The End of Ownership: Personal Property in the Digital Economy (Information Society Series)

An argument for retaining the notion of personal property in the products we “buy” in the digital marketplace.If you buy a book at the bookstore, you own it. You can take it home, scribble in the margins, put in on the shelf, lend it to a friend, sell it at a garage sale. But is the same thing true for the ebooks or other digital goods you buy? Retailers and copyright holders argue that you don't own those purchases, you merely license them. That means your ebook vendor can delete the book from your device without warning or explanation—as Amazon deleted Orwell's 1984 from the Kindles of surprised readers several years ago. These readers thought they owned their copies of 1984. Until, it turned out, they didn't. In The End of Ownership, Aaron Perzanowski and Jason Schultz explore how notions of ownership have shifted in the digital marketplace, and make an argument for the benefits of personal property.Of course, ebooks, cloud storage, streaming, and other digital goods offer users convenience and flexibility. But, Perzanowski and Schultz warn, consumers should be aware of the tradeoffs involving user constraints, permanence, and privacy. The rights of private property are clear, but few people manage to read their end user agreements. Perzanowski and Schultz argue that introducing aspects of private property and ownership into the digital marketplace would offer both legal and economic benefits. But, most important, it would affirm our sense of self-direction and autonomy. If we own our purchases, we are free to make whatever lawful use of them we please. Technology need not constrain our freedom; it can also empower us. Most Of Us Will Freely Admit That We Are Obsessed With Our Devices. We Pride Ourselves On Our Ability To Multitask-—read Work Email, Reply To A Text, Check Facebook, Watch A Video Clip. Talk On The Phone, Send A Text, Drive A Car. Enjoy Family Dinner With A Glowing Smartphone Next To Our Plates. We Can Do It All, 24/7! Never Mind The Errors In The Email, The Near-miss On The Road, And The Unheard Conversation At The Table. In The Distracted Mind, Adam Gazzaley And Larry Rosen--a Neuroscientist And A Psychologist--explain Why Our Brains Aren't Built For Multitasking And Suggest Better Ways To Live In A High-tech World Without Giving Up Our Modern Technology. The Authors Explain That Our Brains Are Limited In Their Ability To Pay Attention. We Don’t Really Multitask But Rather Switch Rapidly Between Tasks. Distractions And Interruptions, Often Technology-related-—referred To By The Authors As Interference-—collide With Our Goal-setting Abilities. We Want To Finish This Paper/spreadsheet/sentence, But Our Phone Signals An Incoming Message And We Drop Everything. Even Without An Alert, We Decide That We Must Check In On Social Media Immediately. Gazzaley And Rosen Offer Practical Strategies, Backed By Science, To Fight Distraction. We Can Change Our Brains With Meditation, Video Games, And Physical Exercise; We Can Change Our Behavior By Planning Our Accessibility And Recognizing Our Anxiety About Being Out Of Touch Even Briefly. They Don't Suggest That We Give Up Our Devices, But That We Use Them In A More Balanced Way--publisher Description. Property Rights And The Exhaustion Principle -- Copies, Clouds And Streams -- Ownership And The Fine Print -- The Buy Now Lie -- The Promise And Perils Of Digital Libraries -- Drm And The Secret War Inside Your Devices -- The Internet Of Things You Don't Own -- Patents And The Ordinary Pursuits Of Life -- Ownership's Uncertain Future. Aaron Perzanowski And Jason Schultz. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. « If you buy a book at the bookstore, you own it. You can take it home, scribble in the margins, put in on the shelf, lend it to a friend, sell it at a garage sale. But is the same thing true for the ebooks or other digital goods you buy? Retailers and copyright holders argue that you don't own those purchases, you merely license them. That means your ebook vendor can delete the book from your device without warning or explanation -- as Amazon deleted Orwell's 1984 from the Kindles of surprised readers several years ago. These readers thought they owned their copies of 1984. Until, it turned out, they didn't. In The End of Ownership, Aaron Perzanowski and Jason Schultz explore how notions of ownership have shifted in the digital marketplace, and make an argument for the benefits of personal property.Of course, ebooks, cloud storage, streaming, and other digital goods offer users convenience and flexibility. But, Perzanowski and Schultz warn, consumers should be aware of the tradeoffs involving user constraints, permanence, and privacy. The rights of private property are clear, but few people manage to read their end user agreements. Perzanowski and Schultz argue that introducing aspects of private property and ownership into the digital marketplace would offer both legal and economic benefits. But, most important, it would affirm our sense of self-direction and autonomy. If we own our purchases, we are free to make whatever lawful use of them we please. Technology need not constrain our freedom; it can also empower us. »-- Résumé de l'éditeur If you buy a book at the bookstore, you own it. You can take it home, scribble in the margins, put in on the shelf, lend it to a friend, sell it at a garage sale. But is the same thing true for the ebooks or other digital goods you buy? Retailers and copyright holders argue that you don't own those purchases, you merely license them. That means your ebook vendor can delete the book from your device without warning or explanation-as Amazon deleted Orwell's 1984 from the Kindles of surprised readers several years ago. These readers thought they owned their copies of 1984. Until, it turned out, they didn't. In The End of Ownership, Aaron Perzanowski and Jason Schultz explore how notions of ownership have shifted in the digital marketplace, and make an argument for the benefits of personal property. Of course, ebooks, cloud storage, streaming, and other digital goods offer users convenience and flexibility. But, Perzanowski and Schultz warn, consumers should be aware of the tradeoffs involving user constraints, permanence, and privacy. The rights of private property are clear, but few people manage to read their end user agreements. Perzanowski and Schultz argue that introducing aspects of private property and ownership into the digital marketplace would offer both legal and economic benefits. But, most important, it would affirm our sense of self-direction and autonomy. If we own our purchases, we are free to make whatever lawful use of them we please. Technology need not constrain our freedom; it can also empower us