True, but even that detail doesn't stop people from being upset at this. I remember that early on in the Kindle's life Amazon had to buy back pirated books (including a version of 1984) that had been erroneously sold to customers, and even the refund didn't stop people from being angry about it.
Usually the decision of selling someting cannot be revoked by the selling party, at least not when we are talking of (physical) property. Licenses are trickier ;)
Yet if the person who sold you a bicycle decided to take it back, it would still be theft, even if they left in its place the exact cash amount you paid for it.
What other items should corporations be able to confiscate (with a refund!) without your consent? Everything they sold you? If so, what would you have left?
Fraud is a better term than theft but this probably does not constitutes fraud, that would depend on the terms of license and sale. MS is not confiscating physical property just discontinuing a service that was hosting digital books (I presume if they are confiscating them) and unlocking DRM for those licensed books to be readable. I'm not advocating MS's play here I just don't agree the term theft is accurate for this, just as an individual is not stealing by reading/hearing/watching/witnessing copywrighted information no matter anyone's terms.
Of course legally it's not theft - all those lengthy licenses and disclaimers drawn up by legal departments that you have to agree to for an alarmingly large and growing list of goods and services make sure of that.
But legal or not, the effect is the same - they took your stuff. Unless we do something, this, and the violations of other rights you signed away, will become ever more commonplace. Right to a fair trial is already heavily restricted by omnipresent mandatory arbitration agreements. The fact that it's totally legal is of little comfort.
After I wrote my reply I reflected that in this case MS is actively, directly depriving you of access to the your content, a required component of theft, but IMO if a refund is issued before access is revoked then the requirmemts for theft still seem unmet. I also feel customers should be free to circumvent DRM technologies... which would allow the market to help mitigate this type of decieptful, manipulative licensing of content.
Seems pretty shitty to not refund the device purchases though.
This is a very stupid move by Microsoft, at least they should have arranged a customer/inventory handover with an alternate provider (like Amazon Kindle) to minimize the inconvenience.
I just wanna give a quick word of appreciation to the precision and tact of that rather-well-deserved F-bomb. Discriminate, precise, no collateral damage. Just a perfect emphasis upon the absurdity that is DRM.
And this is why streaming services, digital 'media', etc are a terrible deal for the customer. If the service goes down, you can basically lose everything, and even a refund is unlikely in other cases.
I am going to disagree with you where pure steaming services like Netflix and Spotify are concerned. Everyone understands they are just renting access. But otherwise I totally agree with you.
Of course, people usually understand they're renting stuff on services like Netflix and Spotify.
Though even then, it still raises one issue. Namely, how it seems basically every company now has realised that they get more money/power by endlessly renting things rather than selling them to the customer. Feels like ownership is being quickly killed off.
The comparison to physical books is not apt. Physical books cannot be easily and for almost no cost reproduced and distributed the way ebooks can.
In the end, did Nook Media have the only license to distribute some of these books? If not, the customers actually come out ahead here: they got to read the books for free, as many times as they wanted, as their leisure, since purchasing it.
They are now free to use that money to repurchase the same title at a competitor, if they like. Or a different title.
Having said that, a better way to make this right for customers would be to offer them either a refund OR a DRM-Free copy.
Off topic, but for those looking for DRM-free bookshops, check out this list maintained by Libreture [1]
Personally, I never buy DRM encumbered books. I started buying from Fictionwise, then moved on the Weightless Books. I also only buy non-DRM books from Google Play.
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[ 2.5 ms ] story [ 15.3 ms ] thread"Customers will receive refunds."
Folks don't want refunds, they want the item they paid for.
What other items should corporations be able to confiscate (with a refund!) without your consent? Everything they sold you? If so, what would you have left?
But legal or not, the effect is the same - they took your stuff. Unless we do something, this, and the violations of other rights you signed away, will become ever more commonplace. Right to a fair trial is already heavily restricted by omnipresent mandatory arbitration agreements. The fact that it's totally legal is of little comfort.
After I wrote my reply I reflected that in this case MS is actively, directly depriving you of access to the your content, a required component of theft, but IMO if a refund is issued before access is revoked then the requirmemts for theft still seem unmet. I also feel customers should be free to circumvent DRM technologies... which would allow the market to help mitigate this type of decieptful, manipulative licensing of content.
Seems pretty shitty to not refund the device purchases though.
Though even then, it still raises one issue. Namely, how it seems basically every company now has realised that they get more money/power by endlessly renting things rather than selling them to the customer. Feels like ownership is being quickly killed off.
In the end, did Nook Media have the only license to distribute some of these books? If not, the customers actually come out ahead here: they got to read the books for free, as many times as they wanted, as their leisure, since purchasing it.
They are now free to use that money to repurchase the same title at a competitor, if they like. Or a different title.
Having said that, a better way to make this right for customers would be to offer them either a refund OR a DRM-Free copy.
Personally, I never buy DRM encumbered books. I started buying from Fictionwise, then moved on the Weightless Books. I also only buy non-DRM books from Google Play.
[1] https://www.libreture.com/bookshops/