In all of our discussions about how the digital revolution has created a system in which people don’t actually own the things they think they’re buying, I get particularly frustrated by the lack of change in it all. We’ve spilled much ink complaining that this clearly anti-consumer practice needs to be done away with, where an unsuspecting public thinks they’re buying “a thing” only to learn months or years later that “the thing” they bought was actually a license to use/view/listen to another “thing”, and that license exists at the pleasure of the company that collected the money for it. And if you want to see the lack of change or action really honed in upon, let’s take a look at Sony’s PlayStation Store.

There are three possible combinations of solutions I can think of:

1. Regulation to improve verbiage. Forbid the use of words "purchase" "buy" and mandate clearer language like, "give us money and we'll let you know when you're done."
2. Regulation to ban revocation. Probably not doable given the mess of licensing agreements and regulatory capture.
3. STOP "BUYING" THIS SHIT.

The minimum that steam shows is that even if a publisher removes the item it only means you have to stop selling it, but once you've bought it then you have a guaranteed download button.

Yarrr!