this post was submitted on 02 Dec 2023
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The problem as I see it is a violation of expectations. If I "buy" something, there is no expectation that I will be deprived of that thing in the future unless, (A) it's a consumable and I e used it up, (B) it's capable of wearing out and I've done that myself, (C) it's a subscription service where you pay for the time You've used it.
In the case of digital assets that I've been sold, it can't be used up and it can't wear out. I did not subscribe to the digital asset, I bought it.
Violating the expectation of a purchase and then not fully making the buyer whole is trying to change the transaction type to a subscription after the fact.
If the digital content providers want to pull these kinds of tricks, then they can't tell us we are buying the content. They must be up front and tell us it's a rental whose length is undetermined. The rental may be for our whole lives, or not.
Anything else is a bait and switch and makes people angry.
I fully agree the wording should be 'rent'. I know when I use a digital service, I do not own these things, but have access to them via the TOS I agreed to. It's definitely shady to word it as 'buy' though, but that's what physical media if for... Again going back to the convince argument, if you want to own something tangible, buy physical.