A potential lawsuit is brewing in California that once again highlights the thorny issue of ownership in the digital age. According to Hollywood journalist.
The lead plaintiff in the case claims that Apple used a “ Buy ” button to media is “misleading” because the company can “terminate access” to purchased content at will, and “has done so many times.” He adds that he would not have made the purchase, or paid as much, if he had known that the content could one day become unavailable.
This week, Apple’s attempts to get the lawsuit dismissed were largely rejected by the presiding judge. The company argued that “no reasonable consumer” would believe that iTunes purchases would stay there indefinitely. He also argued that the Applicant’s concerns about the disappearance of the content were “speculative” rather than concrete. With Apple’s dismissal motions being ignored, the case is now open for injunction, unless it is resolved first.
If this all sounds familiar to you, it’s because a similar challenge involving Amazon emerged last October. Like Apple, the online retailer has been sued for false advertising and unfair competition regarding Video premium purchases. For its part, Amazon argued that its terms of service state that consumers in fact get a “limited license to view video content” when they purchase media. The company added that it didn’t matter if the plaintiff read the fine print as it was still bound by it.
More generally, the two legal challenges serve to illustrate how third-party licenses can impact both digital downloads and streaming video, keeping stream content and leading to a ton of confusion in the process. Some argue that consumers should just stick with physical media, but it may be too late to revert to the ways of the past when platforms provide instant access to an abundance of entertainment. Nonetheless, if lawsuits like these continue to emerge, businesses may be forced to change their approach to shopping online – even if it’s just a technicality like fixing the syntax around ownership. content.
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