this post was submitted on 05 Dec 2023
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Digital media means that there is an ongoing service behind it. The servers use energy. The parts age and break. It requires a continuing feed of labor and resources to keep going.
Imagine a streaming service that is all based on buying media, instead of subscription or renting. Then suppose all the customers somehow decide that the media they own are enough for now (maybe because money is tight, because inflation). With no more cash coming in, the service goes bankrupt.
In principle, you could have a type of license that allows you to get a new copy in any way you can (torrent, etc.). That would be hard to police, though.
FWIW, owning a physical copy isn't all that, either. There are various ways built-in to make life harder for customers, like geo-blocking. Bypassing these tends to be a criminal offense.
I could download my file and be done with it. If I throw away or damage my super fragile bluray I'm not entitled to a new copy. I don't even need to be able to redownload (although it's a nice service). It means there is an ongoing service behind it because they decide it and because they are afraid I will share with my friends - which is about as difficult as finding the media elsewhere online.
Same issue with physical media. Suddenly your expensive factory is idle, your employees don't produce anything. We still get to buy movies and not rent them perpetually.
That's true, but that's kinda delivering a physical copy via the net, and you pay the storage medium. I understood OP as talking specifically about online "property".