Hmmmm... interesting approach. Is the license "permission" to watch it from sony during the duration of their contract, or do I "own" the movie, but not how it's presented through Sony, in this case.

If it's the latter, copy/rip the media.

A short aside:

I have a fairly large audible account. I noticed about 10 years ago, I still have books in my queue, but I'm unable to download/listen to them. Audible explained the licence to me, told me that it should appear back in my "library" eventually but might take years (and maybe never), but here, have a free "credit" (which is basically, another free book).

Had that happen about 6 times over the last 10 years (the most recent was about a year ago. Each time, I got a credit -- and with the exception of the most recent, the book re-appeared in my library. If the pattern continues, I should have it back in my library within 2 years from when it was removed.

I can live with that.

"an awful lot of DVDs only last a decade or two."

If only there was some way to take the data on a DVD and move it to a computer. Maybe "brute force it". We could use the term "rip"!

Then backups with redundancy would turn a decade or two in to a generation or ten. ...if only...

"And that's before you consider that TikTok and Slashdot are not remotely similar in their impact on people. "

Quantify this. What is this "impact" on people, and how are you measuring it?

You can do that, right? Because if you can't you're just another moron talking about how video games and rock lyrics and D&D are corrupting the minds of our youth.

You are posting to a social media site which many of us started participating it when it started, when we were "children." Your bootlicking is pathetic.

"What is the point of having a job, when you can not live from the wage?"

Sometimes it's to buy textbooks, or make extra money on the side, or to earn money during the summer so you can spend it during the rest of the year.

It's myopic to assume that all jobs are supposed to be full-time careers.

I just want to be clear about this: you believe the American middle class is smaller/worse-off than it was in the early 1900s?

Another person who needs to read Bastiat.

Do you think it would help the middle class to bring back the requirement for people to walk in front of cars waving a lantern?

What an utterly naive interpretation of world history you have. I can assure you, if you'd been a Jew being rounded up for extermination in WW2 you'd have a different opinion. Likewise, if you were Chinese or Korean being subjugated by Imperial Japan, you'd have a different perspective. There is such a thing as a "just war" even though you somehow ignore the concept. It's usually when your opponent starts the war and is hell bent on eradicating you and your way of life.

Alas, you sit there in perfect safety and comfort, passing judgement on those who sacrificed fa more than you can ever imagine so you could impugn their sacrifices.

Banned for who? And who's going to enforce this ban?

You have to remember any treaty (a) must have signatories that agree to follow it and (b) there must be a method of enforcement. If you lack either of these two conditions, the treaty has no effect.

Not sure how you think you could pull that off, but whatever.

Again...exactly how do you plan to accomplish this? It's not like Iran hasn't been firing missiles at our carriers this whole time. Yeah, it's a halfhearted effort by the Iranians, but what exactly do you think would happen to Iran if you managed to even damage one of our carriers, much less sink one? I can describe it thusly: the American gloves would come off. Iran would be plastered into oblivion via conventional bombardment, and there's very little Iran could do to stop it. Sure, we'd take losses, but the Iranian regime would cease to exist in totality. America has had this option available to it since day one. We haven't exercised it. Not because we couldn't do it but because we chose not to. Do not mistake restraint for a lack of capability.

"If I say "all white people should die"

That is 100% protected speech, full stop, and is absolutely your right to express in a free and open society.

"I've always been pro free speech, but"

You can always just stop posting after the 'but' because it means that you are not in fact pro-free speech.

I still have my Thomas Guides!

...is to not collect the data in the first place.