The Quiet Theft: How Digital Ownership Became a Revocable License
The Quiet Theft: How Digital "Ownership" Became a Revocable License
Eight days ago, California became the first state to fight back.
On January 1, 2025, California's Assembly Bill 2426 took effect, requiring companies to clearly disclose when consumers are obtaining a revocable license rather than ownership. The law emerged directly from a pattern of high-profile content revocations that exposed how "buy" and "purchase" buttons mask temporary access.
The Pattern
March 31, 2024: The Crew Vanishes
Ubisoft shut down The Crew's servers, citing "server infrastructure and licensing constraints." The 2014 racing game became completely unplayable—not just the online features, but the entire game. Days later, Ubisoft began revoking licenses from players' accounts. The game files disappeared from libraries. No refunds. No downloads. No recourse.
In November 2024, two California players filed a class action lawsuit. Ubisoft's response: players had a "limited license" and "shouldn't have expected to own the game forever."
December 2023: Sony's Discovery Purge
Sony announced that over 1,300 seasons of Discovery content—Mythbusters, Deadliest Catch, How It's Made—would be removed from PlayStation libraries on December 31, 2023. Content that users had purchased, not rented. The announcement offered no compensation, no explanation of licensing failures, no apology.
The backlash was immediate. Sony quietly walked it back, announcing "updated licensing arrangements" that granted access for "at least 30 months." Translation: users got a stay of execution, not ownership.
2025: Audible Under AB 2426
A class action lawsuit filed in 2025 alleges that Audible violates California's new Digital Property Rights Transparency Law. The claim: Audible advertises that consumers can "buy" audiobooks, but actually provides a "limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable license" that Audible can revoke at any time.
Audible's Terms of Use confirm this: "We don't guarantee that content will always be available for re-download."
The Legislative Response
AB 2426, signed by Governor Newsom in September 2024, went into effect January 1, 2025. Companies must now:
- Provide a complete list of license restrictions and get consumer acknowledgment that they're purchasing a license, not ownership, OR
- Include a "clear and conspicuous" statement that the item is a license, with access to full terms.
Violations constitute a misdemeanor with civil penalties.
Exemptions exist for:
- Subscription services where access duration is explicit
- Free digital goods
- Digital goods the seller cannot revoke (e.g., permanent downloads)
What Changed
The law doesn't grant ownership. It mandates honesty. Companies can still sell revocable licenses—they just can't call it "buying."
Physical media remains the only path to permanent access. Self-hosting is the only guarantee against remote deletion. AB 2426 is damage control for a system designed against consumers.
But it's a start.
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