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Don't let the corporations tell you otherwise (lemmy.ohaa.xyz)
submitted 2 years ago by to c/memes@lemmy.world
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[–] 19 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (26 children)

Now... Wait.

Is the argument here that something must be owned to be stolen? I don't think ownership is contested, just who is the owner. Or is the argument that pirating also isn't owning... Or... What? Just tit for tat and it looks like the thoughts should be related somehow? I'm all for sailing the high seas and for right to repair / software ownership, but the two concepts are independent as far as I can see.

Idk, if I'm going to try to reproduce this mental gymnastics I should really stretch first: I don't want to pull something and end up a sovcit.

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  • [–] 25 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    This saying / idea sprang out of folks losing content they "bought" via online platforms.

    Basically the letter from Sony(?) Said that due to licensing rights content was going to be removed from their servers.. and that the items you bought were no longer available.

    So.. essentially nothing on a digital platform is ever purchased . It's just leased until the platform owners decide to alter the deal. And such, if you can't actually buy it... Are you actually pirating it?

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  • [–] 10 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    Licensed, specifically a unilaterally revocable and non transferable licence to view personally. Leasing implies recurring payments, and some areas allow lease assignments and other consumer protections that aren't afforded to licensing.

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  • [–] 4 points 2 years ago

    Renting implies reoccurring payment, leasing just means "agreement to use X under Y conditions". Example A: A device leases an IP address from a router. Example B: You rent a movie from blockbuster.

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  • [–] 3 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    Yes, you are actually pirating it lol.

    Removal/revocation without violation of terms of service is bogus, but you enjoy a product without contributing a share of the cost to develop or keep developing. Getting gouged is absolutely aggravating and consumers are being taken advantage of, but we all have the option of not buying.

    I can also see reasonable situations for removing content, but not "just because" and certainly not indefinitely for everyone.

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  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago (31 children)

    Idk man.. I feel like if I pay ~$40 for a digital item.. I should have the same rights with it as the physical copy.
    If a digital market place sells me the item... I should be able to return to that market place and redownload it. Basically once they sell it.. they are obligated to host the files.

    Or as an alternative ... I get 1 download of a drm free product. And everything after that is rebuy.

    This sell it for $40 and then it's gone off your game system or out of your account I think is shit business practice.

    Streaming services can do what they want with their content.. because you're paying x money a month to access it.. that's the assumed behavior. Digital products advertised as "buy it on digital" should behave as items purchased and owned by the end user.

    Maybe that's just me being pro consumer...

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  • [–] 3 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    I feel like if I pay ~$40 for a digital item.. I should have the same rights with it as the physical copy.

    That's the whole problem - you don't. Your feelings are irrelevant. If you want that, you need to demand it, and refuse to do business with those who will not provide it. Of course they won't, so just stop buying digital copies, keep physical media alive.

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  • [–] 3 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    Digital products don't cost anything to produce many copies of for sale. That's why they can have many deep discounts through the year.

    "Piracy" word is unfitting actually but it's overused by distributors. "Ownership" is unfitting too, but it comes to mind by default when we talk about paying. You either receive a product that you can use indefinitely or a service that you can use indefinitely. That's about it.

    Problem though, is that products almost consistently aren't delivering on quality expectations as of lately. Or they contain some artificial restrictions/defects that impact the product value in end users' eyes. Or they can randomly stop working at all. The list can go on.

    In the end, it's not that pirates don't want to pay for stuff. It's that they are not allowed to pay as little as they deem adequate for the quality of the product they get.

    The ultimate reason behind everything is people's wish to be able to use stuff they paid for. Indefinitely where possible. And because the product is good enough most of the times.

    Piracy was never stealing, because potential purchase can't be stolen since it's not happened yet, and any pirate using a product without paying for it can be equal to that potential purchase. The new catchphrase is just a convenient way to remind distributors that they need to provide on value and quality and stop blaming someone for their failure to meet their financial goals.

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  • [–] 6 points 2 years ago (10 children)

    Some of what you say is true but I still don't think there's any A implies B. Quality does seem to be down, prices and DLC are up, and some older content just isn't available for purchase at all.

    Some of this is bogus though. It doesn't cost any money to make a digital copy, but it costs a LOT of money to make the original. This is like R&D/T&E cost for any manufactured product, so to call it "free" is a little disingenuous. I also agree I agree I don't want to pay full price, but the "potential purchase" is horseshit. If you walk into a department store and pick up a shirt (even if stock is infinite) because you want it but don't think it's cheap enough, that's theft. Sure you can come back when it's on sale and buy it, but a purchase/payment is transactional: if you don't uphold your end, that's not a transaction. Last, while some of us DO just want a way to pay and own in a legit way, you can look at replies to the last comment and find a 1 in 5 example of "I'm never paying, I want it for free" which jacks the prices for the rest of us even if we are just paying a fair share of up front cost.

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