I don't see how that stuff is new =?
- - -
When you "buy" a software, you either "buy" the property and all the rights attached to it - back in the days it would cost around hundreds/thousands of dollars from a small dev, or you just buy a limited licence for a few bucks.
Nothing changed since the 80'/90' (except few details about internet access)
They don't sell you a software like they sell an apple, a chair. A software is a service.
Software :
- have copy-protection
- need to be illegal to copy and sell without authorization (else, anyone could sell any softwares without paying the devs)
That's why they added the "EULA" licence, to limit precisely what the buyer can do with its purchase (to prevent commercial abuses).
And now, the sad part is, they're selling licences with a lesser value : the licences we bought in 90'/00' were better licences than nowadays' licences.
( I guess there's a market for "Enhanced End-User Licence", which allows selling your licence to someone else :D)
It's not about "judge being stupid" or "companies violating the law", companies simply decide to sell a worse product, and you can't do anything about that.
Just like after the economic crisis, some firms removed one biscuits per package and kept the same price. People kept buying them.
Of course we had no choice, all were doing that and we don't have the time/energy/money to count every biscuits.
Oh yeah, few of us bought less biscuits, a minority "boycotted" these brands, but in the end, more than 95% kept on buying these products (firms calculated that before making that move).
That's the same with video games, publishers decided to remove several biscuits from the package (offline playing, second-hand market, backup copy and so on) and gamers are still buying them, the market keeps on growing !
Another (bad) example : subscription for a magazine.
* Previous subscription cost $100, one magazine per month (for 12 months) + 4 "special season edition".
* New subscription cost $100, one magazine per month for (12 months). Optional "special season edition" cost $5 each.
That is all.
We. Never. Bought. Games.
We bought licences.
Some with a hardware element allowing us to benefit from our licences (= floppy disks, CD, DVD, BR),
Some with a licensed access to an Internet service (= digital distribution, Steam/GOG/etc)(= the risk of the "double-licence")
What we call "software" are services, based on a licence (EULA).
Anything else is just something the licenser provides to let us benefit from our licence.
. . .
Why do you think they created the GNU/GPL licence ?
Because it's what drives any kind of software !
It may be hard to imagine, but a publisher have a total control over the elements outside the field of the licence. They can go to your home, take your DVD and replace it with a paper licence (with a Steam code, if the licence force them to provide a way to benefit from the licence).
A "gaming collection" is just a bunch of licences, that could be put in a small book.
Post edited September 24, 2010 by Klem
