sony has very little motivation to make software emulation of the PS2 available for free, if at all.