Ownership in the Digital World

            The ownership of digital goods is an interesting concept. When I purchase a physical book, the connection between me and any publishing actors more or less ends once I’ve purchased the book. No one will know what pages I read, if the book sits on my shelf, or if I throw the book in the trash someday. However, when I purchase, for instance, an iPhone, Apple, along with many other applications, continues to have access to my device, providing me with software updates that dictate how I can and cannot use my phone. Digital Rights Management (DRM) is an example of a system that limits consumer’s access to e-books, music, DVDS, and more. DRM is applied to artifacts in an attempt to reduce digital piracy (Maxwell, 2013, p. 37). In the case of ebooks, DRM “prevents owners [...] from making copies to read on devices that do not support the DRM system” (Galey, 2012, p. 232/233).

DVDs also have DRM systems built into their design, prohibiting reproduction of the artifact (Gillespie, 2006, p. 1). I experienced a barrier of access to my DVDs when I took a trip to England with my mom in 2010. I brought a handful of DVDs with me to watch at nigh to relax after a long day of sightseeing. When I put the disc into the DVD player, the DVD wouldn’t play. At the time, I figured the DVD player could not support my DVD for some reason, but I wasn’t sure why. DVDs and DVD players have “Region Playback Control” built into them, which means that the manufacturers sets geographic limits of where that particular DVD can be played. For instance, the DVD I buy in Canada can also be played in the U.S., but not New Zealand, Europe or India (“RPC: Region Playback Control”). Since I purchased these DVDs, I felt that I should be able to access them wherever I pleased, but the DVDs software and hardware limited my access based on my geographic location. Samuelson (2003) discusses the need for a “consumer bill of rights,” which states “that consumers who legally acquire copyrighted works should be free to use them in various non-commercial ways, including to time- and space-shift, make backup copies, use the information on the platform of one’s choice, and transform copies from one format to another” (p. 45). In this sense, I should have been able to shift geographically and use any DVD player in order to play any DVD that I purchased. This shows that “ownership” and “access” do not have universal definitions and instead the use of owned digital property is prohibited by various barriers.  

One instance that I have felt full access to my purchased media is by copying vinyl to my computer as MP3 files. My record player has a USB attachment which allows me to transfer music from my vinyl records to MP3 format. I attempted research on this subject but I couldn’t find a concrete answer, but I believe that transferring purchased vinyl to MP3 is legal as long as it is not being distributed and is just for personal use. The main reason I wanted to transfer albums from vinyl to MP3 was to be able to listen to my music on my iPod as well. I like having the physical, tactile experience of vinyl, but I can’t bring my record player to the gym with me and run on the treadmill – that is where an iPod comes in handy. Having my music in MP3 format allows me to listen to my music anywhere. In addition, purchasing vinyl ranges in price, but the albums I purchase are usually around $30 which is much more expensive than a digital download of the same album. Today, many new vinyl albums satisfy consumer’s needs and come with a digital download of the album because the music industry understands it is mainly a digital market. In reference to Samuelson’s (2003) discussion of the imagined “consumer bill of rights,” I would be able to “transform copies from one form to another,” with no legal repercussions since I purchased the media (p. 45).

I found a quote by Maxwell (2013) in “Ebook logic: We can do better” very interesting. He says that DRM systems applied to ebooks means that they are more leased to consumers than owned (p. 38). To me, this brings up the question, should the fact that you purchased media mean that it is yours to do whatever you want with? Does this differ between physical and digital objects? I believe that the digital world and technology provides a space for illegal activity and piracy of digital objects, and institutions and organizations are franticly trying to keep up and protect themselves and their artifacts. However, I hope the nature of ownership in the digital world continues to evolve until there is a more equal balance between user and corporate rights.

  

References

Galey, Alan. “The Enkindling Reciter: E-Books in the Bibliographical Imagination.” Book History 15 (2012): 210-47.

Gillespie, Tartelon. “Designed to ‘Effectively Frustrate’: Copyright, Technology, and the Agency of Users.” New Media & Society 8, no. 4 (2006): 651-669. 

Maxwell, John W. "E-Book Logic: We Can Do Better." Papers of the Bibliographical Society of Canada 51, no. 1 (2013): 29-47.

Samuelson, Pamela. (2003). “Digital Rights Management {and, or, vs.} the Law.” Communications of the ACM 46, no. 4 (2003): 41-45.

“RPC (Region Playback Control.” Tech-FAQ. Retrieved on November 7, 2016. http://www.tech-faq.com/rpc-regional-playback-control.html