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I even take issue with "Purchase license". Shouldn't it be "Lease License"? Purchase implies that it can't be revoked, no?
by Boxxed 1mo ago
I even take issue with "Purchase license". Shouldn't it be "Lease License"? Purchase implies that it can't be revoked, no?
- singpolyma3 1mo agoNah. Licenses can be revoked. When I buy a hunting license I don't get it forever
- hobonation 1mo ago[dead]
- embedding-shape 1mo agoBut licenses in general you don't just "buy", you "earn" them somehow, then also usually you pay a price for it too, but it's typically about knowing about some rules and/or norms.
- jdiff 1mo agoSoftware licenses are bought all the time.
- embedding-shape 1mo agoSure, but that's a very different type of license compared to a hunting license, driver license or similar stuff, you know, the context.
- pc86 1mo agoAnd the initial comment that started this was that "Purchase license" in reference to this... software license... wasn't clear. Arguing about whether you buy a hunting license or that it's not a perfect analogy seems pedantic and irrelevant.
- embedding-shape 1mo ago> Arguing about whether you buy a hunting license or that it's not a perfect analogy seems pedantic and irrelevant It's a completely different thing, it's like comparing buying a "license" (ticket) to ride a roller coaster and taking a driving license, they're obviously different things, not exactly pedantic, imo.
- jdiff 1mo agoYeah. But we're talking about software licenses here. It was more weird hunting and drivers licenses ever got brought up.
- embedding-shape 29d ago> It was more weird hunting and drivers licenses ever got brought up Agreed! :)
- jurgenburgen 1mo agoYou don’t buy a hunting license though. You pay a fee and the government issues you a license.
- delecti 1mo agoThat feels like a distinction without a difference. On the other hand, "buy" vs "buy license" is actually a meaningful difference.
- jtbayly 1mo agoThey both communicate the same thing because they both start with “buy.” They communicate Ownership and collapse to the same thing to a normal consumer: implied ownership of the game. Insisting that the ownership is of the license and it says it on the button doesn’t really help, because no reasonable person thinks that a “purchased” license can be revoked for any reason or no reason at all. Why doesn’t anybody think that? Because “owning” a license implies you actually control it. But a license you can’t control at all means you own NOTHING! Not even a license. So “buy license" miscommunicates in the same way as “buy.”
- jonhohle 1mo agoThen maybe is should be forced to say: “Buy revocable license” and require the user to answer randomized multiple choice questions regarding the terms of the license that act in opposition to the purchaser. Collect metrics on wrong answers and if greater than say, 15% of people can’t determine what they are actually handing over money for, fine and require additional clarity. Or, just flip the tables and say the historical meaning of buy implies transfer of ownership in exchange for some trade. Since the seller no longer owns the items that was sold in the transaction, they have no additional rights that are covered by other areas of the law (such as copyright). First sale applies and if the seller doesn’t provide a mechanism to facilitate that sale, the buyer is free to exercise that right in whatever way they see fit.
- inigyou 1mo ago
- infinite_spin 1mo agoTrue, but you do get it under clear terms, for a duration that is both obvious and well established.
- thayne 1mo agoRight but when you buy it, they tell you how long it is valid for. With video games it is often for some unknown amount of time, and of course they don't tell you that.
- usefulcat 1mo agoDepends on the details of the license, no?
- tokai 1mo agoA lease is a license/document/interest/contract/deed granting use rights. So lease license is not meaningful.