Hacker News Reader

Comment by lev99 | Hacker News Reader

Why do you feel a strong desire for ownership?

I enjoy going to art museums and experiencing visual art, but I never experienced the inclination to purchase any of it. Music to me is a lot like that.

View on HN

> Why do you feel a strong desire for ownership?

Because I don't trust the owners of the content to not destroy[1] or permanently alter[2] it in some way.

Mass distribution is necessary for preservation.

[1] 1937 Fox vault fire. 1965 MGM vault fire. BBC TV programs 1967-1978.

[2] The OCN of all three original Star Wars films.

Original Camera Negatives(OCN) - Google made that immensely difficult to look up due to it thinking it actually knew what I desired to search for.

But if you really liked a particular piece of art, you'd expect to be able to find a high-quality photo somewhere to put as a desktop wallpaper. Also, if you enjoyed a particular piece of art, you might be worried it gets taken down from exhibition and become no longer accessible to you. This could make you consider purchasing a reproduction, or finding that photo.

Because I want to listen to any song in a library that fits my current mood.

If I can't play a very particular song at a particular time because of DRM - that's a big negative.

Music for most people is something to consume, not something to see once and maybe neither again. If you "own" the music, in the sense that you have the "physical" control whether you have access to it, then you can be sure to consum it whenever you want.

It's the difference between data and a physical item. I don't expect to own every physical item I view but I do expect limitless access to my data, especially if I've paid for it.

I don't draw such a strong lines between physical and virtual items.

Even in the case where you buy a song, you don't have limitless rights to it. It would be illegal, for example, to buy a CD and use a song from that CD in a television commercial. You don't own the song, you are purchasing the right to replay the song in some situations. DRM purchases and streaming services are remarkably similar deals.

As is often brought up on the internet, it's the distinction between basic freedom and freedom from consequences. When you buy a CD, you have the basic freedom to put it in any CD player, rip it, back it up, re-encode it, share it with your friends, or put it on your MP3 player. There would still be consequences if you were to use it in a TV commercial. With DRM you do not even have any basic freedoms.

I'm not talking about what's legal I'm talking about what's imo ethical. I should be able to copy my movies etc to whatever device I want and legal action should be taken only against me if I used it in a commercial way.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com