4 ms·
No ebook license (or any other "virtual" good) will ever have a license that confers 'ownership'. A license can be more flexible and allow free transfer, copyi
by estel 15y ago
No ebook license (or any other "virtual" good) will ever have a license that confers 'ownership'.
A license can be more flexible and allow free transfer, copying and backup; but I don't think the law allows for a concept of the ownership of trivially duplicable data.
- TillE 15y agoI'm not a lawyer, but I really don't see a fundamental difference here - photocopiers have existed for a long time. You can own a book. You just don't have the right to make copies of that book. Why can't you own an ebook?
- estel 15y agoThe way I see it: you own the book itself, but don't own the writing and story - the information - contained within it. In my mind, ownership as a concept for non-physical goods is much closer to the idea of copyright. Oddly enough, I suppose every book I own here has legalese in it saying that I don't have the right to lend, sell or "otherwise circulate" it without the publisher's consent.
- officemonkey 15y ago>No ebook license (or any other "virtual" good) will ever have a license that confers 'ownership'. You've forgotten about the public domain.
- brazzy 15y agoActually, I'd say that the underlying issue is that the very concept of "ownership" simply cannot be made to apply consistently to goods that cost basically nothing to replicate. All the hubub about IP and DRM and piracy follows from this mismatch.