GOG.com on Game Ownership

GOG.com had some fun at the expense of rival store Steam in a posting on X following the news that Valve has a new checkout warning reinforcing that licensed games on Steam are not owned. All games sold on GOG are DRM-free, and cannot be revoked, resulting in a little pwnership on ownership:
Since checkout banners are trending, we're thinking of putting one up ourselves. Thoughts on this one?

A purchase of a digital product on GOG grants you its Offline Installers, which cannot be taken away from you.
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15.
 
Re: GOG.com on Game Ownership
Oct 12, 2024, 11:15
Tom
15.
Re: GOG.com on Game Ownership Oct 12, 2024, 11:15
Oct 12, 2024, 11:15
Tom
 
They can't say those words because it's obviously not true. Just what do you think you might own when it comes to software?

The reality is, if you pay for the use of commercial software, you don't own anything other than a license. This is how it's always been. If you want to own more than just a license to use the software according to someone else's terms, you can make the software yourself and decide the licensing terms for yourself, or buy the full rights to the software from whoever owns them. It's going to cost you more than $60 though.

Why is this the reality? Digital goods are fundamentally different from physical goods. They're just a bunch of 1's and 0's stored in various places. They can be copied infinitely with no incremental cost. What does it mean to own a bunch of 1's and 0's stored on your hard drive or a disc or in a million different places? Practically speaking you've paid for the right to use those 1's and 0's that other people went through a lot of trouble to prepare for you and everyone else. And that's what licensing is.
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 Re: GOG.com on Game Ownership
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