Do you actually own anything digital?::From ebooks, to videos and software, the answer is increasingly no

  • Blackmist@feddit.uk
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    9 months ago

    If it’s on my Jellyfin server, I own it as much it’s possible to own anything.

    If they wanted me to pay for it, maybe they shouldn’t have dicked me around, watering down my subscribed services while simultaneously jacking up the price.

  • Xtremis77@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    Well, I have 10 Tb of pirated digital content sitting safely at my own home, so I would say yes, yes I do own a lot of digital stuff.

  • User79185@discuss.tchncs.de
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    9 months ago

    GOG, buy music in mp3/flac format, not sure about video. I guess you can pay for subscription and just pirate stuff you like to keep real ownership.

    • MashedTech@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      I like that on GOG you know you own it because they let you download the installer DRM free so you literally can keep a separate copy of all of your purchases. You will always have access to them regardless of what happens to GOG. Videos, music, games, everything they sell.

  • jabjoe@feddit.uk
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    9 months ago

    If you’re on Lemmy, you almost certainly understand the problem and know how to acturally own digital stuff.

    The problem is all the normies who can’t even see the problem. We need everyone to be protected by law and it all to be citizen oriented. As the moment, it’s all stacked in favour of exploitive multinational companies. Maybe ever was it so, but we need to fight that.

    We treat it as a tech problem, something to work round, but it’s a political problem and we need to solve it politically.

    • Sanyanov@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      This.

      Also, we all here are aware of the problem, to the point where such posts are nothing but circlejerk.

      The article might come as eye-opener to some, but certainly not here. Time for solutions. And they are political.

      • jabjoe@feddit.uk
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        9 months ago

        Drives me mad the main stream seam unaware/ignoring that it’s about anything free piracy. You hear next to nothing about the problem of DRM, digital ownership, digital freedom or even proper competition in proper markets. There is sometimes mentions of Right To Repair, but they never follow the thread. Or talk about how the internet runs on FOSS. A FOSS system like Debian is a wonder, that still, after 15y of use, floors me when I think about it. A utopian vision of humans can do.

        • Sanyanov@lemmy.world
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          9 months ago

          I get you

          Drives me even more insane when they actively complain about losing access to something, or not having it available offline, and do nothing about it

          Like, here’s the super simple solution, just take it!

          But they won’t sacrifice a tiny bit of their habit to break free. They’ll keep on whining about the world and not doing anything, even when they are directed to it with the most simple, grandma-style guidance.

          • jabjoe@feddit.uk
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            9 months ago

            They can’t really perceive what is being done to them. They can notice something, but can’t quite put it all together.

            Voices like EFF, OpenRightsGroup, FSC, etc, need to be heard and made understandable by normal people, news and government.

  • kerrigan778@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    Possession is 9/10ths of the law, so I 90% own a whole lot of stuff I pirated while I don’t own most things Ive paid money for… Great system guys

    • jabjoe@feddit.uk
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      9 months ago

      Only if the DRM is broken. DRM can make the player stop working sooner. It’s literally about making the media less playable.

  • Commiunism@lemmy.wtf
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    9 months ago

    No, and once I became aware of the fact realized that I was kinda screwed when it came to video games.

    Every single video game I have purchased is on Steam, and considering its DRM and licence business model, I had multiple conversations with my friends who also had the same worry and wondered what would happen if Steam shut down one day. Valve did state that they’ll remove the DRM if the platform shut down, but there’s no way of knowing the future as million things can happen and for all we know, they might change their minds or not be in a position to remove the DRM once the time came.

    • Euphoma@lemmy.ml
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      9 months ago

      TBH, the default steam DRM is trivial to remove yourself with steam emulators and stuff, and many indie games dont even use it. The real problem is 3rd party DRM like Denuvo, which Valve probably can’t remove even if they wanted to.

    • Test_Tickles@lemmynsfw.com
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      9 months ago

      Not “if”, but “when”.
      But don’t worry, before that they will start dropping games to save on storage costs, so odds are you will no longer have access to anything you “own” way before they go under.

    • wikibot@lemmy.worldB
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      9 months ago

      Here’s the summary for the wikipedia article you mentioned in your comment:

      Digital rights management (DRM) is the management of legal access to digital content. Various tools or technological protection measures (TPM) like access control technologies, can restrict the use of proprietary hardware and copyrighted works. DRM technologies govern the use, modification and distribution of copyrighted works (e.g. software, multimedia content) and of systems that enforce these policies within devices. DRM technologies include licensing agreements and encryption.Laws in many countries criminalize the circumvention of DRM, communication about such circumvention, and the creation and distribution of tools used for such circumvention. Such laws are part of the United States’ Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), and the European Union’s Information Society Directive – with the French DADVSI an example of a member state of the European Union implementing that directive.Many users argue that DRM technologies are necessary to protect intellectual property, just as physical locks prevent personal property from theft. For examples, they can help the copyright holders for maintaining artistic controls, and supporting licenses’ modalities such as rentals. Industrial users (i.e. industries) have expanded the use of DRM technologies to various hardware products, such as Keurig’s coffeemakers, Philips’ light bulbs, mobile device power chargers, and John Deere’s tractors. For instance, tractor companies try to prevent farmers from making repairs via DRM.DRM is controversial. There is an absence of evidence about the DRM capability in preventing copyright infringement, some complaints by legitimate customers for caused inconveniences, and a suspicion of stifling innovation and competition. Furthermore, works can become permanently inaccessible if the DRM scheme changes or if a required service is discontinued. DRM technologies have been criticized for restricting individuals from copying or using the content legally, such as by fair use or by making backup copies. DRM is in common use by the entertainment industry (e.g., audio and video publishers). Many online stores such as OverDrive, use DRM technologies, as do cable and satellite service operators. Apple removed DRM technology from iTunes around 2009. Typical DRM also prevents lending materials out through a library, or accessing works in the public domain.

      article | about

  • LainOfTheWired@lemy.lol
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    9 months ago

    It all depends on the licence. Even if you buy something on physical media you may not technically own it. If something has a FOSS licence MIT, BSD, GPL, etc Then yes you do own your copy and no one can change that.

    • Darkassassin07@lemmy.ca
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      9 months ago

      I may only have a license to view the contents of a dvd, but at least I’ll always be able to view it as long as it’s in my possession and I have a dvd player.

      Content you can only access remotely via someone else systems (or requiring remote authorization via there systems) can be taken away at anytime regardless of the terms of your license, even supposedly “indefinite/permanent/lifetime” licences.

      Both of these items use the same term ‘purchase’. This term used to refer to the first situation only, but now it covers both.