272
submitted 6 months ago by L4s@lemmy.world to c/technology@lemmy.world

Do you actually own anything digital?::From ebooks, to videos and software, the answer is increasingly no

top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[-] Xtremis77@lemmy.world 96 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

Well, I have 10 Tb of pirated digital content sitting safely at my own home, so I would say yes, yes I do own a lot of digital stuff.

[-] BigDaddySlim@lemmy.world 28 points 6 months ago

Right there with you buddy, 13TB and growing. Self hosted media servers are the best.

[-] halcyoncmdr@lemmy.world 12 points 6 months ago

Those are rookie numbers. Need to start getting entire TV shows in 4k and things you've seen previously but may want to watch again in the future quickly and easily.

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (6 replies)
[-] 69420@lemmy.world 9 points 6 months ago

They're my bytes, and I'll put them in whatever order I wish, thank you very much.

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] Blackmist@feddit.uk 87 points 6 months ago

If it's on my Jellyfin server, I own it as much it's possible to own anything.

If they wanted me to pay for it, maybe they shouldn't have dicked me around, watering down my subscribed services while simultaneously jacking up the price.

[-] MaxVoltage@lemmy.world 7 points 6 months ago

Mate lets start a new 123.movies from your servers we will be millionares

load more comments (7 replies)
[-] nutsack@lemmy.world 46 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)
[-] MaxVoltage@lemmy.world 7 points 6 months ago
load more comments (1 replies)
[-] User79185@discuss.tchncs.de 31 points 6 months ago

GOG, buy music in mp3/flac format, not sure about video. I guess you can pay for subscription and just pirate stuff you like to keep real ownership.

[-] MashedTech@lemmy.world 23 points 6 months ago

I like that on GOG you know you own it because they let you download the installer DRM free so you literally can keep a separate copy of all of your purchases. You will always have access to them regardless of what happens to GOG. Videos, music, games, everything they sell.

[-] Sniatch@lemmy.world 11 points 6 months ago

Yep, I always check GOG first when I want to buy a game on PC.

[-] jabjoe@feddit.uk 27 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

If you're on Lemmy, you almost certainly understand the problem and know how to acturally own digital stuff.

The problem is all the normies who can't even see the problem. We need everyone to be protected by law and it all to be citizen oriented. As the moment, it's all stacked in favour of exploitive multinational companies. Maybe ever was it so, but we need to fight that.

We treat it as a tech problem, something to work round, but it's a political problem and we need to solve it politically.

[-] Sanyanov@lemmy.world 10 points 6 months ago

This.

Also, we all here are aware of the problem, to the point where such posts are nothing but circlejerk.

The article might come as eye-opener to some, but certainly not here. Time for solutions. And they are political.

load more comments (6 replies)
[-] jordanlund@lemmy.world 23 points 6 months ago

Can it be taken from you, at any time, for any reason or no reason at all?

If yes, then you don't own it.

I mean, that technically applies to everything. The government can seize your land, the police are in the news every few days for straight up taking money out of people's homes and vehicles and shooting dogs, robbery is still a living profession, etc

There's really not a lot that sentence doesn't apply to, if anything at all.

load more comments (8 replies)
[-] Octopus1348@lemy.lol 22 points 6 months ago

If I can actually download it and it's DRM-free, yes.

[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 21 points 6 months ago

Aye, I be ownin' it all, mateys!

[-] owen@lemmy.ca 7 points 6 months ago

Aye aye, only the finest and cleanest wares on my drives

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] TheBiscuitLout@lemmy.world 20 points 6 months ago

I’ve got a digital watch

[-] DJKayDawg@lemmy.world 19 points 6 months ago

My digital watch, a Pebble, stopped working. The company who maintained it got bought by Garmin. Garmin broke my digital watch 🙃.

[-] TheBiscuitLout@lemmy.world 9 points 6 months ago

Mine is a Casio I’ve had for about 30 years, I’m pretty sure it’s mine by now

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (5 replies)
[-] NigelFrobisher@aussie.zone 19 points 6 months ago

I think I own my fingers, so them.

load more comments (2 replies)
[-] kerrigan778@lemmy.world 18 points 6 months ago

Possession is 9/10ths of the law, so I 90% own a whole lot of stuff I pirated while I don't own most things Ive paid money for... Great system guys

[-] Toneswirly@lemmy.world 18 points 6 months ago

Like Doctorow said, if you cant own it you can't steal it.

[-] ultra@feddit.ro 18 points 6 months ago
[-] NigelFrobisher@aussie.zone 14 points 6 months ago

We still own all our CDs, DVDs and Blu-rays, so them as long as the players still exist.

[-] jabjoe@feddit.uk 9 points 6 months ago

Only if the DRM is broken. DRM can make the player stop working sooner. It's literally about making the media less playable.

[-] LainOfTheWired@lemy.lol 12 points 6 months ago

It all depends on the licence. Even if you buy something on physical media you may not technically own it. If something has a FOSS licence MIT, BSD, GPL, etc Then yes you do own your copy and no one can change that.

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] Commiunism@lemmy.wtf 12 points 6 months ago

No, and once I became aware of the fact realized that I was kinda screwed when it came to video games.

Every single video game I have purchased is on Steam, and considering its DRM and licence business model, I had multiple conversations with my friends who also had the same worry and wondered what would happen if Steam shut down one day. Valve did state that they'll remove the DRM if the platform shut down, but there's no way of knowing the future as million things can happen and for all we know, they might change their minds or not be in a position to remove the DRM once the time came.

load more comments (2 replies)
[-] Resol@lemmy.world 9 points 6 months ago

I actually wonder if the files you download off Bandcamp have DRM on them or not.

[-] mp3@lemmy.ca 22 points 6 months ago
load more comments (1 replies)
[-] echindod@programming.dev 13 points 6 months ago

I am curious why you think that. I download Bandcamp files and place it on a home server, and I have never had any problems. It is conceivable that they have a tracker or some bull shit connected to it, but more than a little unlikely.

Bandcamp files play fine on non bandcamp-approved playing devices. This is a big win on my book.

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] WetBeardHairs@lemmy.ml 7 points 6 months ago

I really wish there was some form of individual copyright that could be sold for specific media. I buy a song on itunes - I own a limited license to listen to that song so long as iTunes may serve it. If I was smart enough to download it to my device, then I might hold onto it a few moments longer in spite of Apple losing the copyright and denying me the ability to listen again on devices without the download. Sucks for me right?

What if I could buy a limited copyright? One that is strictly tied to my individual person and that specific media I had purchased. That copyright is nontransferable, but it is platform agnostic. I could then use that legal copyright to view or listen to that media on a streaming or distribution platform of my choosing. I could listen to a song on Spotify, or Pandora, or Apple, or Google, and I only had to buy it once. Those platforms would not need to negotiate copyright access for media, only demonstrate the ability to serve that media and limit access to those with the copyright.

I would HAPPILY buy all of my media for a ... 3rd time? 5th time? God I don't even know how many times I have purchased some of my music. Vinyl, CD, iTunes, streaming services a plenty... a second CD or two from mixes. Yeesh. I'm fucking tired of it. I want to be able to feel as if I had some kind of longer lasting ability to access the media of which I have paid for.

load more comments (3 replies)
[-] Asudox@lemmy.world 6 points 6 months ago
[-] covert_czar@lemmy.dbzer0.com 9 points 6 months ago

Digital restriction management

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments
view more: next ›
this post was submitted on 24 Dec 2023
272 points (96.6% liked)

Technology

55690 readers
3446 users here now

This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.


Our Rules


  1. Follow the lemmy.world rules.
  2. Only tech related content.
  3. Be excellent to each another!
  4. Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
  5. Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
  6. Politics threads may be removed.
  7. No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
  8. Only approved bots from the list below, to ask if your bot can be added please contact us.
  9. Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed

Approved Bots


founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS