The lack of consumer awareness around the fact that there is nothing akin to the first sale doctrine for "digital media" (licensing sans physical media) is honestly surprising to me. I guess it's only been a decade or two of exposure for most people, but still.

Even physical media/first sale doesn't really protect all that much anymore, now that license keys tend to be single use and you have to pay to get another one. If you don't know what I'm talking about, try to buy a used CoD game and play it online. You will likely have to pay Activision more than twice what you payed GameStop.

The irony is that all this means "buying" ≠ "owning", yet:

- piracy is widely considered "theft"

- "buying" confers almost no rights. If I pay today, and they shut down the servers tomorrow, that's too bad. Get banned? No due process or refund; should have read the eula. Sony pulls the movie's license from the platform? Here is a $1 credit, you are welcome.

Not sure if this is a boiling frog scenario, a consumer ignorance issue, or if if most people just have bigger concerns than what happens to their movies when a licensing deal ends or they die.