Are We Losing Our Digital Rights?

[Mivocloud]

I think almost everyone—even those not into gaming—has already heard that Sony is phasing out physical discs. Beyond that, they are making it clear to users that purchased games don't actually belong to them. On one hand, it’s frustrating: when you pay $100 for a game, you want to be sure it’s yours and that you can resell it if you feel like it. On the other hand, if you really think about it, we’ve all been relying on subscriptions for a long time now and no longer physically own much of anything—for instance:

• Music (Spotify)
• Games (Steam has been doing this for years)
• Movies (Netflix)

And so much more.

So my question is: how do you feel about this? Is it really time to worry that our last physical ownership rights are being stripped away, or should we just accept the fact that our lives have simply become a subscription with no option for actual ownership?

 

[SenseiSteve]

Hmmm, my music on Spotify still belongs to me, but I don't make anything from them compared to YouTube.

 

[bigredseo]

From a gaming perspective, I've never once sold a game to someone else. Every game I've ever had has ended up in the trash. Yes, there are some that only worked on Windows 95 and wouldn't work on newer computers, but at that stage I generally trashed the disk and bought the new compatible version (or, more often than not, I stopped playing the game). I miss Lemmings, and Fokker, and Speed Ball 🙂

But as far as things becoming a lease, I'm generally OK with it. Most of my software is leased (Adobe, Windows, audit software, etc.). Either I pay an annual fee to get the newer version, or I pay a monthly fee to use it.

I don't think it's that big of a deal myself.