Musings on Ownership in a Digital World

Every once in a while I go down a rabbit hole and think a whole lot more about a topic than I really should. It often has no true effect on my life other than how I see and understand the world. But even so I think it is important to think about these things from time to time.

This article will present my thoughts on the importance of ownership, how we got to where we are today, and how I was able to come to terms with the current state of things.

Ownership

Just so it’s clear what I am talking about, ownership means that when you purchase, or otherwise obtain something, it is yours. You may do with it as you please, and no outside entity can take it from you.

This is the way that things have generally been for most of human history. (There are of course many exceptions). But in our day specifically, ownership as a concept is arguably being eroded faster than any other time in history. Some have even said that we are entering a state known as techno-feudalism.

Just as medieval peasants owned nothing, and simply tilled the land for their lords, we now own nothing and instead pay our technological lords subscriptions for things that we once owned.

While I think the term techno-feudalism is meant to provoke anger (which I don’t like), it also causes us to look towards that past and see how others lost their rights.

Subscriptions

One of the things that people poke their fingers at the most when discussing this topic is the rise of the subscription service model. Nearly every company has adopted this model in some way or another. And with good reason. It is an extremely profitable business model. Why would you charge your customers once for a product, when you can charge them every month? I don’t think that subscriptions are the main problem though. Let me explain, because in many cases subscriptions are the best way to do things.

Despite what some may think, every service on the internet has a monthly cost to the provider. And it is a real cost. Thus, it is reasonable for any company providing a service through the internet to have a recurring cost for that service. Any company who offers a one-time payment for lifetime access is lying to you. Eventually that money will run out, and they will no longer be able to provide you the service you paid for.

Thus, it is my unpopular opinion that most companies who provide subscriptions have a valid reason for doing so. Video streaming is not cheap, it is a drag on profits to maintain 20 year old game servers, even Microsoft word gets constant updates which require money.

So even though I dislike subscriptions, I think they can be justified. The real problem is the shift from ownership to licensing.

Licenses

I think the real issue is how hard it is to actually own anything. Nearly everything on your computer is technically owned by the company who made it. Not you. You simply have a license to use it. Here is the difference.

If you own something. You can use it for as long as you like. If it breaks or wears out, so be it. But you have it as long as it works.

If you’re licensed to use something, you can only use it as long as the company wants you to. In many cases there is no clause in the contract for how long you can use the licensed item. You cannot give the item to someone else if you no longer have a use for it.

Subscriptions only exacerbate this issue by charging you monthly for items you used to own. And then they immediately revoke the license if you don’t pay up.

The Most Affected Industry

I could go on and on about different things that annoy me with current license and subscription model. But the industry that annoys me the most by far is entertainment. Let’s look at the three most infuriating components of the entertainment industry right now.

The License Tax

I’ll start off simple, but with something that most people haven’t considered. And it is the recurring costs that libraries are now facing with licensed based models.

For the longest time libraries have existed on the premise that books and physical media are pretty durable, thus once obtained, said media is very cheap to maintain.

The whole notion has now been turned on its head, and libraries are starting to realize that. They buy a 5-year online subscription to an audiobook. But now they are trapped paying to renew that license forever. It is not something that can be shared indefinitely.

And that cost is being forwarded to the taxpayer either through higher taxes, or fewer available titles at their library

We All Know Streaming Sucks

We all know that the movie industry has been a disaster for many years now but allow me to highlight perhaps the biggest casualty of the streaming wars. Our right to own our media.

In reality, streaming wasn’t that bad of a thing to begin with. Sure, we gave up the ownership of our media. But in return we got a huge catalog of movies and shows we never would have seen before. And anything we cared enough to own, we could go out and buy.

When the crap really hit the fan is when companies stopped sharing with each other. There are a dozen different platforms and nobody shares their libraries. Making it impossible to just sit down and pull up the show you want to watch without starting a new subscription.

This in itself, would not have been too bad. We could always just go back to the old way and get our media physically. Then we would own it again. The problem is that any IP with a lick of value is now being hoarded by internet streaming services. Any way to access it outside of their paid subscription is profit left on the table. This is what infuriates me most about the movie industry right now. With every year that passes they become more and more reluctant to release their products for purchase outside of a subscription.

Online Purchases Don’t Work Either

While in theory you could use a service like Amazon, which has most of the media out there available for purchase. You still do not truly own it. It is just a license that lasts as long as Amazon is willing or able to keep it. No more passing old movies down to your children or sharing a movie with a friend. This would all be solved if Amazon just provided an MP4 download for the user. But they don’t. The content must be streamed, or played through their proprietary player.

The argument against this is piracy. Which I think is valid. It would be too hard to control the rampant copying of files. Thus, physical media is our best bet.

Steam: The Benevolent Monopoly

I have to admit, Steam has been on a hot streak for a very long time now. They can do no wrong. They defy capitalism by putting consumers first, even when they are in a position of monopolistic power. Unfortunately, it is not a matter of if Valve turns against us. It is a matter of when.

Will they maintain their values after Gabe Newell leaves the company? Will they be offered so much money in a purchase deal that they simply can’t refuse? I think the change will happen eventually. Even if it’s not for a long time. Then where will we be?

Every game bought through steam is simply a license to play the game with no defined end date. Luckily there have been very few instances of licenses being ended on steam. Which gives us a lot of faith in them. But we still don’t own our games. Even though they’re not squeezing, they still have their hands around our neck.

The worst part of this is that there are no alternatives. Very few games are present on GOG games and developers don’t even make physical releases for PC anymore. Every game purchased on Steam is at the mercy of the creators and Valve deciding we should still have access to it.

A Firm Foundation

So, what are we to do about this. I must admit that I was really pissed off about this whole situation. I simply cannot own all the games and shows I want to watch, let alone be able to share them with my family and friends. What am I to do in a world where everything I own is temporary.

¹⁹ Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:

²⁰ But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:

²¹ For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Matthew 6:19-21

Wow have those verses never felt more prevalent to me. They show that even in our modern world there is still a place for religion and faith.

It is so important that we look towards Jesus Christ and build our foundation upon him. He is a rock among the shifting sands of the earth. And it is only through him that we can find true peace.