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S.T.A.G.E. on 19 June 2012
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Chark said:
S.T.A.G.E. said:
SamuelRSmith said:
S.T.A.G.E. said:

The same reason people would rather buy disc based games. True ownership.

When was the last time anybody bought a piece of software that they truly owned? You know those big boxes of text which you usually just click "agree" to... yeah, you don't own the software, they do. All you bought was a license to use it on their terms. Whether or not you have a copy of the files on a disc, or available to download, is inconsequential.

"Consumer rights" isn't a thing. They are the copyright holders, and thus can do whatever they want with it. It's up to you to understand what you're agreeing to when you purchase the license.

I've taken media law, I know what is mine, no matter what the guidelines of that ownership is on PC. Disc based content is mine as long as it remains on my hardware. Arguing with you will not change what I know. Once disc-based media is gone there goes your rights especially when pertaining to first-sale doctrine. Well....that is speaking within the United States that is. First sale doctrine rights disappear once tangible sale items vanish and anything of value is solely digital.

Again...I don't want the copyright, nor the intellectual property, just the product which I purchase and hold in my hand for use, which is the concept of EULA. Without that proof of legal purchase the rules of ownership will soon change. CD's those burdensome things. I have digital products, but of course those things I can easily replace. They are going nowhere and have nowhere near the value of something I could hold in my hand in terms of potential.

As is right now though, digital downloads are available as ownership. Essentially instead of having it in a disc you have it in a HDD/SDD format. You could put every game you own on its own individual thumb drive or SD card and put it on your shelf if you wanted. The games are on your hard drive, you can back them up, I'm guessing in many cases redownload things you've already purchased. The games are yours, even if they cut off the download option for older games just back them up and your golden. The only issue that arrises is if they start requiring online connectivity in order to play, which they should not. People should own the digital, even with MMOs there should be ample rights to finance your own servers after dedicated ones go down, even if you have to prove non-profit and submit to inquiries to protect the copyright holders licenses. In instances like PS Plus where you get free games to play while subscribed, that's fine, it's a subscription, but all the games you pay actual money for are yours and just having it on disk doesn't change the fact that its the same thing just in a different format. Afterall, what's on the disks is just a digital copy.


The physical copy is our right (well...was), a proof of purchase outside of what is left to us in an electronic receipt and confirmation to what our email? Where in an digital contract/agreement does it say we may legally back up a digital file of a game (I am not counting drivers for hardware connectivity)? As for most games requiring online connectivity, they soon will mark my words seeing the way things are going. The online pass, origin and Ubisofts system which they 've been building might be fully realized by next generation. PC gaming is an indicator of true ownership today which is conditional only to ones HDD. Console Discs have more rights than that with trade whether on Ebay or to Gamestop. It seems from what the last fellow I was speaking to that has changed.