Digital Butthurt

This crap keeps cropping up, and with me it started when I purchased my Matrix ultimate collectors DVD boxset ages ago. This time it’s about Frozen disappearing from Netflix and children in tears, or tech people crying over Apple deleting their content. And sure, rightfully so – we are and should be butthurt over content we make, own, buy, etc. It is a fucking disgrace. I don’t disagree.

This blog post is published here, because Facebook blocked me from publishing it as a response – my guess is that it was too long, anyway. This opinion is mine, real or fictional, valid or invalid, as example or as a point to make. I don’t expect you to understand me, learn from it, rebel against the world. But I have this place to share my thoughts and that’s why I wrote this.

Source’s source: (blog.vellumatlanta.com)
“Apple stole my music”, well, I think he meant “I had original and unique content and Apple deleted it to match it incorrectly online with the service I signed up and gladly clicked the [x] agree checkbox without reading the legal mumbo jumbo” (it’s why I didn’t sign up to Apple Music, even as an Apple fanboi, but that’s besides the point).

Source: (muf’s Facebook)
“I’ve been telling you guys .. [] .. With Netflix, as soon as they lose the licence to serve the content, you can no longer watch that ..”, what he’s saying is that this is why he prefers to have a personal collection of content he owns, one way or the other. So you can watch something when you want, because it’s yours.

We don’t live in that age anymore. We are just the product, and we get digital butthurt when we find out we have our heads in the sand.

My response to all of this in an uneducated fashion, at 7am in the morning after 3 hours of sleep and doing zero research, so fuck you if this upsets you or if I am wrong; I just want to publish a thought – factually correct or not.

I once purchased the Matrix dvd box set. The ultimate collector’s thing. Because I wanted to own it.

Now, I know that the movie is owned by the people that made it. But the dvd is mine, I can draw on it and nobody in the library got mad at me because I only borrowed it and despite that I paid, that it was still theirs. It was mine! I could just ignore the ‘you would not steal a car’ threat video at the beginning that I was forced to watch every time.

The box set comes with a Neo statue. Finishing the feel of collectors item. No wonder it was not 45 guilders. But actually more like 180 worth it – i am a true fan, loved the first movie, happy there were more, and that the box set came with things like the Animatrix and all sorts of extras.

I got my cash together and went to the Free Record Shop, which ironically had no free records by the way. I got the set despite what every said. Because I wanted to own it.

Carefully I kept it wrapped for a week- but what the fuck!!?!!?!

While staring at it I noticed some warning notices. More threats on the plastic and the box itself about copyright and licenses. A license for what!?? I Was granted permission to own this but perhaps not like copy it I guessed.

No

A license to play the dvd on a device that I owned. No permission to back up. And complete ownership stayed at all times with I believe Warner Bros.

Eh. I fucking paid fucking good money to get a permission slip from some company that WANTS me to see this movie – i mean … That is what they made it for, right!?!?!?

Well erm, as a 20 year or 23 year old (feeling like a kid) getting this excited about a movie I ALREADY PAID FOR THREE TIMES by going to the cinema three times, you can imagine that I was like … How do I explain this to my (then) wife that I got my extra bit of cash together to pay for a ‘play back’ license. And that i better be careful about the disks as It is somehow drm protected so i cant even back it up legally. Unlike how things were five years earlier.

We both came up with valid questions

How do I guarantee it not getting scratched or damaged?

Then How DO I back it up?

Can I pirate a copy and use that, i paid for a license to play back their movie. Who cares if you got it from 12 sources in different quality. The license surely is not for that disk. But for the playback of the movie?

If I paid for it to own it. And don’t own it. Then who does? What happens when they go bankrupt and need money, can they come to our house and take back their property that I borrow like a fucking Five year old from a library?

If you pay for a license to play it back. Is the statue on borrow status? Could i ever sell it if it wasnt mine?

If i paid for a license for the movie. Then did i pay for it five times since there were like 10 or 12 dvds in there. Or one license for everything?

Doesnt that mean that every movie costs the same regardless of length, quality or rating? Why would home alone license be 3 bucks just because the movie gets older and sells less. Doesnt that mean if you wait another year it is basically free and the license expired?

This also mean i cant trade or resell the movie as its not my property, and just a holder of disks and viewer of unlocked content?

This is not how i was brought up. Or experienced content. Your piracy days were recording music on tape from the static radio. So you got like 80% of the song due to talking over them and cut in commercials.

This was the source. One step away from a master disk that the studio had to print unlimited digital copies for a penny per disk

And i paid 180 guilders for

For a motherfucking playback license

Digital is great, but it explained why they adopted it – it granted them unlimited everything and gave the consumer limited playback.

The first thing I did was go to IRC and complain to mf and my other friends how appalling this experience was.

And someone said ‘but dont they sell them for like 35 bucks now’

I thought i died…

Even if i could justify some answers to the questions about license and ownership and just bend over and let the movie industry rip me a new one. Surely within a week the box set of this ultimate collectors thing its license would not drop from a LICENSE value of 180 to 35 euro???!

Breaking the license and risk of fines started at 500 and didnt stop until kids were convinced it includes jail time and waterboarding.

But a license to play it back all of this for just 35…

There was no value to a content anymore. Even the industry had none.

Dont forget. You pay not to own something. You dont pay for something that got less popular or something. You merely pay the industry a fee to get a license to get drm protected content they remain owner of, a note from a teacher that you can walk the school halls.

And its value dropped from nearly 200 for a big box of everything to basically 0 for a big box of nothing

I got the receipt. Told the wife we are going out for dinner tonight. And was so happy i left the movie i did not own in the plastic and went to the store

Dear sir… Do i own this. Or is this licensed for me to play back? Well technically you own it i guess. But it is a license. Okay. Can i play it on 1000 devices? The answer was. With music it was up to five. So maybe five. But. As long as it’s in your home and you don’t show it to your neighbors. Okay. Erhm. What if i don’t own it and it gets damaged? Then i have 14 days to return it. No no. I mean. In a year or twelve from now. I don’t mean a factory issue. But. If i paid for the license and the disk gets damaged. Surely the fucking company sends me a new disk. I mean. They are pennies to make. No. This is what you get. Never get it replaced. Ok. So i don’t own it. They do. And despite that i have a license to play this back. They don’t replace it. Ok. One more question. If i pirate a movie and leave this wrapped up. I paid for a play ack license. Am i covered now. Did i pay my copyright fees? No. Certainly not. It is that disk only. He explained. Oh. Final question. Do you have a license agreement or something that you can print for me and i can sign. I want any legal agreement signed properly then. If we are doing this .. The answer was no. If you buy it they own the rights and i am only limited to playback. I automatically agreed. No terms to print as far as he knew. Nothing to sign. A silent legal agreement that i did not sign.

Fine. I guess i could return it. Would that silently mean i disagree? No. You already agreed. But. As consumer by law we have to return the money.

Ok. Give me back 180. Pls

Anything else?

And i said. A question and this box set pls.

The look on his face was priceless. Same box. 35 bucks. And i asked if the same applied to music. He said yes. Clearly irritated by me. By now my then wife asked me why i made such a fuzz over this and in front of the guy i said “because if the industry turns US the consumer into a product, it means that they undervalue their own product – over our backs. – and that means this is a dying industry, everything will go online and stores like this will be gone in ten years. We will no longer end up owning content. So why would we buy it? The only argument is a- slow internet which is true right now and b- why get it physically if it’s just a license? It will go online. Lose its value. And we wont value it anymore.

I was wrong. It took more than ten years

12

If you complain about frozen being gone. It is because that b- you lost value in it and did not want to own it, you could have owned a physical copy unlicensed if you stood up for how the industry turned you into a product and the a- you are upset that you lost convenience of live streaming because you now have broadband internet.

Don’t complain that you don’t have access to content you don’t physically own. Complain that you realize you are a product.

And don’t take it out on muf who saw back in the day that it is really hard to agree to those terms of service or some license deal you don’t even put a signature below.

Give me something to own and i’ll buy it

Or give me access to the catalogue through Netflix and i’ll subscribe. (By the way, I am a Netflix subscriber right now, but to be honest, for their original content, not so much for their incomplete backlog)

But turn us into a product again by having license restrictions and limited play time and no outreach and the same thing happens to the digital free records shop we call netflix. Who will sell service and value and experience over playback and streaming rights and end up pivoting their company and consumers find entertainment elsewhere. Isn’t that right usenet, youtube, amazon, live events, stand up comedy, .. Virtual reality and artificial intelligence where games and events become an experience and you feel you pay for the entertainment rather than ownership or for a license to put a vr set on. Etc.

What happens on Apple music is a nasty side effect that Apple can try to fix. But it shows what has been happening to your physical collection of music and dvds for years.

You do not own Frozen. It isn’t on a shelve. And if it is, it is digitally protected with a rights management hardware key that they can remotely pull. Trust me. Your bluray is online. And that hdmi cable is there for a reason beyond 4K HD content.

Not to mention your Samsung etc TVs come with instructions to not say anything sensitive in front of the tv because it’s always listening.

You are the product.


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