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[Audiophile]

Should be a "License To Access" and when that is revoked, they should be mandated to have a contingency in place to provide you with a copy that can be downloaded, kept and accessed without DRM. Just make it a blanket rule, even if serves are required and inaccessible, maybe I like browsing the menus? lol

Another approach would be some sort of permanently embedded, irrevocable signature for each digital copy and your code gives you actual ownership of that single copy akin to a Non-Fungible Token. Unlike a license to a fungible copy, you have literal ownership of a non-fungible one. How that'd be implemented though would be a matter for smarter people then me.. (or "I"? See....)

And just as general good practice, they should open up the game so that the community can run their own servers if they're gonna abandon them anyway.

 

[IntentionalPun]

I have the same beef with digital movies. If I buy a license for a movie, what does that have to do with format? If I own a license for a movie, why do I need to pay for a 4K upgrade? I own the license for the movie, give me the upgrade for free since I don't own the movie but a license to watch a movie.

This doesn't make any sense. You do not own a license "for a movie", you own a license for a movie sold to you at a certain quality. It's up to the company whether they want their work of creating a 4k transfer to be given away for "free" or not, not you.

Even if there was zero extra work involved, that doesn't matter either. Products are sold based on their value. You paid for the value of a 1080p transfer, not a 4k transfer... so again, it's up to the person selling the media how to handle that.

 

[Fafalada]

Unlike a license to a fungible copy, you have literal ownership of a non-fungible one.

You'll need to explain what you want better here - because what you did describe is just license keys - which we've had for the past 40 years. Again - the problem isn't ownership - it's ability to transfer it that no longer applies (and that's by design, there were never any tech limitations for it).

And just as general good practice, they should open up the game so that the community can run their own servers if they're gonna abandon them anyway.

Yea and next we'll have Nintendo endorse emulators and fan-homages of their IPs.

 

[Impotaku]

Jokes on you, you don't own any game you've ever purchased.

 

[awwr999999]

Honestly we're probably due for a re-do of the DMCA and all related matters. So much has changed about the digital marketplace since it was created, and it was mostly written by people that have no understanding of the product.
The only thing is, I don't know if that would improve things for consumers or make it a whole lot worse. Corpos have a lot of money available for bribing lobbying politicians.

Steam's licensing and repo system is the gold standard. PlayStation needs to adopt it and extend it with physical discs that work as alternatives to Steams online repos.
When the EU (not US) gets around to changing laws they'll be based on what Steam does now.
2hr/2wk no questions asked refund policy, all versions of game kept permanently on Steam repo, etc.

 

[sendit]

If having a tangible physical object of a digital product makes you happy, gopherit.

 

[Nydius]

sendit isn't wrong. The way copyright law is structured in the United States (and a lot of friendly countries have reciprocal agreements to enforce), when you buy a physical version of an intellectual property — game, movie, music — you own the physical medium itself NOT the content. The physical medium grants you a license to access the intellectual property on the disk/tape/vinyl. In theory, that license is revokable but it's much more difficult to do because they'd have to literally take the physical medium away from you.

This is also why the right of first sale can exist. It explicitly gives the owner of a physical medium the right to sell it — and transfer the license — to another without needing explicit permission from the copyright holder.

Copyright law is a convoluted mess. I know first hand because I used to have to deal with software copyright compliance audits at one of my past jobs.

Which gets to the heart of the question in the thread title. How is it not a gray area for Ubisoft to pull this shady shit? Because the law is, unfortunately, entirely on their side.

That said, IP "piracy" is only a civil offense and only becomes a criminal one if you do it at mass scale (think of something like making hundreds or thousands of bootleg blu-rays) so… hoist the flag if you wish.

 

[Kataploom]

Commerce is a trust based relationship, after what they did they can make sure I'm not buying from them again ever, not even physically because I buy no physical, no matter how good people say a game from them is.

I mean, yeah we all know we're buying a license, we're not stupid and know the servers can die, the company can bankrupt or they can just go full retard like Ubisoft did, yet we trust in the company not to abuse their power and that fine line is the only one making people buy digital goods, once the trust is broken it will be gone forever mostly.

For me Ubisoft is dead, basically.

 

[Kataploom]

All of this. You don't own any media you purchase. Video game, movie, CD - the only thing you "own" is a plastic disc or cartridge. That disc contains a licensed reproduction of the original media.

Fortunately, courts have rules that you are allowed to make "backups" of the contents of that media, but you are only allowed to use those backups as long as you still possess the original disc.

FWIW, I make the argument that digitally licensed content has proven over the last 20 years to be superior to physical formats as a means of preservation and accessibility:

Disc rot is starting to affect 6th gen consoles. Batteries in GBC/GBA games are dying making it impossible to save, replacements are not easy (have to de-solder them). Games trapped on older systems that have never been ported: The BR drive in my PS3 is toast, I can't play my copy of MGS4. But if I bought the digital version on PSN it would be still downloadable and playable. I can play all the games I purchased digitally on PS4 on my PS5 DE, but a physical library of PS4 discs is useless. All the PC games I own on a disc are useless, PCs don't have drives anymore and even if you bought an external, the disc check/activation mechanisms are either offline or don't function properly under modern OS. Steam has helped preserve access to my game collection in a far more functional and accessible way than any physical media has.

Lastly, despite all the fear-mongering about it, I have never heard of someone's digitally licensed content being no longer downloadable without being refunded. Yes, shops have gone offline and content has been delisted, but all that stuff (eShop, 360 marketplace, ps3/vita stores) is still downloadable today.

All that said, IMO Ubisoft's 'just subscribe and play' is an entirely different model. It's Netflix. No one is crying that they don't "own" Bridgerton or Chef's Table.

Actually, Sony is in a 9 billion dollar or so class action due to them removing all Funimation digital access to the users paid anime content when they bought them.

That's something mostly affecting digital video purchases, they also have the same issue on PS sure to assume expired license.

Of course this made many people way too wary of buying movies online, which is why I think this shouldn't be seen from a legal perspective because companies have the stupid TOS as a backup, but from a marketing one, companies known for these practices must be acknowledged publicly so people can decide whether to keep buying from them or not.

Every publisher has exactly the same policy. Every platform holder or digital store can ban you for whatever reason and take everything you bought there from you. Making this an isolated ubisoft problem is stupid.

Read above, in the end it's a trust based relationship, they fuck up with consumers, they can kiss their goodbye.

 

[supersale88]

Ubisoft games arent worth owning anyway, imo ofc. Except new Prince of Persia. Ofc they disbanded that team. Still salty...

 

[Shockwave_Fox]

I will never buy a Ubisoft game anyway but honestly, if I knew how and knoew I wouldnt get caught Id pirate the shit out of everything.

Id still buy older games I like tho tbf.

 

[ZVWQP-9B8TM-VH9CT]

I will never buy a Ubisoft game anyway but honestly, if I knew how and knoew I wouldnt get caught Id pirate the shit out of everything.

Id still buy older games I like tho tbf.

vpn dude

 

[ResilientBanana]

It's not just Ubisoft though. Even buying the disc is a license. You don't own any games. The publisher does.