3 ms·

I'm fine with first sale not applying to digital goods, but then you cannot call it buying but must call it renting instead. But of course, if amazon was honest

by Joeri 14y ago

I'm fine with first sale not applying to digital goods, but then you cannot call it buying but must call it renting instead. But of course, if amazon was honest and replaced the 'buy' button on a kindle book with a 'rent' button, people would be outraged at the price. If i cannot leave something to my son in my will, it was never mine to begin with. You can't inherit kindle books, so it's obvious that you don't buy them either. There's no such thing as "buying a license", legally speaking that's called "renting".

nedwin 14y ago
"There's no such thing as "buying a license", legally speaking that's called "renting"" Is this your legal opinion as a lawyer?
- Joeri 14y ago
  I'm a lawyer in common sense. "Buying a license" is what penn & teller call BS. There's a common sense understanding of what buying is, and kindle books don't fall into that category. I will admit that "legally speaking" was perhaps not accurate. But is it really?
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]
- DannyBee 14y ago
  Well, i'm a lawyer, and his position is at least defensible. After all, the difference between leasing and buying is exactly right to use vs ownership. Leasing/licensing have retention of ownership in the provider, buying does not. Without having thought about it for more than 5 minutes, I can't think of any legal difference other than terminology. Note that there is a difference in real property: Licensing is about giving someone the right to do something that would otherwise be unlawful, whereas leasing is generally about right to possess. However, this is not the distinction software "licenses" are making.
hyperbovine 14y ago
I hope the publishers realize that they must tread lightly here. Even by the ridiculously low standards of music and movies, books are reaaally easy to pirate. The DRM is a joke and most of them comprise fewer bytes than a moderately complex webpage. If we learned one thing from the music industry over the last 15 years, it's that the internet gives your customers the power to destroy you if you treat them with contempt for long enough. I love to read and I happily buy many Kindle books at $9.99+ a pop on Amazon. I want to live in a world where authors can make a living by writing. But bogus restrictions on book sharing, complete lack of a resale market, etc. are already starting to rub me the wrong way. At some point, if pushed too far, I'm not going to feel much remorse about flouting the system.
- icelancer 14y ago
  >If we learned one thing from the music industry over the last 15 years, it's that the internet gives your customers the power to destroy you if you treat them with contempt for long enough. Couldn't agree more with this sentiment.
mtgx 14y ago
I agree, and I think it should be illegal to call something "buying" when it's more like licensing or renting.
monochromatic 14y ago
It's really called licensing. "Buying" and "renting" are both not quite right.

by Joeri 14y ago

nedwin 14y ago

"There's no such thing as "buying a license", legally speaking that's called "renting"" Is this your legal opinion as a lawyer?

Joeri 14y ago
I'm a lawyer in common sense. "Buying a license" is what penn & teller call BS. There's a common sense understanding of what buying is, and kindle books don't fall into that category. I will admit that "legally speaking" was perhaps not accurate. But is it really?
deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
DannyBee 14y ago
Well, i'm a lawyer, and his position is at least defensible. After all, the difference between leasing and buying is exactly right to use vs ownership. Leasing/licensing have retention of ownership in the provider, buying does not. Without having thought about it for more than 5 minutes, I can't think of any legal difference other than terminology. Note that there is a difference in real property: Licensing is about giving someone the right to do something that would otherwise be unlawful, whereas leasing is generally about right to possess. However, this is not the distinction software "licenses" are making.

hyperbovine 14y ago

I hope the publishers realize that they must tread lightly here. Even by the ridiculously low standards of music and movies, books are reaaally easy to pirate. The DRM is a joke and most of them comprise fewer bytes than a moderately complex webpage. If we learned one thing from the music industry over the last 15 years, it's that the internet gives your customers the power to destroy you if you treat them with contempt for long enough. I love to read and I happily buy many Kindle books at $9.99+ a pop on Amazon. I want to live in a world where authors can make a living by writing. But bogus restrictions on book sharing, complete lack of a resale market, etc. are already starting to rub me the wrong way. At some point, if pushed too far, I'm not going to feel much remorse about flouting the system.

icelancer 14y ago
>If we learned one thing from the music industry over the last 15 years, it's that the internet gives your customers the power to destroy you if you treat them with contempt for long enough. Couldn't agree more with this sentiment.

mtgx 14y ago

I agree, and I think it should be illegal to call something "buying" when it's more like licensing or renting.

monochromatic 14y ago

It's really called licensing. "Buying" and "renting" are both not quite right.