E-purchases may not be all we have made them out to be

In an increasingly digitized world, where methods of purchasing content such as DVDs, music and books in a physical form are dying, other methods of purchasing these goods have sprang up in its place. Purchasing copies of books or digital copies of games and streaming music through digital content distributors like Microsoft’s eBook store, and Nintendo’s Wii Shop Channel have become increasingly common as we transition from a physical copy society to a digitized content based one.

As the purchasing of digital copies of content continues to rise, so too should the precautions taken by consumers to better protect themselves, their merchandise and their pocketbooks from the unpredictable actions of digital distribution websites.

Consumers can better protect themselves by understanding the distributors’ terms and conditions given by these distributors and by taking into consideration the pros and cons of purchasing digital content. In doing this, consumers can make better-educated decisions as to whether they want to continue to participate or tailor their digital content purchasing habits.

Purchasing digital content may appeal to people as items like e-books, music and games through online stores can prove to be convenient because purchases can be made from the comfort of one’s own home. These products stay in pristine condition as they are tucked away in an intangible forum, without any physical dangers of someone or something destroying the product, leading to the need for its replacement.

Running out of storage is not necessarily a concern because oftentimes the purchased digital content does not have to be downloaded after it has been purchased, allowing for a reduction in clutter in the home and/or storage devices, such as games consoles and tablets.

Purchasing video games through digital content distribution platforms such as Nintendo’s Wii Shop is also a method consumers may choose to help reduce their carbon footprint by sparing the production of a physical version in exchange for a digital copy.

While the pros of purchasing e-copies and digital copies of games through these distributors may seem convenient as well as promising, there are some downsides as well, these can include but are not limited to the deletion of your online account and removal of all purchased content without your permission and/or sometimes knowledge, and worst of all without a refund. Risks like these may seem unlikely, but they happen more often than expected with businesses such as Nintendo discontinuing its Wii Shop services and Microsoft removing their eBook library, taking with them customers’ purchased content.

On Jan. 30, 2019, Nintendo closed its Wii Shop Channel where Wii owners purchased and stored online games. If customers act quickly, they can still download their already purchased content onto their devices, but even that option will soon come to an end, leaving all content that hasn’t been downloaded to be deleted.

Microsoft also discontinued their e-book service April 2, 2019, and beginning July 2019, eBooks will no longer be available to read. Though consumers will receive a full refund for all eBook purchases made.

Situations such as these pose the question as to whether users really own the digital content they purchase or if, in reality, they are renting it. It also calls into question whether this is right or deceptive to the customer. When a customer purchases a game, music, movie, e-book, or any digital form of content, it should be theirs until the end of time. It is unfair to those who have spent hundreds of dollars on digital content for it to be revoked with short notice and, in some cases, without a refund.

These customers could have been better off purchasing physical copies guaranteed to be theirs forever for probably the same price. Downloading a backup copy to a home external drive when possible to act as a precaution for consumers should be clearly expressed, and not in just fine print, in case a corporation decides to close its e-stores so that all customers who purchased content will either have a reasonable time to download content or receive a 100 percent refund regardless of the timeframe of when the content was purchased.

Because customers cannot control the decisions made by these digital content distributors, it is in their best interest to take efforts to protect themselves such as downloading content as backup whenever possible and/or paying attention to the fine print to determine if in fact the content is being purchased, rented or subscribed.