Apple sued for terminating account with $25k worth of apps and videos • Hacker News Board

Re: Apple sued for terminating account with $25k worth of apps and videos

#131

Post by pjc50 » Sun, Apr 25, 2021, 3:15 PM UTC

mc32 wrote: post #26

realusername wrote: post #3

> Apple countered by arguing that “no reasonable consumer would believe” that content purchased through iTunes would be available on the platform indefinitely Remember this sentence to change your mind for the next time you see some movie to buy online.

Historically media has had a limited play-life. 78s, 45s and 33 warped, broke or got scratched, etc., tapes wore out, broke, got tangled etc., CDs scratched or deteriorated after some time. There are exceptional specimens for all the above, but a good number don’t survive long unless owned by an aficionado who took care of their media. With digital you can have backups and in theory they could last forever as you con…

How do you price real estate when it lasts forever? (The land, not the buildings)

Of course there's an actual answer to this as well, the economic concept of a discount rate; things far in the future are worth less than they are in the present, by an amount depending on interest minus inflation.

Re: Apple sued for terminating account with $25k worth of apps and videos

#132

Post by lanevorockz » Sun, Apr 25, 2021, 3:16 PM UTC

I hope we start seeing government truly pushing back against big tech. They have become larger than countries and now just manage the tax evasions schemes that keep them so profitable.

Re: Apple sued for terminating account with $25k worth of apps and videos

#133

Post by Thaxll » Sun, Apr 25, 2021, 3:17 PM UTC

Diggsey wrote: post #17

IMO it wouldn't matter if they'd used the word "Rent" or "Licence" instead: it would still be unreasonable. Account termination is entirely at Apple's discretion, meaning the term of your "rental" is not known when you actually pay for the content. For most people the term will be "forever", so that is the expectation. It's simple: if apple want to terminate your account, they need to refund you for any content you l…

"Rent" or "Licence" is def not how they want to describe their service, like every platforms they want you to beleive that you own the content.

Re: Apple sued for terminating account with $25k worth of apps and videos

#134

Post by Decabytes » Sun, Apr 25, 2021, 3:18 PM UTC

Diggsey wrote: post #17

IMO it wouldn't matter if they'd used the word "Rent" or "Licence" instead: it would still be unreasonable. Account termination is entirely at Apple's discretion, meaning the term of your "rental" is not known when you actually pay for the content. For most people the term will be "forever", so that is the expectation. It's simple: if apple want to terminate your account, they need to refund you for any content you l…

I’d be thrilled if they win and this sets a precedent for other markets, I.E Steam as well.

Re: Apple sued for terminating account with $25k worth of apps and videos

#135

Post by grishka » Sun, Apr 25, 2021, 3:19 PM UTC

1cvmask wrote: post #55

Diggsey wrote: post #17

IMO it wouldn't matter if they'd used the word "Rent" or "Licence" instead: it would still be unreasonable. Account termination is entirely at Apple's discretion, meaning the term of your "rental" is not known when you actually pay for the content. For most people the term will be "forever", so that is the expectation. It's simple: if apple want to terminate your account, they need to refund you for any content you l…

Do we know why his account was terminated? I couldn’t find anything on that.

It shouldn't matter. If you're banned from going to a particular physical store for whatever reason, wrongly or not, you still get to keep everything you've ever bought there. If a physical store goes out of business, you also get to keep everything you've ever bought there.

Point being, IRL stores don't retain any control over anything you buy.

Re: Apple sued for terminating account with $25k worth of apps and videos

#136

Post by fastball » Sun, Apr 25, 2021, 3:23 PM UTC

SuchAnonMuchWow wrote: post #68

tareqak wrote: post #8

I think Apple and Amazon (an Amazon lawsuit is linked inside the article) will argue that they are similar to video rental stores like Blockbuster back when it was in business. However, Blockbuster did have physical copies of movies available to purchase in the form of VHS, and DVDs so I would argue that Blockbuster calling itself a store was still alright even though it might have done more business in rentals. I’m…

Also, blockbuster rental terms were clearly defined. For example you knew for how long you had the movie. In the case of apple you don't know, because apple might decide to terminate your account before you even had time to watch the movie.

Yeah, that's the hypothetical that should definitely be played up – "buying" a movie and Apple terminating your account 5 minutes later. Makes it exceedingly clear that this certainly isn't "buying" and calling it such is false advertising.

Re: Apple sued for terminating account with $25k worth of apps and videos

#137

Post by HarryHirsch » Sun, Apr 25, 2021, 3:24 PM UTC

realusername wrote: post #3

> Apple countered by arguing that “no reasonable consumer would believe” that content purchased through iTunes would be available on the platform indefinitely Remember this sentence to change your mind for the next time you see some movie to buy online.

University libraries all over the world would disagree, their archivists make very sure that digital journals are still available to their audience even if the subscription has expired. Access to digital content is a solved problem, even though Apple would have you believe otherwise.

Re: Apple sued for terminating account with $25k worth of apps and videos

#138

Post by grishka » Sun, Apr 25, 2021, 3:24 PM UTC

realusername wrote: post #3

> Apple countered by arguing that “no reasonable consumer would believe” that content purchased through iTunes would be available on the platform indefinitely Remember this sentence to change your mind for the next time you see some movie to buy online.

I do. This is the exact reason why I've never bought anything digitally. Paying real money just to have some bytes streamed to you just doesn't feel right. And, I mean, you can't even resell or lend the thing.

Re: Apple sued for terminating account with $25k worth of apps and videos

#139

Post by mxcrossb » Sun, Apr 25, 2021, 3:24 PM UTC

fsloth wrote: post #80

realusername wrote: post #3

> Apple countered by arguing that “no reasonable consumer would believe” that content purchased through iTunes would be available on the platform indefinitely Remember this sentence to change your mind for the next time you see some movie to buy online.

To be fair, Apple has upgraded the quality of several movie titles I have purchased as HD to to 4k, without a charge. Personally I treat my Apple purchases as volatile and approach the budgeting for them similarly as I would budget for events such as movie tickets.

Conversely, I think a lot of people buy digital movies and never watch them because they want to own them. We all probably have friends who buy games they never play off of steam.

Re: Apple sued for terminating account with $25k worth of apps and videos

#140

Post by im3w1l » Sun, Apr 25, 2021, 3:25 PM UTC

_jal wrote: post #126

ldiracdelta wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People don't own the things they buy. They don't have property rights today. Today, a mob or a single unaccountable low-level account reviewer may declare someone an "out law" and anyone may do anything they like to him as is the old germanic tradition.

> a mob or a single unaccountable low-level account reviewer may declare someone an "out law" I take it you prefer that power to be reserved for those with high status?

The nice thing with high status people is that there are so few of them. Makes it easier to hold them accountable.