A free ,as in non DRM, digital copy is the best from a customers perspective. It's after all what you get after ripping your discs.
Physical media can also have DRM, just because we were able to break DVD, BR etc does not mean we are always going to be able to do so. Nor is DRM on physical media inherently weaker than on digital files, quite the opposite. If they got it right you could be unable to resell the disc afterwards, or more precisely the guy you sold it too could not use it.
It's in his apartment. Unmanaged switches and/or WiFi.