It would not occur to the department manager of a supermarket or the salesman of a local store to come to your home and rummage through your cupboard or your shelves, to retrieve a 4K Ultra HD disc, a Blu disc ‑Concert Ray, a book or a video game that you would have purchased a few months/years ago… However, this is what has already happened within sales platforms for dematerialized cultural products, depriving consumers of a duly paid good .
Disappearance of dematerialized content, already several precedents
This mishap, for example, affected owners of Studiocanal films “purchased” on the PlayStation Store service in 2022. The latter were told overnight the deletion of their purchase(s) without monetary compensation or the possibility of downloading a copy of the works offline. The Amazon store is also affected with the disappearance of a book from its library…
The American magazine The Verge indicates that to prevent this situation from happening again, the State of California has enacted a new law (AB 2426) requiring online stores/platforms mentioning the term “Buy” to clearly specify the purchase can be canceled over time or if usage limitations are associated. To summarize, if it is necessary to carefully consult the general conditions of sale today to obtain this information, they must be immediately accessible from 2025.
California Assembly Member Jacqui Irwin speaks
« As retailers continue to move away from selling physical media, the need to protect consumers when purchasing digital media has become increasingly importantCalifornia Assembly Member Jacqui Irwin said in a press release. I thank the Governor for signing AB 2426, ensuring that false and misleading advertising by digital media sellers falsely telling consumers that they own their purchases becomes a thing of the past ».
It now remains to be hoped that the European community will adopt the same type of law.
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