Comment by jttmckee
4 years ago
Unfortunately the term purchase for digital acquisitions is misleading. If I purchase a dvd I can lend it to my family, I can pass it on free to a friend to watch, or I can sell it second hand. If I don't dispose of it, it's mine for life.
That just doesn't apply to these digital acquisitions which are tied to the account and which the terms do allow to be revoked.
They aren't purchases but more like very long term rentals. Of course fewer people would spend money if they were told the truth so the media companies misleadingly say "purchase". (And since they all say purchase it would be very hard for one to break rank).
It's why something like Netflix of Kindle Unlimited can work well, at least you know you are spending an amount each month for basically unlimited access to the catalog.
I recently noticed the small print on event tickets I purchase from Ticketmaster make it clear that I am actually purchasing a "license" to access the event. The ticket does not guarantee entry and the license is non-transferable, revocable without refund, etc.
Unfortunately this is a phenomenon that extends beyond digital media.
That's too bad for Ticketmaster because the large print calls them a "purchase". How are consumers supposed to know which parts of their business communications are lies and which are truth? Or rather, why should Ticketmaster get to choose which of their words count and which are just decoration?
More like, that's too bad for consumers! In my experience, Ticketmaster doesn't care one bit.
When I was 17, I purchased tickets to an all-ages show via Ticketmaster's location in my local mall. At some point in time between my purchase and the event, it apparently became age-restricted. (It was an electronic music event, and this was at the peak of tv-news-driven anti-"rave" hysteria.)
I arrived at the venue on the night of the show, and they wouldn't let me in, despite my ticket clearly saying "all ages". The promoters blamed the venue for the age restriction change, I believe truthfully. But the venue box office wouldn't give me a refund since my tickets were from Ticketmaster.
So I called Ticketmaster the next day. They claimed all events are wiped from their system after the event ends, and no amount of escalation can possibly result in a refund for a prior event. Naturally they gave me the runaround and said to take it up with the venue box office :/
My takeaway was never trust Ticketmaster, they simply don't honor their own large print on their tickets.
IANAAL, but I thought there was a legal principle that ambiguities in a contract would resolve in favor of the party that didn't write the contract. In all probability, the verbiage of the contract is all licensing and it is only marketing copy that is ambiguous.
we live in a society where we give too much credit for law system which does not work. you can say anything in font 150 and add a 4px height text that flashes for couple of seconds in a TV add and it is fine.
you can say purchase and change the definition of purchase elsewhere and whenever you want. remember that these contracts reserve the right to be self driven and changed.
I have no doubt a small claim would result in a judgement made against Sony for the original purchase price of the item. Hopefully citizens will exert the right to do so.
They call them purchases. They should not be allowed to use that terminology. They are rentals.
To be clear I agree with you. However I am, only very slightly, sympathetic to these companies as is always the case one company doesn't want to stand out in a bad way by renaming!
> Unfortunately the term purchase for digital acquisitions is misleading.
This is why I will only purchase things I can actually keep, like CDs, DVDs, paper books and so on. It seems old fashioned, until you have a few "purchases" wiped out by some policy change out of your control.