Will I Ever Own 0’s and 1’s?
I own my bicycle. I can ride it whenever I want, when I want. I can add parts to it to improve it. I can paint it. I can destroy it or give it away for any price I want. I can put a flower-rimmed basket on it and start a delivery service with it. I own my bicycle.
All the digital things I own, I own in the sense that I can use the product/service within the guidelines of the terms and service and I can stop using the product/service at any time (unless there are contractual obligations). That is the extent of “ownership” with 0’s and 1’s.
With any digital software or content you purchase or use, you are virtually always required to agree to a terms of service agreement and/or an end user license agreement. Pretty much everything I use on my computer requires me to go through at least one of these tombs of legalese. The truth is that I rarely ever read more than a paragraph, there is often pages and pages of information. So much to read that rather than forcing me to scroll to the bottom of the text containing one of these agreements, and at least bettering the odds that I’ve gleemed something from the agreement, often there is just a “next” button to the side, allowing me to completely skip reading the agreement. I assume this is done because the agreements have gained so much mass that it could take so long to get to the bottom of an agreement, many potential customers may get lost in the madness of so much jargon and abandon the sign-up.
A friend and I were recently discussing eReaders. He had recently purchased an Amazon Kindle and had nothing but praise for the device. It got me thinking that I really should get an eReader too. So I did a bit of research. I found a lot of forum posts about how Amazon doesn’t sell you (as in you don’t own it) any ebooks you purchase. Rather, they lease them out to you and have the power at anytime to revoke that license and take back the ebooks you purchased (as has happened in the past). “That’s bullshit” I thought and set forth with plans to buy the Kobo, which doesn’t have such a checkered past. But then my friend pointed out that they have the same terms in their terms and conditions, they just haven’t flexed their legal powers like Amazon has, yet.
Which got me thinking, I don’t own anything on my computer. Even emusic, which I always held as the defacto example of the way an internet company should work and how it assures me that I “own” the DRM free music I download from their site, has a gotcha. Their terms and conditions states that
“Content received through the Service may be used and played for your personal, non-commercial use only.”
So does this mean that if I DJ for a living, I can’t use the music I “own”? What do they mean by “personal use”?
I sent emusic an email asking for clarification, here’s what they said:
Unfortunately, we can’t really answer that question. We cannot define what “personal, non-commercial use” is.
We understand you have some ideas in mind for the MP3s you download, but we recommend seeking professional legal advice before using that music as you requested below.
So, the company I purchase music to “own” from doesn’t know if I actually own my music the way I own my bike. This was the stalwart of digital content ownership and forward thinkng terms and conditions in my mind. Now that part of my mind is a hollowed out husk. I will never completely own anything I pay for on the internet. Everything is ultimately “owned” by large companies who license out content and services.
To be fair, in practise, and considering how fast things have changed over the last few decades, this seems to have been somewhat balanced: computers are increasingly being used despite this. But at the same time, I feel lots of companies would benefit to rethink how business should be done over the internet. Where production costs are virtually nothing, and distribution costs are fractions of a cent. Why am I still paying $8 for an ebook I don’t own?
So does this mean you are going to get a kindle?
ugh… maybe later. This is quite a bit for me to take in at the moment
Ownership is never outright where intellectual property is concerned. Even with your bike example, you may own it, but you still can’t make a 1:1 copy of it (right down to the label) and sell it as if it was yours, just as you couldn’t DL a Nirvana song and then use it as a profit tool for your DJ business.
Which I think it bullshit. The artist made the song (product), sold it (label), got paid…end of transaction. The label may pimp out the artist to drum up more interest in the product (concerts WOO), but the artist doesn’t really own the product anymore.
I doubt Schwinn gets a residual cheque every time you go for a pedal through High Park.
Your last point is the one I’m most on-side with…with all production costs and material overhead out of the way, and with a loophole saying you don’t even own the material outright, the cost of a digital copy of a book is in-effin-sane.
My bike is not intellectual property. “Cannondale” may be trademarked, so I can’t use that, but there is no law that prohibits me from replicating my bike, molecule for molecule (not yet at least).
I may not be able to download a song and use it for my DJ business (unless in Canada, I have a Digital DJ License…. seriously). But I can buy a new cd from a store and use that as a DJ.
My point is that, unless you made it yourself, with licensed software and rights, you don’t “own” anything on your computer the way you own a bike. You might say “well, ya…” but for me the significance of this is huge. Perhaps a few related blog posts are in order.
do you really own your bike? I mean what if your landlord says you can’t store it .. the bike paths are private or require a fee to use, you pay taxes to keep the roads nest’ pas. Disposing of this bike requires some fee? If the local gangs want it can you stop them? It”s all about controll, most companies i find are fascist at heart. they make the train run on time..but require a pound of flesh. The only thing you really own are your thoughts and they are best when shared like in a blog
I do own my bike, but i may not own the path/roads that i bike on, nor the place i store my bike. but i do own it
companies are greedy, they have to be. otherwise there is no impetus to innovate. Of course, most of companies don’t innovate at all, but that’s for another blog post i guess.
At the end of the day, my own thoughts are the only thing that I own that can’t be taken from me…. yet