A major part of the digital/physical debate that people forget

[VanceIX]

Aielyn said:

VanceIX said:

A lot of people say that the best reason to go physical is that you actually own the game. That's not true. You own the disc itself, but the game is licensed to you, just like digital games. Under the law, there is almost no difference in ownership.

That being said, no one is coming to take away your rights to play your discs. At the same time, however, that generally doesn't happen with digital games either unless you seriously fuck up.

I'm not saying that everyone should up and quit physical and buy digital only, just saying that the concept of "ownership" is really not that different between the two, as far as the law is concerned.

The difference in concept is the same as the difference in concept between owning a house and owning a trademark. They're both forms of ownership, but with different details. It's a lot harder to repossess a house than it is to repossess a trademark.

While the license to the physical game resides with the disc, the license to the digital game resides with the account. The company can't cancel a physical disc, but they can cancel an account.

They can cancel your access to the game though, legally it is well within their right. They don't, however, just like how usually your account won't get completely banned unless you do something illegal or grossly against the ToS.