Who owns your digital goods?

[phb]

There have been a couple of examples of when purchased digital content have been lost, in discussions in the community (I am sure there may be more):

Digital subscriptions

I have been a subscriber to Gourmet Traveler for over a decade. All my magazines are in one place. I have purchased a few additional issues plus some were gifted to me. They have released a new update. It only holds 2 years. ALL my issues are gone. I cannot access them. I have spoken with them and nothing. To say I am annoyed would not come close. Used to have delicious subscription as well but as soon as I stopped subscribing all my purchased issues are not available to me…

When you pay for something which isn't really yours, PlayStation and Warner TV

Everything digital is becoming a licenced type product, there one doesn’t actually own the content but pays fee for using it. This includes things like software (in computers to a car), videos on streaming services, firmware in devices and the list goes on. Recently Sony announced that access to Warner TV through its PlayStation would be withdrawn and any content within Warner TV deleted, without compensation or refund. This means if a consumer paid for a movie to be included in their library, …

Apple Subscriptions to Magazines

Just over 5 years ago I stopped buying hard copy magazines (5 titles all from the UK) and started using Apple App Store to subscribe to the titles.I thought I was doing my part to ‘save the forests” and all that! They are all car magazines which form a reference library that I like to go back to from time to time. Recently I decided to cancel one title only to find out that the moment my subscription expires I no longer have access to all the issues I had purchased over the many years. The app …

Fetch TV purchased digital content stuck with Optus account

If you have a Fetch TV that you got with your ISP, all your TV shows and movies you have purchased on Fetch are only available if you stay with that ISP. Am I the only one who thinks this seems unfair? I have used a FetchTV for several years with my Optus cable account which eventually became my NBN account, optus have all of a sudden increased the cost though so I think it’s time to leave. I was going to buy a fetch outright this time, but I checked their FAQ and also asked through a support …