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How much should that digital content cost then? Make a DVD once, never think about it again. To offer digital copy that loses no value over time and must be ava

How much should that digital content cost then? Make a DVD once, never think about it again. To offer digital copy that loses no value over time and must be available forever seems like a bad deal from the publisher's side. To offer a one time download code seems far more tenable.

rileymat2 5y ago
There could be other ways to manage it, like specifying how long the rental would be valid for (I think iTunes started this way with movies), instead of alluding to the idea that you are buying it forever as part if a personal library.
ratww 5y ago
Then make it non-DRM downloadable content that will be playable forever at the discretion of the consumer, like music bought on iTunes, then. Or at least mention the period for when the licensing will be honored during “purchase” and stick to it. Honestly I don’t understand anyone having any sympathy for publishers or Apple. They were the ones who chose to use the current method.
yarcob 5y ago
Then they should advertise it as a one time download or a limited time rental. I don't have an issue with that. But they shouldn't advertise "store your purchased movies in the cloud for free" when they only do that as long as it is convenient for them.
tomjen3 5y ago
You don't have to keep offering it. You just have to not turn of DRM servers or offer the download without DRM in the first place.
floydnoel 5y ago
Because the marginal cost of a digital file is too darn high?
CJefferson 5y ago
If the download had no DRM, and I could freely copy it, I would have much more sympathy. Usually transfering to another machine is hard, or impossible.
- ImprovedSilence 5y ago
  Do files from itunes have drm on it these days? I thought waaay back in the beginning they did have it, but then at some point they went drm free. (At least fir music) At what point did they sworch back?
  - vondur 5y ago
    Movies have DRM. Music doesn’t.
  - Wowfunhappy 5y ago
    Music does not have DRM (which is great!), but everything else you can purchase does—books, audiobooks, movies, apps, etc.
crazygringo 5y ago
There are lots of possible solutions: - Explicitly advertise that you're buying access to the content for x years, not buying it outright - Allow for non-DRM content download either as standard, or as a guaranteed backup option - If a company goes bankrupt, bankruptcy proceedings ensure that users' content licenses are transferred to another provider at no charge, funded with liquidation proceeds -- with priority over contractors, lenders, investors, etc. There are lots of solutions.
- Jiro 5y ago
  Whether it explicitly advertises buying content for X years is hardly relevant in this case. The issue is that Apple claims the right to shut it down at any time. If they promised 5 years and shut down the account after a month, the same issue would come up.
  - crazygringo 5y ago
    I was addressing the parent's comment about making content available forever being uneconomical. My original, root comment was already about the immediate issue with Apple.
  - Diggsey 5y ago
    Right, but then they would only need to refund content purchased in the last 5 years.
- pureliquidhw 5y ago
  Lots of similar replies. I meant if a DVD costs $25 and a digial download comes with a long-tail(forever per the comment I relied to) then how much should it cost? More I would imagine. Sure they could advertise longer rental lengths, or clearly tie it to the business (which is probably buried in the ToS already). But if congress legislates digital purchases to be available forever with a 100% refund attached, how much should that cost? It seems wholly uneconomical from a provider side. We all work in IT, but in an enterprise situation, you know how quickly LTS is de-prioritized. I would price a true forever digital licence in the $100's because you have to account for so many variables like storage(what country(s) can I store this movie in), bandwidth (what quality must I provide), and regions(where can I watch this). I would love a world where I can stream whatever, whenever, forever after a purchase but someone has to manage that, and forever is an insane horizon. Even 100 years is crazy! WWI-ish to today! And if they offered DRM free downloads, are you ok with it being one time? What if it was watermarked? Would you be willing to secure your copies? At some level a business will want to make money on their product and prevent piracy. I dunno. I want cheap, widely available, drm free media too, but I understand why it hasn't come to be yet.
anonymousab 5y ago
Having to run DRM servers in perpetuity lest you be financially ruined seems like an appropriate tradeoff and counterbalance to DRM. If you really want such a high level of control, then it accordingly comes with a high level of responsibility.

rileymat2 5y ago

There could be other ways to manage it, like specifying how long the rental would be valid for (I think iTunes started this way with movies), instead of alluding to the idea that you are buying it forever as part if a personal library.

ratww 5y ago

Then make it non-DRM downloadable content that will be playable forever at the discretion of the consumer, like music bought on iTunes, then. Or at least mention the period for when the licensing will be honored during “purchase” and stick to it. Honestly I don’t understand anyone having any sympathy for publishers or Apple. They were the ones who chose to use the current method.

yarcob 5y ago

Then they should advertise it as a one time download or a limited time rental. I don't have an issue with that. But they shouldn't advertise "store your purchased movies in the cloud for free" when they only do that as long as it is convenient for them.

tomjen3 5y ago

You don't have to keep offering it. You just have to not turn of DRM servers or offer the download without DRM in the first place.

floydnoel 5y ago

Because the marginal cost of a digital file is too darn high?

CJefferson 5y ago

If the download had no DRM, and I could freely copy it, I would have much more sympathy. Usually transfering to another machine is hard, or impossible.

ImprovedSilence 5y ago
Do files from itunes have drm on it these days? I thought waaay back in the beginning they did have it, but then at some point they went drm free. (At least fir music) At what point did they sworch back?
- vondur 5y ago
  Movies have DRM. Music doesn’t.
- Wowfunhappy 5y ago
  Music does not have DRM (which is great!), but everything else you can purchase does—books, audiobooks, movies, apps, etc.

crazygringo 5y ago

There are lots of possible solutions: - Explicitly advertise that you're buying access to the content for x years, not buying it outright - Allow for non-DRM content download either as standard, or as a guaranteed backup option - If a company goes bankrupt, bankruptcy proceedings ensure that users' content licenses are transferred to another provider at no charge, funded with liquidation proceeds -- with priority over contractors, lenders, investors, etc. There are lots of solutions.

Jiro 5y ago
Whether it explicitly advertises buying content for X years is hardly relevant in this case. The issue is that Apple claims the right to shut it down at any time. If they promised 5 years and shut down the account after a month, the same issue would come up.
- crazygringo 5y ago
  I was addressing the parent's comment about making content available forever being uneconomical. My original, root comment was already about the immediate issue with Apple.
- Diggsey 5y ago
  Right, but then they would only need to refund content purchased in the last 5 years.
pureliquidhw 5y ago
Lots of similar replies. I meant if a DVD costs $25 and a digial download comes with a long-tail(forever per the comment I relied to) then how much should it cost? More I would imagine. Sure they could advertise longer rental lengths, or clearly tie it to the business (which is probably buried in the ToS already). But if congress legislates digital purchases to be available forever with a 100% refund attached, how much should that cost? It seems wholly uneconomical from a provider side. We all work in IT, but in an enterprise situation, you know how quickly LTS is de-prioritized. I would price a true forever digital licence in the $100's because you have to account for so many variables like storage(what country(s) can I store this movie in), bandwidth (what quality must I provide), and regions(where can I watch this). I would love a world where I can stream whatever, whenever, forever after a purchase but someone has to manage that, and forever is an insane horizon. Even 100 years is crazy! WWI-ish to today! And if they offered DRM free downloads, are you ok with it being one time? What if it was watermarked? Would you be willing to secure your copies? At some level a business will want to make money on their product and prevent piracy. I dunno. I want cheap, widely available, drm free media too, but I understand why it hasn't come to be yet.

anonymousab 5y ago

Having to run DRM servers in perpetuity lest you be financially ruined seems like an appropriate tradeoff and counterbalance to DRM. If you really want such a high level of control, then it accordingly comes with a high level of responsibility.