Foolish consumers and their primitive notions of “ownership”.
Apple sued for terminating account with $25k worth of apps and videos
91–100 of 403 posts
Re: Apple sued for terminating account with $25k worth of apps and videos
#92> 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.
Amazon argues the same exact thing if you buy a movie digitally from them. It's only available to you for as long as they host it on their servers. This is why I pirate shit that I can't find on Netflix or Prime Video. Buying digital content is merely "long term rental" and really needs to be better advertised as that.
> This is why I pirate shit
I stopped seeing any value in purchasing/renting rights to movies and shows from the streaming giants. Want to watch The Office, sorry removed, no longer on Netflix. Oh, you are in a country that has a funny name, content not available in your region. Oh, you are trying to access your Hulu subscription from a Linux device? Max video res capped at 480p. It is such anti-consumer moves that makes me not feel bad for pirating.
IMO, the most maximum returns on home media consumption is gained by acquiring and archiving your own collection of media. I don't have to ask anyone for a license to watch my favorite movie from 1999 when I have the copy on my plex.
Re: Apple sued for terminating account with $25k worth of apps and videos
#93Companies want people to be happy in a post-ownership society, Apple and Amazon are part of that I hope more people start resisting this narrative that all or our property and in essences our lives should be leased / rented...
I'm okay if the terms of the rental or subscription are clearly defined. For example, I have no problem subscribing to Netflix and I expect to lose access to its library if I stop paying.
What is not okay is buying a perpetual license and lose access to it because our big tech overlord decided someone shouldn't and go away with the money. At least locking the account and forbidding access to buying more content would be a fair middle ground IMO.
Re: Apple sued for terminating account with $25k worth of apps and videos
#94> 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…
> I’m asking how do you price things reasonably if they potentially last forever?
They can potentially last forever, but humans don't. Since Apple's stuff is associated to a personal account, I don't see an issue here, vinyls can also last for a life.
On the other hand, consumers have lost the right to lend, give or sell the stuff they buy. That's not priced either, and we see every possible move be done to make these operations user-hostile, if not forbidden.
Re: Apple sued for terminating account with $25k worth of apps and videos
#95> 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…
I don't know. I have many tapes at home.~15-25 years old. I almost never touch them, but when i do they seem to work fine. Maybe the quality is bad, but i have nothing to compare it to.
Re: Apple sued for terminating account with $25k worth of apps and videos
#96IMO 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…
> It's simple: if apple want to terminate your account, they need to refund you for any content you lose access to as a result of that termination.
I like that idea a lot. I would add that, at the very, very least, they should give you a personal link to download a snapshot of all of your data from their cloud at the time of termination: email, calendar, contacts, photos/videos, docs, et. al.
Re: Apple sued for terminating account with $25k worth of apps and videos
#97I hate to be so cynical, but here's exactly how this is going to play out, or I'll eat my hat: 1. Apple and Amazon will add language to their Terms and Conditions stating that regardless of the phrasing on their websites and apps, access to the media that customers purchase will be revoked if their account is terminated. And since it's in the agreement, it's binding: in general, you can't sue to get out of a contract…
> And since it's in the agreement, it's binding
Not where I live. You can’t sign away rights given to you by law.
Re: Apple sued for terminating account with $25k worth of apps and videos
#98IMO 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…
Apple can just rent you their entire catalogue similar to Apple Arcade or Music, then nobody would say you own the entire selection, just like it’d be absurd to say you own Netflix forever.
In the Netflix case it’s be even more difficult to argue since Netflix doesn’t own the IP and the catalogue is ever shifting. I’m afraid the future is rental at least because the consumer is no longer technically prepared to own and manage their own digital catalogue.
Re: Apple sued for terminating account with $25k worth of apps and videos
#99Earlier quoted context omitted.
Amazon argues the same exact thing if you buy a movie digitally from them. It's only available to you for as long as they host it on their servers. This is why I pirate shit that I can't find on Netflix or Prime Video. Buying digital content is merely "long term rental" and really needs to be better advertised as that.
I wonder if we will ever see a model similar to Qobuz/Bandcamp for movies and TV shows. These services allow downloading your purchases as DRM-free flac files.
As long as the MPAA exists, this will never happen.
Re: Apple sued for terminating account with $25k worth of apps and videos
#100I hate to be so cynical, but here's exactly how this is going to play out, or I'll eat my hat: 1. Apple and Amazon will add language to their Terms and Conditions stating that regardless of the phrasing on their websites and apps, access to the media that customers purchase will be revoked if their account is terminated. And since it's in the agreement, it's binding: in general, you can't sue to get out of a contract…
In general, contracts can say literally whatever they want, and it doesn't mean they will stand up in court. If the court agrees that Apple selling $25k worth of stuff and denying access to it isn't "fair", then it isn't fair, end of story, regardless of what the contract says. The court might of course disagree, but you can't be certain until the case happens. I do however believe that Apple will just settle this ou…
I'm not sure what you mean by "end of story," apple can tie this up in appeals for years