Sony, Ubisoft scandals prompt Calif. ban on deceptive sales of digital goods
arstechnica.com
New California law reminds us we don't own games and movies.

California recently became the first state to ban deceptive sales of so-called “disappearing media.”

On Tuesday, Governor Gavin Newsom signed AB 2426 into law, protecting consumers of digital goods like books, movies, and video games from being duped into purchasing content without realizing access was only granted through a temporary license.

  • helpImTrappedOnline@lemmy.worldEnglish
    40·
    2 months ago

    without realizing access was only granted through a temporary license.

    That phrasing has me concerend. Does this also cover the services being shut down?

    “This is a permanent licence until we go bankrupt and you can’t access the content anymore”

    Purchase/buy should mean you get a downloadable DRM free file. And thing else is a rental.

    • TFO Winder@lemmy.mlEnglish
      211·
      2 months ago

      Oh no that’s Piracy. That’s what these guys would say. They want to think you own the media but also you are not free to do what you want with it. Weird kind of ownership.

      • Landless2029@lemmy.worldEnglish
        8·
        2 months ago

        The only games you BUY now are GOG. DRM free.

        You can download the installer and archive it. If GOG goes under you can still install and play it.

      • Echo Dot@feddit.ukEnglish
        7·
        2 months ago

        You buy the license to be able to view the media as many times as you wish. If I bought a copy of the Titanic on Google movies, or whatever it’s called, I’ve bought a license to view that movie for however many times I wish for as long as I wish. If Google decides to remove that movie then they need to either pay me back, or give me the right to download the movie.

        As long as I don’t share that download or make a torrent of it, then it’s not piracy.