The MPAA doesn’t want anyone in the world to resell the movies you buy on iTunes and other services. Now over in the US, the American House of Representatives is now discussing if this is wrong or right. But does it matter? Would you resell your digital goods online if you could?
“Forcing creators to allow resale of Internet content they licence would either require creators to substantially raise prices or discourage them from offering flexible, Internet-based models in the first place,” says the MPAA’s Neil Fried in a statement on the website.
Most consumers, who spend hundreds of dollars on movies, music, TV shows and books from iTunes, Google Play and Amazon might not think it’s too different than buying something from the nearest Best Buy. But digital content doesn’t really work that way. All you’re buying, in most cases, is a licence that allows you to access a particular piece of content. When you buy a Kindle ebook, for instance, Amazon’s terms of service grant you “a non-exclusive right to view, use, and display such Kindle Content an unlimited number of times.” In other words, you own nothing.
Even if you did, how many of you would go through the trouble of actually selling a Kindle book or an MP3 single you own? And how exactly would the MPAA or service providers ensure that a customer deletes the original piece of content on their hard drives once they resell it? [TorrentFreak]