this post was submitted on 09 Feb 2024
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Feels like “buy” should be in quotes
There absolutely needs to be a law that forces companies to make this abundantly clear and make the usage of "buy" illegal in those cases. It should be "rent" or "purchase temporary license."
Yuuup. It's basic consumer protection. Imagine if a car dealership were allowed to do what we let media companies get away with. You go to the dealership, sign a contract that you didn't fully read, and then ten years later Toyota shows up to steal your car because clause 78 of section G(4) says that the manufacturer reserves the right to repossess anything they made at any time. They wouldn't be able to finish stealing that car before a thousand hungry lawyers ate them alive. Why do we let media companies do that?
They would probably actually have a decent shot at getting away with it, at least at first.
And to answer your question, it's because the anger that companies generate by doing this shit ends up turning into piracy. Why would you try to punish a corp for doing this (likely wasting your time) when a cheap VPN and basic tech literacy gets you what you want?
The effort ratios are way out of wack when it comes to digital products. It's easy to get around digital bullshitery, not so much in the real world where we are all car dependant.
There should almost be a "buy a license to..." distinction like how some games are free versus free to play.