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Why is it legal to buy and sell used books/discs but illegal to buy and sell used digital files? (lemmy.world)

submitted 9 months ago by _number8_@lemmy.world to c/piracy@lemmy.dbzer0.com

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this contradiction always confused me. either way the official company is "losing a sale" and not getting the money, right?

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[-] Blackmist@feddit.uk 21 points 9 months ago

It's kind of not tested though.

If you've never been given the option to download it and save it and use it from there, how would you "own" it if the streaming service takes it offline?

If you can't transfer ownership of something, or have it past the lifespan of the shop you bought it from, do you really own it? I would say not.

[-] Squizzy@lemmy.world 9 points 9 months ago

That's not the ownership though, that's a subscription to a service. Ownership is something like buying songs on iTunes not listening to them on Apple music.

[-] Blackmist@feddit.uk 4 points 9 months ago

You can buy individual movies on Amazon without a subscription. This doesn't mean you own it. If they stop hosting it, it's gone.

[-] Squizzy@lemmy.world 1 points 9 months ago

But that is where the difference is, that's not streaming or at least not as the term is used. That was a purchase of a specific title.

[-] Blackmist@feddit.uk 4 points 9 months ago

streaming

noun

a method of transmitting or receiving data (especially video and audio material) over a computer network as a steady, continuous flow, allowing playback to start while the rest of the data is still being received.

Whether it's subscribed, "purchased" or free, if you don't have the full file to copy and do what you want with it, it's streaming.