4 ms·
It really isn't renting, either, is it? It falls in this strange grey area where you don't truly own it, but there's nothing comparable to a lease (though I can
by noarchy 15y ago
It really isn't renting, either, is it? It falls in this strange grey area where you don't truly own it, but there's nothing comparable to a lease (though I can see someone arguing that a ToS agreement is akin to one).
DRM'ed books seem, to me, like buying a dead tree book, but only being able to read it on a particular kind of desk, or using a particular kind of lamp, each probably made by the book publisher. And yeah, that little detail about not being able to sell it, or even give it away once you've read it.
- bad_user 15y agoDude, it's renting. Capitalism is held together because of this notion called private ownership of property. The notion of private property is very important and there is no gray area - you either own something and it's your property, or you don't. Except for copyright (which should really be reinvented because it's no longer relevant in its current form), you own copies of dead-tree books, with which you can do anything you want, including reading it 30 years later, lending it to others, sell it for huge sums of money (if you can find a buyer) or set it on fire in protest :) And I'm all for content authors to be properly rewarded, but using "buy" as if you're going to own that book is more deceiving than ever, and people have a right to know what they are getting into.