A future with less and less physical media might just be inevitable, but while the convenience of digital purchases blinded consumers for a long time, more and more people are seeing the pitfalls of digital buying.
The main pitfall (that not even physical media is immune to) is the fact that you’re not buying a product, but a digital license to access something – whether that’s a game, or any other kind of software.
This is, unfortunately, just the nature of things. That’s not changing, but a new California law is going to make more people aware of what they’re actually buying.
First reported by The Verge, a new bill (AB 2426) that was just signed into law by the state’s governor Gavin Newsom will force digital storefronts to make buyers aware that they’re buying a license, not an actual product.
Not abiding by the new law could see the seller/digital storefront owner fined due to false advertising.
You can see the summary of the bill, below.
“Prohibits a person from advertising or offering for sale a digital good, as defined, with the terms “buy,” “purchase,” or any other term that a reasonable person would understand to confer an unrestricted ownership interest in the digital good unless the seller clearly provides the seller with information related to the fact that they are purchasing a license through one of two methods:
Obtaining affirmative acknowledgement from the purchaser that they have received a complete list of instructions and understand that the license to the digital good may be revoked if the seller no longer holds the right to the product.
Providing a plain language statement before each transaction that buying a digital good is a license and including a hyperlink or QR code to access terms and conditions that provide full details on the license.”
California is just one state, sure, but this is the kind of law that could potentially have a ripple effect across all digital storefronts. It won’t stop game companies (like Ubisoft) from removing digital licenses when they see fit, but it will at least keep people more informed.
It might even expand the physical media market in small ways, where we see players clamor over physical copies of games that have the full game installed on the disc.
Source – [The Verge]