With the end of physical PlayStation games looming, the need for clear digital ownership rights is more pressing than ever.
For its part, Sony believes your rights are very clear: you do not own your digital games, and it’s unlikely you’re stupid enough to believe otherwise. At least, that’s roughly the argument the company’s lawyers are presenting in response to a proposed class-action lawsuit.
Sony argues that its current customer-facing disclosures ensure that “reasonable consumers would not be misled” into believing they actually own their digital games. That’s according to a Game File report (paid article link) citing an August 21 filing Sony’s lawyers made in California’s Northern District.
If I can’t own the game, then you’re not getting my money. Piracy is the only way to actually own it.
Yep so all the piracy that goes around isn’t illegal either right?
I don’t think anyone expects that they are buying the exclusive copyright license for reproduction. People just want to own their copies. You know like with books.
We want this for our games: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First-sale_doctrine
Exactly, a perpetual, transferable, non rescindable license
Oh, right, so it’s all just one copy that we’re all sharing, then? Here’s an idea in that case: let’s cut out the middleman, and I’ll share my copy of it with all of you for an agreed price.
Free is my first, best and final offer.If we don’t own games then we should just rent them for a small fee and then when done, cancel service
That’s the nice thing in digital; i own a lossless copy of it. Without your DRM, btw.
A digital file is a physical object and you can make copies for individuals to use. I don’t believe the Sony lawyers are stupid enough to believe otherwise.
I’m 37 I won’t challenge that, I don’t buy digital games until they’re at least 50% off. Most of the time I only buy digital games when they’re 75-90% off.
Now Sony, Nintendo and Steam (mostly Sony/Nintendo) are misunderstanding me. I’ve got so many games to play, so many physical games. I don’t need the latest EA trash, I don’t need the newest boring uninspired PlayStation exclusive.
I’ve got games for many many months to play. I’ve got so many SNES, PS1 and PS2 games to play.
And when I run out I’ve got so many books to read.
American Sony can chortle my balls. I miss PS1, PS2 and PS3 Japanese Sony
I just made a batocera machine for this, it’s great!
Wish people could actually have the willpower to effectively boycott anything enough to later. Happens with iPhone every year, they bitch and moan about it being the hand phone, then go buy one.
Until they change every storefront to say rent instead of buy/purchase/etc I will believe it.
if only one person can buy GTA 6, how can more than one person rent GTA 6?
The answer is always the human centipede
Patient gaming in a nutshell.
It’s not Lupus.
Son it’s time we talked about fractional reserve banking
So lets say one person owns it then through the magic of technology everybody else is playing their shared version
Sounds like they went to the Donald Trump school of logic.
Do they want piracy? Because that’s how you make it morally legitimate.
Morally compulsory I’d say. Don’t give them a dime
With the way copywrong laws are, its always been morally legitimate.
Just do it.
Right, like, how “owning” a car means that you need to purchase the entire means of production required to produce said car, including all patents and trademarks.
This guy is somehow multi-rail drifting his pseudo-capitalist argument with like, a cartoon version of communism. It’s like he dropped acid and decided to become Frankenstein’s Economist.
Or if you buy a print copy of a famous art work you some how don’t own it because it’s a copy?
Or a book is a good analogue. I can own a copy of a book, a reprint. It’s mine.
sony’s even considered a game publisher… ya know, just like random house is a book publisher.
Oh really? Then it’s not a store, and it’s not a sale. It’s a leasing office and a lease.
If buying isn’t owning, then pirating isn’t theft.
Jesus pirated a bunch of bread and fish.
Piracy has never been theft
Exactly
Actually this is an alright solution.
They should be forced to change the name of their platform if they want to keep using it. They should be barred from using the term “store”.
They can either continue their business model as is, (as “PlayStation Leasing”) or they can change their policy to include full ownership of games and the right to transfer the games they own to other accounts.
But they don’t get to call it a “store” or use words like “buy” or “sale” if that’s not what they’re actually offering.
They should be barred from using the term “store”.
While I agree with the intent, this would definitely be a losing legal argument, since “store” has a long and common history of usage for rental outlets (“hey, let’s go to the video store tonight and rent a movie”). I think that not allowing them to use the terms “buy” and “sale” could stand as a legal argument, since I don’t believe that there are any examples of people using them when they mean to rent something.
Absolutely
Good point. Don’t say we’re buying it. They use the terminology of ownership when you’re paying money.
Somehow, Blockbuster returned.