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Apple is sued for telling you that you're “buying” movies

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Re: Apple is sued for telling you that you're “buying” movies

#261
post #57

Physical media lets you have privacy without logging when you watch media, what media you consume, how many times you consume it, or how long you consume it. You can enjoy it offline, and in 20 years long after the studio that licensed it is gone. You can give it to a friend or loan it out. Or sell it. It is yours. Meanwhile DRM media we pay full price for, or if the content is only available via streaming we pay for…

> Physical media lets you have privacy without logging when you watch media, what media you consume, how many times you consume it, or how long you consume it.

Quick note, smart TVs when using the smart features capture this information and send it to the manufacturer or their partner. The manufacturers often sell it. It subsidizes the cost of the TV.

Using physical media does not mean your viewing isn't being monitored.

Re: Apple is sued for telling you that you're “buying” movies

#262
Buying a DVD is also only buying a limited license (you can't, for example, legally make copies of that DVD or use it for public performances).

Buying a blu-ray is even more of a gray area with the key schemes being fundamentally more complex and internet-updatable. It's possible the blu-ray you bought and watched last year may not work on your player anymore.

I agree that it's wrong to say you're "buying" movies from iTunes/et al, but, I'm not sure what the correct term is. Renting is wrong as it implies a definite intentional time-limited period, license seems wrong as it's too legal/contractual. What's the better word?

Re: Apple is sued for telling you that you're “buying” movies

#263
post #57

Physical media lets you have privacy without logging when you watch media, what media you consume, how many times you consume it, or how long you consume it. You can enjoy it offline, and in 20 years long after the studio that licensed it is gone. You can give it to a friend or loan it out. Or sell it. It is yours. Meanwhile DRM media we pay full price for, or if the content is only available via streaming we pay for…

this is why, whenever I can, i buy games from GoG instead of Steam. and purchase paper books rather than digital if at all possible.

Is there a digital book seller that doesn't use DRM?

Re: Apple is sued for telling you that you're “buying” movies

#264

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes...all you had to do with iTunes was insert a disc and click a button. After a couple of minutes, the tracks would all be in your library with metadata pulled from the internet. Everyone I knew who had a computer used to duplicate CDs for their car and make mixes.

looks at laptop Hmmm... looks at old laptop Hmmm... looks at ipad, iphone Hmm...Oh, I know! looks at gaming PC Nope. I don't have a disk drive on a computer and haven't for several years now. Sure, I could get one, but optical drives have been optional equipment for a while now.

It's optional because you, like many, don't rip/play CDs/DVDs any longer. You'd have one if you had a use for it. I'm guessing you have peripherals attached to one or more of your computers that I consider optional.

Re: Apple is sued for telling you that you're “buying” movies

#265

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Plastic is killing the planet. No, it isn't. Plastic is only showing up in large quantities in areas where it shouldn't, and occasionally hurting some animals. Microplastics in particular may become a problem at some point, but then again, maybe they won't. We aren't sure. And either way, it's not causing problems just yet . Greenhouse emissions are what's killing the planet. Manufacturing plastics is a part of tha…

Just to nuance the nuance... We do not have an alternative to petrol based plastic for our current economy. Yes, we can make plastic from non-fossil biomass, but it's energetically feasible to replace petrol based plastics. We don't have the landmass, fertilizer, ... to switch completely. (Especially, if you consider the big picture: Biofuel, carbon sinks, food security, ...) In a way petrol chemistry bought the plan…

Infeasible I think you meant

Re: Apple is sued for telling you that you're “buying” movies

#266
post #24

This seams the core of Apple's defence: Apple contends that '[n]o reasonable consumer would believe' that purchased content would remain on the iTunes platform indefinitely which is a flagrant difference between ownership of physical items and non-cloud items vs cloud items. This strikes at the root of our society's definition of ownership. Clarification should not depend on Apple, or even a court. This should be ens…

My understanding WRT buying a movie on iTunes was: 1. If you download the movie, you will always have the ability to play the movie you downloaded . 2. As long as Apple has the rights to distribute the movie, you will be able to re-download it again 3. If Apple loses the rights, and you don't have your own backed up copy , it's lost. It's the same for Audible books; which is why I always d/l and backup any movie or b…

Streaming services are kind enough to notify when movies are leaving their platforms...

Re: Apple is sued for telling you that you're “buying” movies

#267
post #236

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"The books stopped working" is a fantastic writing prompt for a dystopian novel.

>Please drink verification can to continue https://i.imgur.com/dgGvgKF.png

> Halo 2k19

Little did we know that they'd just use the same game over and over for years. Look at GTA 5.

Re: Apple is sued for telling you that you're “buying” movies

#268
post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>>the ability to use it has been greatly diminished Really? I have tons of music ripped from CDs on my iPhone and I can trivially play that in my car. I have CD players in my car (which I never use) and attached to my stereo (which I rarely use). It's not that the ability to play CDs (or rip them and play them) has been diminished but a lot of people prefer to just use a streaming service. I'll grant that many people…

> I have tons of music ripped from CDs Are you suggesting that it's a simple and convenient thing to do for the public?

But ripping CDs is not the only way of "owning" the media.

As another commenter said [0], you can buy and own media without ever touching a physical medium or waiting for the post service to deliver it.

I seem to remember at one point Apple was offering DRM-free music. This is pretty convenient for everybody. Yes, you have to buy it ahead of time and store it, as opposed to just streaming right away.

But it does seem quite easy to me. Go to the iTunes store, click buy, done. It may even sync automatically to your iPhone, so you can play it in your car, just as you would Spotify.

---

[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26914754

Re: Apple is sued for telling you that you're “buying” movies

#269
post #57

Physical media lets you have privacy without logging when you watch media, what media you consume, how many times you consume it, or how long you consume it. You can enjoy it offline, and in 20 years long after the studio that licensed it is gone. You can give it to a friend or loan it out. Or sell it. It is yours. Meanwhile DRM media we pay full price for, or if the content is only available via streaming we pay for…

> We got scammed. Well, depends on how you look at it and how comfortable you are forgetting about how it looked before you could buy online. I pay for convenience which is a service rather than tangible good. If I need a book for my research, I would prefer to have access to it immediately rather than wait two weeks to get it from overseas. My time is valuable and the pause on the project or inconvenience of not hav…

They are leveraging the connotation of "buy" to get you to give them money. If they used the words lease, rent, or borrow or explicitly stated the purchase may be for a limited time then consumers' brow would furl as they pulled away from the action button. That is bad for conversion. This is classic anti-market behavior.

Re: Apple is sued for telling you that you're “buying” movies

#270
post #229

Earlier quoted context omitted.

DRM-free media stores: https://www.fsf.org/givingguide/v11/ (scroll down).

DRM isn't the only problem. Watermarks are as well, they ruin the sound quality. Its a bit disappointing FSF doesn't mention Fairphone, as they offer a smartphone made from slave-free labour (Librem 5 isn't).

Bandcamp is watermark-free. I’ve verified it myself by comparing FLACs bought from two different accounts. They were identical.
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