FSF's Anti-DRM Campaign Plans Bad-Review Protest Against Disney+ (fsf.org) 76
For their fifteenth International Day Against DRM this Friday, the Free Software Foundation's "Defective by Design" campaign is "calling on you to help us send a message to purveyors of Digital Restrictions Management (DRM)".
And this year they're targeting Disney+ The ongoing pandemic has only tightened the stranglehold streaming services have as some of the most dominant forms of entertainment media, and Disney+ is among the worst of them. After years of aggressive lobbying to extend the length of copyright, based on their perceived need to keep a certain rat from entering the public domain, they've now set their sights on "protecting" their various franchises in a different way: by shackling them with digital restrictions. If Disney's stated mission is to keep "inspiring hope and sparking the curiosity of all ages", using DRM to limit that curiosity remains the wrong move.
This year, we'll be using one of Disney's own means of spreading their "service" and the DRM bundled with it: their mobile app. If you're an existing user of the Google Play (Android) or Apple App Stores, you can support the International Day Against DRM by voicing your objection to Disney's subjugation of their users. Streaming services like Netflix and Peacock have the same issues, but by targeting a newer one with such massive investment and capital behind it, we can make sure that we're heard. Disney+ is new: that gives it time to change.
Disney+ is placed near the top of the most frequently downloaded apps on both the Google Play and Apple App Stores. We invite you to write a well-thought objection to Disney's use of DRM, with a fitting review. It is the perfect way to let the corporation, and other users intending to use its services know Disney's grievous mistake in using DRM to restrict customers who already want to view their many films and television shows. It will give you a chance to give them the exact rating that any service that treats its users so poorly: a single star.
DRM isn't the only problem with the Disney+ app. It's also nonfree software. If you're not already an Android or iOS user, we don't recommend starting an account just to participate in this action. You can also choose to send an email to Disney executives following our template.
They're urging supporters to also share the actions they've taken on social media using the tag #DayAgainstDRM. (And there's also an IRC channel "to discuss and share strategies for anti-DRM activism," with more anti-DRM actions still to come.
"While some aspects of the struggle have changed, the core principles remain the same: users should not be forced to surrender their digital autonomy in exchange for media."
And this year they're targeting Disney+ The ongoing pandemic has only tightened the stranglehold streaming services have as some of the most dominant forms of entertainment media, and Disney+ is among the worst of them. After years of aggressive lobbying to extend the length of copyright, based on their perceived need to keep a certain rat from entering the public domain, they've now set their sights on "protecting" their various franchises in a different way: by shackling them with digital restrictions. If Disney's stated mission is to keep "inspiring hope and sparking the curiosity of all ages", using DRM to limit that curiosity remains the wrong move.
This year, we'll be using one of Disney's own means of spreading their "service" and the DRM bundled with it: their mobile app. If you're an existing user of the Google Play (Android) or Apple App Stores, you can support the International Day Against DRM by voicing your objection to Disney's subjugation of their users. Streaming services like Netflix and Peacock have the same issues, but by targeting a newer one with such massive investment and capital behind it, we can make sure that we're heard. Disney+ is new: that gives it time to change.
Disney+ is placed near the top of the most frequently downloaded apps on both the Google Play and Apple App Stores. We invite you to write a well-thought objection to Disney's use of DRM, with a fitting review. It is the perfect way to let the corporation, and other users intending to use its services know Disney's grievous mistake in using DRM to restrict customers who already want to view their many films and television shows. It will give you a chance to give them the exact rating that any service that treats its users so poorly: a single star.
DRM isn't the only problem with the Disney+ app. It's also nonfree software. If you're not already an Android or iOS user, we don't recommend starting an account just to participate in this action. You can also choose to send an email to Disney executives following our template.
They're urging supporters to also share the actions they've taken on social media using the tag #DayAgainstDRM. (And there's also an IRC channel "to discuss and share strategies for anti-DRM activism," with more anti-DRM actions still to come.
"While some aspects of the struggle have changed, the core principles remain the same: users should not be forced to surrender their digital autonomy in exchange for media."
DRM works for me (Score:5, Insightful)
It hampers those who are really, really - REALLY - clueless and gives the *AAs the illusion of being in control. For the rest of us, it's easily broken or circumvented. Shit, I haven't paid for content in 30 years, and it's getting easier to find almost anything for free by the minute.
Re:DRM works for me (Score:5, Interesting)
I have a userscript that links directly from a web TV calendar to the Pirate Bay and RARBG search results for the show name and episode number.
I don't mind paying, but if they are going to make it hard to watch then I'll just pirate it instead. Life's too short to deal with that shit.
Re:DRM works for me (Score:5, Insightful)
And this is the main problem DRM has today. The usual course of action for content, and this is independent of the type of content, be it movies, music or games, is:
1. Buy the content.
2. Download the content.
3. Notice that it doesn't work on your device.
4. Try every workaround offered on the web.
5. Try to contact the support (note that I omit "do what the support suggests" because that course of action more often than not already ends at trying to contact them).
6. Find a crack/patch/DRM removal tool
7. Use the content.
The average user does this a few times, then he realizes that he can omit steps 1, 3, 4 and 5 without losing anything he cares about.
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Note that in this way DRM even hurts ethical creators and companies which don't use it, because users are likely to assume otherwise.
Anyone who presents something with DRM as being 'sold' needs to be prosecuted for fraud by false representation.
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How about a platform that will promote free content and urge studios to provide free content, free for the user at least.
I remember Youtube proposing to do this a while ago, before DRM. I also remember many, too many open source and free software advocates verbally and in writing denouncing the idea. So we have DRM now.
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It's not just that, DRM harms the economy in general, it reduces incentive for innovation.
Consider this, how many times have games like Sonic the Hedgehog been re-released? It's been re-released more than once for some platforms and that's just insane. It means that rather than innovate with new games and ideas companies like Sega can continue to try and resell the same game they've been selling for 20 years because DRM means those who bought it on the Genesis/Megadrive all those years ago who can't play it
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Yeah, that worries me. What if someone honest tries to get into the video business, and tries to sell a working product? All the [former] customers have been incentivized by the existing industry to have automated piracy setups. Is anyone going to look up a title and even notice "Hey, wait, the copyright holder is selling standard mp4s/mkvs, so let's find their store and buy it"? Or will it just get processed like the other 99% of video that they routinely deal with?
If the industry is ever to be recovered,
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Often you can't even buy the content, you have to subscribe to their streaming service. If there is a download option it will usually be much, much more expensive than a month of streaming.
In fact I just pirated the latest episode of Doctor Who. I have a TV licence, my TV has iPlayer, but the UI for iPlayer is painfully bad and the video quality is sub-par. I have a problem with the app too. It's just so much easier for me to grab a torrent of the Amazon release.
So even when it's "free" (TV licence excepted
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In the US, Doctor Who is even more ridiculous. Either pay $2.99 per episode on Amazon or...and this is new this year, pay $1.99/mo. introductory rate for a new streaming service that doesn't tell you what the ultimate price will be. Before that, there was no reasonable cost way to watch each episode one time. Sure to be better than iPlayer if there's a half-decent Roku app for said service.
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Is that BritBox? From what I've seen it's a load of crap.
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AMC+
Britbox has nothing I was looking for. But...well...I'm no hypocrite. I went ahead and signed up for AMC+ for $23.88 (first year promo) just for the last two episodes of Doctor Who and whatever else they have. Sending a financial message to BBC not to screw things up.
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Often you can't even buy the content, you have to subscribe to their streaming service. If there is a download option it will usually be much, much more expensive than a month of streaming.
To be fair, that is because streaming is cheap. The cost problem with streaming is that there is now a gazillion of services all wanting that payment....
Re: DRM works for me (Score:2)
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And this is the main problem DRM has today. The usual course of action for content, and this is independent of the type of content, be it movies, music or games, is:
1. Buy the content.
2. Download the content.
3. Notice that it doesn't work on your device.
4. Try every workaround offered on the web.
5. Try to contact the support (note that I omit "do what the support suggests" because that course of action more often than not already ends at trying to contact them).
6. Find a crack/patch/DRM removal tool
7. Use the content.
The average user does this a few times, then he realizes that he can omit steps 1, 3, 4 and 5 without losing anything he cares about.
To. be fair, for most people, for most content - the process of buying and using just works. If you have streaming services, you wouldn't but them if they didn't work - this applies to music streaming, as well as video streaming. As for buying and renting - you typically do this through the same device/interface as you would view it on, so it still works.
That's absolutely not saying that everything is perfect - e.g. if you bought old PlaysForSure [wikipedia.org] content from Microsoft, you lost everything when they introdu
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I don't feel it's correct that I have to break the law just to use what I pay for.
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I don't have a problem with DRM in services like Disney+ because it's inconsequential, it runs on every platform that can run a browser from the last 10 years anyway, and I buy into it knowing it's a subscription model; that I'm not buying a product to keep, I'm paying for it for a set period which I can cancel or rejoin at any time so targeting Disney+ seems dumb as fuck to me.
Where I have a problem with it is on digital purchases of stuff on stores like Steam, Playstation, Xbox, Nintendo, and on physical
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Where I have a problem with it is on digital purchases of stuff on stores like Steam, Playstation, Xbox, Nintendo, and on physical media like DVDs, Blurays etc. where I'm flat out paying full price to buy a product but treated like I'm renting it, where it can be troublesome to keep consuming indefinitely despite paying for an indefinite purchase of said product. I have a problem when I buy permanent access to a physical copy of a game but can only play it for the duration of the hardware platforms support lifetime, and attempts to allow people to fix that are shut down with laws protecting DRM.
My usual reaction is "if I'm treated like I'm renting it, I'll only pay rental prices". That is part of the reason I got out of the habit of buying early and paying full price. What I'm willing to pay is something like 10-15 Euros, on the order of what a cinema ticket would cost.
Sometimes I might pirate stuff, but more often I get older games when they are heavily discounted on Steam or Humble Bundle. For the creators that means less payment and later.
Re:DRM works for me (Score:5, Insightful)
I personally feel like streaming services are the wrong target for anti-DRM efforts anyway.
Meaning, to me the legitimate complaints against DRM is on media that you buy and obstensibly own because it ends up serving only to hamper the access of legal owners, especially as technology changes years down the road.
Streaming services, you are renting access to the service by the month/etc and no one is being tricked into thinking the contrary.
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Except we're already seeing streaming services decide to never even offer things for sale anymore. You have to perpetually rent to have access to.
Stranger Things beyond season 2, for example. Although even season 2 was a collector's release and limited print. Disney+ does not appear to be doing this yet, but I don't follow all of their content that closely.
Read Again (Score:1)
Except we're already seeing streaming services decide to never even offer things for sale anymore
Read the original post again - the point about streaming services is that NOTHING is for sale, it's all rent and you know that.
Everyone knows that you drop access when you stop subscribing, it's a really honest and straightforward arrangement. Sometimes it would be nice to actually buy media but if they don't offer that option or do so only infrequently, that's a different matter than the core streaming service
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I often don't want the tradeoff. I want to buy.
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Then vote with your wallet, and buy something that IS for sale!
Re: Read Again (Score:2)
Ridiculous (Score:2, Insightful)
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99.9% of the people apparently then have no problem with forgoing any and all kinds of privacy or security. Because as soon as you dare to not simply waive all and any shred of it, the content will not work for you. Don't want to hand us all information including shoe size? No content for you. Don't want to install our rootkit in your system? Sorry, won't run.
Re:Ridiculous (Score:4, Insightful)
The idea is that the DRM locks the content you "paid"* for behind a wall, and the key belongs to somebody else.
There are many cases of companies that either disappeared, or simply considered "too much bother" to take care of this kind of digital restriction.
Cases when the DRM made a game unplayable? Most recently, in November 9 this year, Denuvo DRM makes legitimately purchased games unplayable.
* "you paid for" - you think you bought it, but the company that took your money thinks it's rather some kind of a "we'll rent it to you for as long as we want".
This DRM extends to writings (ebooks), music, movies (weee, I bought this wonderful Guardians of the Galaxy Bluray movie in my native country of - lets say Europe, Middle East and Africa - during the Black Friday visit, let's watch it with my family during Christmas in the good ole USA... guess not, region locked)
Re:Ridiculous (Score:5, Insightful)
Except in the case of Disney+ you haven't paid for the movie itself. You pay for being able to watch it, just like with videorental or a library, the video isn't your property nor is the book.
I do agree with you on the region locked discs, but that's not what this particular instance is about.
Beside the point, and cancel culture (Score:2)
The idea is that the DRM locks the content you "paid"* for behind a wall, and the key belongs to somebody else. [The problem with DRM...]
While correct, your response is beside the point. The question was about using bad reviews to complain about DRM.
Suppose there's a show you watch and like, and a bunch of DRM bad reviews get posted, and the show is cancelled. It *might* be because the total bad-DRM reviews detracted from the show's ratings, or it *might* be because the producer knew the difference between bad-DRM reviews and actual reviews and based the decision on the actual reviews.
Does this outcome in some way further your goals? Is it e
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* "you paid for" - you think you bought it, but the company that took your money thinks it's rather some kind of a "we'll rent it to you for as long as we want".
You don't buy movies at all. What you actually buy is a license to play the movie with some restrictions. For example, said license would not allow you to play that movie for a class of 50 people. You are free to play the movie as many times as you want within the confines of the license, but that is VERY different from buying the movie.
If you bought the movie, it would be yours to do as you please, including copying it and distributing it, modifying it, and so own. The studio OWNS the movie, you ju
Silly attack. (Score:5, Insightful)
Subverting the app rating system isn't helping their cause. 1 star for a philosophical objection isn't a thing. I don't mind the drm in Netflix or Disney+. It's the price I pay for tremendous content at very low prices.
Now when I pay $29 for one movie and then I'm forced to circumvent DRM to transcode it, that's annoying. But half that per month for vast libraries, transcoding bundled on every device I own? That's a good deal.
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I'm not so sure it's "silly", but I do wonder what it's really trying to achieve.
I'm definitely on board for any Disney bashing that's going - they deserve a lot, and they get very little. However, on this point, I'm not sure what this is really about. Disney have made their own little space to show their crap, and have taken it off all the other streaming services to do it. They also gave away a year and a half of membership so we could watch their crap (which even the kids mostly ignored). Apart from some
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Subverting the app rating system isn't helping their cause. 1 star for a philosophical objection isn't a thing. I don't mind the drm in Netflix or Disney+. It's the price I pay for tremendous content at very low prices.
I'm sure that Disney will deploy a filter to knock out all the one-star reviews that cite the protest as their reason for disliking Disney content. A more effective protest would be to make an effort to find fault with some actual aspect of the content, and then cite that in the review.
This protest is the same idea as jury nullification, in which jurors blow criminal cases by deciding that the law itself is inapplicable to the case, even though the evidence would convict the defendant under the charges file
All your purchases are belong to us. (Score:1)
The day comes when you realize that in return for your money, you still own nothing.
When Disney+ kicks you off their platform, your realize that you were only sold the illusion that you owned something.
Re: All your purchases are belong to us. (Score:5, Insightful)
People don't go to the cinema because they think they own the movie
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People don't go to the cinema because they think they own the movie
Exactly. Nor do theater customers go online to complain that they can't take a copy of the movie home with them and share it with the world on Pirate Bay.
There is a simple solution to those that find the Disney+ non-free software, DRM, etc. unacceptable. Do not consume the content. Nobody is "forcing" anybody to do anything. Governments are not forcing people at gunpoint to stream Rise of Skywalker (dear god) or watch Infinity War for the 50th time. It's not even the "cable" situation where you are coe
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There is a simple solution to those that find the Disney+ non-free software, DRM, etc. unacceptable. Do not consume the content.
Thank you- I could not agree more. Why not simply boycott the service? Maybe EEF could suggest an alternative that respects out rights. I have no right to Disney's content on my own terms- I am free to ignore it. More should try this.
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There is a simple solution to those that find the Disney+ non-free software, DRM, etc. unacceptable. Do not consume the content. Nobody is "forcing" anybody to do anything.
That "solution" is a non-solution, because it means going without seeing the content. A savvy consumer will just torrent the content to get around the DRM. That's a simple solution.
Fair enough. I probably should have clarified that there is simple, legal, solution. Downloading a torrent of a pirated copy of a movie is illegal, and it is stealing. You and I may agree that DRM is bullshit, but that doesn't allow either of us to just take that content by whatever means we can, and do whatever we want with it, against the wishes of the creators of that content. Even if is an Evil Corporation.
Assume there is a restaurant that serves the best Wagyu bone-in rib eye in the state, but they
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True, though in this case, Disney+ is quite obviously a subscription/rental scheme, with no illusion that you 'purchase' your titles. A better target would be a digital video platform where you 'buy to keep' a video and it too is subject to onerous DRM that may go 'poof' if the DRM scheme goes defunct one day. Targeting streaming services that are blatantly pay to continue watching seems like a dubious choice.
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So what? The same has always been true for a cable television subscription. I'm not buying a product, I'm subscribing to a content service.
Nobody is pretending you own anything. What you are purchasing is on-demand experiences.
Mercedes GLC Coupe Review (Score:2)
1 star. Will not haul sufficient rocks for my back yard landscaping project.
Dunno what this is about (Score:2)
I illegally download movies and series from them every day, none have DRM. :-)
Disney+ is good value. (Score:5, Interesting)
From Phineas and Ferb to the Mandalorian, The Right Stuff and everything in between. The shows on National Geographic are jaw-dropping. So much great content. And here in Canada we also get Star as well, with tons of movies (Die Hard!) and Only Murders in the building.
You can also download content and watch it offline in their apps.
So convincing me, and others, that Disney+ is evil is an uphill battle, because the DRM doesn't personally affect me negatively in any way. It just works.
Re: Disney+ is good value. (Score:2)
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Great for you. Here in the frigid Nordics we get perhaps 1/10th of the content for the same price on these platforms if we can even subscribe.
Do we? I mean, on Netflix etc we have a lot less non-Netflix content - but is there such a major difference on Disney+? We also get Star as part of the Disney+ subscription in Norway, and the movies mentioned above. There's also a lot of National Geographic content.
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> Disney is evil to be sure ... convincing me, and others, that Disney+ is evil is an uphill battle
Amazing. You're actively funding evil, by your own admission, for entertainment.
Nobody should waste time convincing people in your camp because you know your fees are being used to attack the social fabric but you just don't care if there are lulz and spectacle to be had.
I raised two good highly-successful kids without giving a cent to Disney and you could too.
Having a family is a reason to demonstrate eth
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So you say they're evil yet you keep feeding them? Where's your moral compass?
Good idea, but... (Score:2)
... who do they think even reads what it is about, let alone actually does what they suggest, except those few who are already perfectly aware and knowledgeable of the problem and its consequences, i.e. long-time anti-DRM nerds?
I'm happy that much (though not, unfortunately, all) in the realm of free software works without people having to resort to 'advertising' and 'public relations' the way business economists learn it which usually amounts to professional lying, but if someone wants as many people as po
The FSF are morons. (Score:2)
Disney already clearly doesn't care about bad reviews while it flushes billions down the drain(Star Wars, Marvel Phase 4) so why would they care about a protest vote that they can point to as a reason why D+ didn't quite hit the metrics it should at the next shareholder meeting.
What's the point? (Score:2)
With an app like Disney+ the reviews are pretty much meaningless. There's only one Disney+ app, not a bunch that people can choose from based upon reviews. If I was looking for a money budgeting app, for example, there are a lot of those, and sure I'll look at reviews (among other things) to help me decide which one to get. I can't do that with Disney+.
My decision to get or not get Disney+ is based on price and what their entertainment offerings are, and that decision happens before I even go to download
naked call for abuse of a system (Score:2)
Encouraging the abuse of a rating system, complete with telling people what their opinions and ratings should be, "give them what they really deserve: a single star", puts the FSF squarely on the wrong side of the argument, where they frequently are because of RMS.
One can have a poor opinion of Disney, but FSF is not better. You want to know why RMS should get the boot? This is it. He is selfish, sociopathic and completely unethical. Of course, we knew this when GPLv3 was introduced. Time to say goodby
Just Fuck Disney (Score:2)
Sorry, Just Fuck the Rat and don't buy into it. When they stoop so low as to self-censor the Tiananmen Simpson's episode in Hong Kong [msn.com] they've gone too far down the rabbit hole of cultural domination.
The amount of content that they own represents a monopoly and necessitates a break-up under the Sherman Anti-Trust Act. [investopedia.com]
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If that's your hill to die on, well... might as well divest yourself of everything. Good luck with that.
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I find it odd that people think that a media conglomerate that owns so many franchises can do no wrong. Can anyone can tell me culturally what Disney has done to better humanity since Walt or Roy for that matter left the board under Eisner?
first world problems (Score:2)
Oh no, I can't easily port my collection of The Suite Life of Zach and Cody.
Jeepers, how do you manage to get through the day?
Again, missing the point (Score:2)
I may have rented a soapbox here before (I can't remember) about losing content like "Damien", "The Exorcist" and the void that "The Predator" comics are in due to Disnification that's done extra-casually during acquisitions.
To a far less crazed, yet on the same tone of "making content for the fans", content is being axed willy nilly by a comp
Is this true? (Score:2)
Really?
ultimately Netflix is gonna get played a lot less now
Well that sounds like a very good reason to unsubscribe. I suggest you do so, and remove that annoyance from your life.
FSF: we'd rather have no content than DRM (Score:2)
Where's that HURD release at?
The fact is, all that stuff is property, and property is stolen.
Let's put it this way: does the FSF care if someone violates the GPL or LGPL? Sure they do. Those are licenses, which by definition are putting an encumbrance on property (in this case, intellectual property).
If the FSF wanted their IP to be "free" they'd have put it in the public domain. In fact it's not "free", it is Rights Managed. Their rights management is less restrictive than a lot of content, but it's rights
Let's Give Some Credit. (Score:2)
The Disney+ application is GOOD.
I subscribed right away, and the very first time I launched an HD movie... DAMN. I have it on an Nvidia Shield, and XBox Series X, and the PC. Rock solid on all.
I even like the interface.
What the hell are we protesting here? (Score:2)
Tilting at windmills (Score:1)
I'm all for anti-DRM. This effort vs Disney is a worthless fruitless effort, completely windmill.
The corporation will honestly take it as a signal that they are doing well, if anything. "Look, all the pirates are upset. We must be doing something right."
The FSF would do better by getting creative (Score:3)
DRM sucks. We agree. However, even here in the thread there's at least a little understanding that in the context of a rental agreement, DRM is a bit more justifiable than others. If the FSF wanted to be more justified, they could try organizing a support call rally against cable companies that add broadcast flags which prevent me from using MythTV and other Free Software for timeshifting...all of which is expressly legal, with court precedent saying so. However, even the FSF doesn't give a damn about that.
Meanwhile, LibreElec and other similar projects end up being a maintenance nightmare to use *any* streaming service. Netflix barely worked when I tried it, Hulu didn't work at all, CBS All Access wasn't available, Youtube required a developer key tied to a Google Account, and the thing still tried sending audio out Bluetooth on the RasPi unless I manually changed it to the analog out every time I rebooted the unit, even after I disabled Bluetooth entirely. If the FSF wants to give Disney crap for using Widevine, fine, but it's pretty clear that sticking to open source alternatives to Roku and AppleTV and Amazon Fire Stick are expressly for the few dozen people who care about software licenses more than content.
This leaves us with the best way the FSF could fight Disney and DRM: fund an alternative. Put some developers on creating a Free Software streaming appliance. Start with a RasPi and a MicroSD image, then build up. Conjure up a way for these devices to stream Creative Commons media, maybe by seamlessly integrating torrent downloads. Make another image that can be used to handle the server components, and let the FSF and other people like me help seed the content for people to stream, or make it possible to run an AWS instance for the same. Get a browser-based frontend going, and maybe even someone willing to compromise a bit can add this channel to AppleTV and Roku and Amazon. Have one or two people handle intakes, so that content creators can submit their content to the streaming service and ensure that neither side will potentially face legal action. Run a few contests for independent creators on the platform to create incentive for producers...you get the picture.
Zero people will cancel Disney+ over DRM. Review bombing Disney will only lead to an army of Disney loyalists giving 5-star reviews because they love Star Wars or The Little Mermaid or whatever, negating what little publicity the stunt would provide. The only way to actually get Disney to listen is to get the public to listen. The last time the public "cared" about DRM was when Microsoft's Plays-For-Sure failed because it wasn't compatible with the iPod. The FSF won't win the war purely on philosophy. The only way this works is if there's a reason for the public to pay attention to the FSF, and the only way that's going to happen is by shifting their eyeballs. Reviews won't help. Another viable alternative to Disney+...also probably won't since Disney already competes with CBS and Netflix and Amazon and others...but it *might* nudge the needle a smidge with some viewership hours...IF the FSF can attract some desirable content.
Ah, that does not work (Score:2)
Disney stuff already is crap these days. How would you offer them an alternative to bad reviews?
Not a particularly compelling case here. (Score:2)
I can understand the complaints about the old DRM "purchase" scenarios, where they presented the transaction as "you're buying a copy" but what they delivered was a technologically hobbled rental that may or may not remain usable - and would likely fail in ways the consumer didn't understand. There was a lie there that needed to be exposed - companies were cheating people out of money by giving them false expectations.
And I am saddened that Public Domain has been cheated so many times. Again, there's a cl