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Amazon argues that consumer doesn't own purchased content

Nymphae

Banned
I just like having things immediately on hand, yeah digital is convenient when it's working for you, but when it isn't, it's a pain in the ass as well.

I watched American Dad a few years ago on Netflix. Wanted to watch again recently, it's gone. Now I have to hunt for the service that carries it and sub to a new thing just to see something I already watched on a service I already have. I don't care what the legal realities are. This has happened to me more than once with different shows, and this is why I buy physical versions things I know I will watch more than once.
 
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I just love the "who cares, I don't care if they take away these things in 30 years because I won't use them" posts.

In absolutely no context should you ever be ok with someone taking away from you something that YOU own. Regardless of whether or not you want it. You paid for it, it belongs to you.

Unless you're a Communist of course.
 
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oagboghi2

Member
Digital services are still awesome. I utilise them to check things out and for convenience.
I keep my prized physical media safe and sound in it's "break in case of emergency" packaging. I don't need to own everything, just my favorites.

You just have to know what you are getting into. Don't think you own digital media. Use it for convenience.

People using this as a reason to dump on Game Pass are laughable. They might as well dump on every other digital service while they're at it. And while a small, childish part of me would cheer them on, they'd just be an "old man yelling at cloud."
"Old man yelling at a cloud."
Oh fuck off. Everytime a company does something shitty, some jackass posts a meme and pretends it's all okay, therefore we should be okay with it.
 
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SafeOrAlone

Banned
"Old man yelling at a cloud."
Oh fuck off. Everytime a company does something shitty, some jackass posts a meme and pretends it's all okay, therefore we should be okay with it.

Pretty lame response, given I outlined my stance on it pretty well. Far from a "meme" post.

Not to mention, the company didn't do anything "shitty". How caught up are you on this situation even?

Thirdly, My "old man yelling at cloud" comment was in reference to someone hypothetically bashing literally every digital service there is. Are you telling me that every digital company is actively shitting on you?
 
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oagboghi2

Member
Pretty lame response, given I outlined my stance on it pretty well. Far from a "meme" post.

Not to mention, the company didn't do anything "shitty". How caught up are you on this situation even?
Let's see

Digital services are still awesome. I utilise them to check things out and for convenience.
I keep my prized physical media safe and sound in it's "break in case of emergency" packaging. I don't need to own everything, just my favorites.

You just have to know what you are getting into. Don't think you own digital media. Use it for convenience.

People using this as a reason to dump on Game Pass are laughable. They might as well dump on every other digital service while they're at it. And while a small, childish part of me would cheer them on, they'd just be an "old man yelling at cloud."

So you rationalized a Amazon policy that only helps Amazon and then you posted a meme. Silly me

Either way, my point stays the same. Amazon does something shitty(selling indefinite rentals as equivalent to purchases, on the explicit purpose to trick the consumer to believe they "own" something they don't), and you bust out the "old man yelling at clouds" meme.
 

SafeOrAlone

Banned
Let's see



So you rationalized a Amazon policy that only helps Amazon and then you posted a meme. Silly me

Either way, my point stays the same. Amazon does something shitty(selling indefinite rentals as equivalent to purchases, on the explicit purpose to trick the consumer to believe they "own" something they don't), and you bust out the "old man yelling at clouds" meme.

Rationalized a company policy that only helps Amazon?
You are hilarious. This is how digital services work. Yes, you should know what you are getting into when you plunker down money on digital licenses. Don't like it, buy physical. I know I do.

You don't sound caught up on the situation, to be perfectly honest. Amazon didn't do anything that other digital service providers don't do. Same deal with Google Play, Itunes, Playstation Store, Hulu, etc.
I despise Amazon as much as anyone else, but let's see if there is a reason you are holding them to a different standard than every other company that sells a digital service. Are you mad at every digital service or just Amazon?

And I wouldn't even call your point awful, because it's just plain wrong.

1. Amazon didn't trick anyone. They are literally offering the same thing as every other digital service provider.

2. I didn't respond with a low effort post of Grandpa Simpson yelling at a cloud. I articulated myself carefully, explained my position, and then referenced a meme at the bottom that would only apply to a hypothetical situation anyway. Far from the "drive by" excuse post you are accusing me of. My post had more effort than yours did, quite ironically.
 
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Nymphae

Banned
I don't care.

I don't consume media more than twice at most. Life's too short and there's too much out there to cling to everything.

I became tired of modern media offerings and preferred to build a library of solid shows/films from the past. If it's good enough to enjoy once I can enjoy it again, provided the library is a good enough size that you're not watching the same things every few weeks. Takes a little time and money but it feels worth it to me.

Yeah there's "too much out there", and upwards of 90% of it is absolute crap by my estimation.
 

SafeOrAlone

Banned
I mean, you definitely don't own it. You agree to their terms upon purchase. Isn't it the same with physical, just nearly impossible to enforce?

Correct, oddly enough.

There's still a major difference, but you don't "own" the physical media in the sense that you can't copy and sell it. It's not "yours" to do that with.
But you still own it in every sense that really matters.
 
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#Phonepunk#

Banned
the thing is, there is so much OLDPUB media out there. millions of books, records, tapes, CDs, DVDs, just sitting in thrift stores, all for $2-$5 a piece or less, you can own today, and keep forever. billions of books exist, there is no need to ever have a kindle.
I mean, you definitely don't own it. You agree to their terms upon purchase. Isn't it the same with physical, just nearly impossible to enforce?
it being "nearly impossible" to enforce is what makes it NOT THE SAME. you can say "It's the same!" conceptually, but in practice, that is a lie.

if i own a video, there is no way a publisher can remove it from my library, short of physically coming to my house and taking it. for Amazon Prime, they simply flick a switch and everyone in the entire world who purchased access to that video no longer has it.

these two things are not the same.
 
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The Pleasure

Gold Member
I just like having things immediately on hand, yeah digital is convenient when it's working for you, but when it isn't, it's a pain in the ass as well.

I watched American Dad a few years ago on Netflix. Wanted to watch again recently, it's gone. Now I have to hunt for the service that carries it and sub to a new thing just to see something I already watched on a service I already have. I don't care what the legal realities are. This has happened to me more than once with different shows, and this is why I buy physical versions things I know I will watch more than once.
My American dad dvds have better picture quality than those hd streams too. Pathetic.
 

IntentionalPun

Ask me about my wife's perfect butthole
It's a standard disclaimer because Amazon's licenses for whatever reason could get revoked.

It's just CYA... literally no evidence Amazon has ever actually revoked any movies, and it's not like they'd want to.. it'd likely take a lawsuit or something from a 3rd party to even have this ever happen.

The lawsuit is dumb and they likely know it will be thrown out.. someone is trying to get publicity.
 
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Nymphae

Banned
I'm in the process of turning my 700 plus blu ray collection into mkvs. I hate the low quality hulu and netflix stuff. I want at least 20 mbps not 2 mbps for 1080p. Whoever thought 2 mbps was acceptable needs a foot up their ass.

I'm not super hung up on image quality myself, I'll watch fucking VHS rips on my computer monitor from 20 feet away lol, I don't give a shit as long as it's comprehensible tbh, but yeah they should be providing better quality on streams.

I mostly just like having physical for the extra features and the reliability. I'm shocked no one has bothered to transfer extra features material to any of these streaming networks. Those were huge selling points for DVD in it's heyday and now I never hear anyone talk about them really.
 

The Pleasure

Gold Member
I'm not super hung up on image quality myself, I'll watch fucking VHS rips on my computer monitor from 20 feet away lol, I don't give a shit as long as it's comprehensible tbh, but yeah they should be providing better quality on streams.

I mostly just like having physical for the extra features and the reliability. I'm shocked no one has bothered to transfer extra features material to any of these streaming networks. Those were huge selling points for DVD in it's heyday and now I never hear anyone talk about them really.
I watch vhs too. The blurry picture quality actually enhances horror movies made in that era. But seeing artifacting on movies when i know how they're supposed to look kinda pisses me off because of they didn't compress it so hard it wouldn't look like shit. A netflix 4k stream is 2-10 mbps. A good 4k hd blu can get close to 100 mbps. What the fuck is that?
 
Pretty lame response, given I outlined my stance on it pretty well. Far from a "meme" post.

Not to mention, the company didn't do anything "shitty". How caught up are you on this situation even?

Thirdly, My "old man yelling at cloud" comment was in reference to someone hypothetically bashing literally every digital service there is. Are you telling me that every digital company is actively shitting on you?


Man, the mental gymnastics you have to do to defend probably the largest corporation. Just wow.
 

SafeOrAlone

Banned
Man, the mental gymnastics you have to do to defend probably the largest corporation. Just wow.

Sorry. You simply do not understand or comprehend. That's on you though.

It's not just Amazon. It's every digital provider. I can't stand Amazon. It just is what it is.

Are you attacking every digital provider for this or just Amazon? I'm not sure you know.
 
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Woo-Fu

Banned
Sure, go all digital and then 30 years from now let's see what happens to that stuff you bought.
Name a piece of entertainment produced this year that'll be relevant 30 years from now. Good luck. Name a physical medium in common use today that'll be useful 30 years from now. Good luck.

I'm not even going to be alive 30 years from now. Worrying about a videogame I bought last week 30 years from now when I'm dead? Not likely. Worrying about that game a year from now? Not likely. I'm a gamer, not a collector.
 
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greyshark

Member
There's pros and cons to physical vs. digital distribution. In my mind the value you get from going to digital outweighs the risk you take in losing access to the content in the future. Anyone that built up an extensive library of VHS tapes in the 80s probably can't play a majority of that content now. DVD's last longer, but if the disc gets scratched I'm screwed. I can only play the content on my DVD player at home. I can play a digital movie on my tablet or cast it to a TV anywhere I want - far more useful for when I'm traveling. For games, if a release came with bugs in the NES/SNES days, that game was broken forever. With digital distribution I can actually get those bugs fixed now. Digital distribution eliminates the cost of building and shipping physical media, which lowers prices for us.
 
Sorry. You simply do not understand or comprehend. That's on you though.

It's not just Amazon. It's every digital provider. I can't stand Amazon. It just is what it is.

Are you attacking every digital provider for this or just Amazon? I'm not sure you know.
I'm really not attacking anyone. This applies to all digital media, from all sources.

You can defend the convenience of digital and it's pros. But defending a corporation for no logical reason...that IS mental gymnastics.
 

oagboghi2

Member
Rationalized a company policy that only helps Amazon?
You are hilarious. This is how digital services work. Yes, you should know what you are getting into when you plunker down money on digital licenses. Don't like it, buy physical. I know I do.
Which is kinda the point of her case. Holy shit

You don't sound caught up on the situation, to be perfectly honest. Amazon didn't do anything that other digital service providers don't do. Same deal with Google Play, Itunes, Playstation Store, Hulu, etc.
I despise Amazon as much as anyone else, but let's see if there is a reason you are holding them to a different standard than every other company that sells a digital service. Are you mad at every digital service or just Amazon?
It's irrelevant what other companies do. She is suing amazon.

And I wouldn't even call your point awful, because it's just plain wrong.

1. Amazon didn't trick anyone. They are literally offering the same thing as every other digital service provider.

2. I didn't respond with a low effort post of Grandpa Simpson yelling at a cloud. I articulated myself carefully, explained my position, and then referenced a meme at the bottom that would only apply to a hypothetical situation anyway. Far from the "drive by" excuse post you are accusing me of. My post had more effort than yours did, quite ironically.

In April, Amanda Caudel sued Amazon for unfair competition and false advertising. She claims the company "secretly reserves the right" to end consumers' access to content purchased through its Prime Video service. She filed her putative class action on behalf of herself and any California residents who purchased video content from the service from April 25, 2016, to present.

Do you know her case.

1. The "trick" is that users believe they own content. Not that they have an indefinite rental. That is what she is complaining about. The fact that other companies do it doesn't prove her wrong. Should I bold "false advertising".

2. You posted the meme as if this case was an issue of "people not getting with the times" and your solution was a dismissive equivalent to "get used to it". A lot of words to just excuse a shitty practice and a valid complaint.
 
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Vengrim

Member
Americans are so uptight about their "collections". In 20 years I won't care if Steam decides to remove Witcher 3 from my account or whatever. Why should I? When I'm dead I wont care about any of the games I "own" anyway.

That's the route most people in this thread are taking but there are more layers to it than that. See this story from several years back. https://www.techdirt.com/articles/2...-role-grinch-taking-back-purchased-film.shtml

Obviously, this is a very minor incident and the guy made $22 by buying a shitty movie but it really sheds light on the scope of what companies can do. Let's not even get started on the fact that Amazon would have done nothing if the guy didn't say anything.
 

Tesseract

Banned
I don't care.

I don't consume media more than twice at most. Life's too short and there's too much out there to cling to everything.
i'm with you but if everyone had this attitude nothing would get archived and information would rapidly decay

complete digitization makes it too easy to revise history, it's how you end up with a chopped blazing saddles or stripped down grand theft auto
 
i'm with you but if everyone had this attitude nothing would get archived and information would rapidly decay

complete digitization makes it too easy to revise history, it's how you end up with a chopped blazing saddles or stripped down grand theft auto

Yeah, I suppose this is true.

I guess it's just an issue I don't personally feel strongly about.
 

SafeOrAlone

Banned
I'm really not attacking anyone. This applies to all digital media, from all sources.

You can defend the convenience of digital and it's pros. But defending a corporation for no logical reason...that IS mental gymnastics.

I'm not defending a corporation for no reason, I'm acknowledging the reality of all digital purchases.

You are referring to that as bootlicking for Amazon, because they are the digital service provider in the scenario at hand.
 

SafeOrAlone

Banned
Which is kinda the point of her case. Holy shit


It's irrelevant what other companies do. She is suing amazon.





Do you know her case.

1. The "trick" is that users believe they own content. Not that they have an indefinite rental. That is what she is complaining about. The fact that other companies do it doesn't prove her wrong. Should I bold "false advertising".

2. You posted the meme as if this case was an issue of "people not getting with the times" and your solution was a dismissive equivalent to "get used to it". A lot of words to just excuse a shitty practice and a valid complaint.

It's not irrelevant that all other companies do this. They have to because they don't own the license. Simple as that. Amazon doesn't own "Pirates of the Caribbean". If Disney pulls it, that's that. That's in the disclaimer. It's nearly common sense.
 
It's not irrelevant that all other companies do this. They have to because they don't own the license. Simple as that. Amazon doesn't own "Pirates of the Caribbean". If Disney pulls it, that's that. That's in the disclaimer. It's nearly common sense.

And the point of this thread was to point out another common sense: if you allow corporations to make everything digital then you give up your access to paid content REGARDLESS of whether or not you want to access said content. If you don't see that as a fundamental problem there's not much else to talk about.
 

SafeOrAlone

Banned
And the point of this thread was to point out another common sense: if you allow corporations to make everything digital then you give up your access to paid content REGARDLESS of whether or not you want to access said content. If you don't see that as a fundamental problem there's not much else to talk about.

I love physical content, so I buy my favorite things physically, as I said in my original post.

That's all I can really do. Speak with my dollar. I'm not sure who you're trying to lecture here. I'm perfectly aware of the situation.
 

Davey Cakes

Member
My days of caring about having a big collection of physical media are over, so it's not a big deal.
 
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SafeOrAlone

Banned
OP basically got click-baited. This is catnip for the "screw Amazon!" Brigade, despite the fact that, as others have pointed out, this is standard practice. And be careful saying this, because you might be deemed a "corporate bootlicker" by someone who has no idea what they're talking about.

Do I like the idea of "buying" something digitally? No. I buy my favorite things physically. But it's hard not to roll your eyes at people who are
1. discovering this like they were born yesterday and proceeding to...
2. Pretend this is some sort of "trick" that was pulled on them.
3. Single out Amazon and call you a shill for explaining that this is standard practice that isn't exclusive to Amazon.

Explaining that this is standard practice isn't defending Amazon or doing "mental gymnastics", It's acknowledging reality and asking that we hold everyone accountable equally.
 

Batiman

Banned
Physical is bullshit on consoles as well. Just because you have the disc doesn’t mean they don’t have you by the balls as well. Do you know how many games won’t work unless your online or needs an update. It’s almost the same at that point.
 
If Piracy is illegal because you're stealing a product

And Amazon et al are saying i don't own the product

Can i steal something i don't own?

Check-mate anti-pirates.
 
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