I'm sure most of you have at some time or other purchased a product only to be told by the vendor that you cant do something with it that you wanted to as they are actually the boss of your purchase, normally this control regime is enforced by utilising DRM software locking and hiding information likely to be of use to you making the change yourself, recently the EFF have decided its time to stop the misleading labelling and highlight the hidden tax that consumer pay after being conned into believing they have made a purchase rather than brought a licence to use a new fangled piece of plastic
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2014/01/you-bought-it-you-own-it-time-reclaim-right-usetinkerrepairmakeselllend-your-stuffYou bought it, you own it, right? Not always. Over the past decade, we have been quietly shifting to a world in which both digital goods (like mp3s, video files, and ebooks) and physical goods that contain software (like cars, microwaves, and phones) are never truly owned, but only rented.
Not to worry, say big copyright holders; people don’t want to be owners, because all they really care about is “access,” and more and more content is being made “accessible” in more and more ways. Sure, you might have to pay a premium for the “privilege” of, say, watching the movie you “bought” on more than one device, but no one’s forcing you to do it. Besides, they tell policymakers, just give us more tools to punish unauthorized uses and we promise to build more “authorized” channels – as long as users are willing to pay for them.
There are a lot of reasons they are wrong. Here's just a few:
As usual folks if you can please give your support to the EFF and its projects as they are one of the genuinely useful entities out there when it comes to the job of fighting for the rights of netzens
