Jack of Harts

When we buy something, it is ours, and taking it from us is theft. That is an accepted part of society and law. Anything physical at least. But what happens when we buy something digital? Can we own it? Is it truly ours?

The companies that sell these generally contend they provide access to a service that can be canceled at any time for any reason. And some companies have recently begun monitoring our social networks to see if we are “worthy” of maintaining our “access” to the services they offer. There is a big stink right now about a certain company banning a player for life from ever playing their game at sponsored tournaments, and canceling his online account where he had both purchased items and had cash value waiting in the “bank” so he could buy more in the future.

When we are denied access to something we purchased digitally, the company that does this is currently protected by law and customer agreements drawn up by lawyers that we in general had no choice but to sign before making the purchase.

They take our money, but then enshrine their ability to take back what they sold us if they choose.

Our culture is online in a way we never could have guessed even ten years ago. I remember dialing in for internet access on a personal computer that I had to wait ten minutes to turn on. Now I can pull a tablet out of my pocket and search the compiled knowledge of mankind in a few seconds.

That capability to live online and make it part of our lives did not exist ten years ago. It was a new thing five years ago. Now it is an accepted part of life. We have phones that can bring us into virtual realities where we can interact with other people.

Do our virtual avatars belong to us, or are they services offered by companies that can be denied? Should they belong to us? When does a transfer of money imply ownership rather than mere access?

If we create something in Microsoft Word or in Daz Studio, does our creation belong to us or to the company who created the software we use? Does the avatar we create in Second Life belong to us or the company? What about the characters we create inside Guild Wars or World of Warcraft? Who gets the credit for creation? Who gets ownership of our inspiration?

This is an important question we will have to answer in the very near future. And I contend that answer must lie on the side of ownership. Property rights. Digital property rights over the things we buy or create. Because as the online world becomes more real and more part of our every day lives, a lack of ownership over what we pay money for or put our time and effort into bringing alive will be seen as inherently unfair.

As wrong. As theft. As taking away a measure of our own selves.

And woe betide us all if we pick the wrong answer and things go as badly as they could…