Why Does a Plastic Disk Give Us More Consumer Rights?
Software ownership is messy — We like to think it was computers but in reality it was software that changed the world. From the very first programs of the 1970’s to the phone applications of today, it enabled a limited-use computer to have limitless potential. This in turn created a trillion-dollar marketplace that revolutionised everything.
Before the advent of the internet copies of commercial programs came pre-loaded on physical media. Cassette tapes quickly moved out of the way for both floppy discs and video game cartridges until the CD-ROM gave developers access to all the storage they could require. Customers making a physical purchase of software could equate it to every other physical product on the shelves. They paid money for it and it was theirs.
The Internet did much to upend society but it completely turned software distribution on its head. Instead of having to write their code to physical disks and pay for shelf space in a store somewhere, developers could instead offer their programs straight to consumers for an upfront fee. The expense of many of these early applications created rampant piracy which developers fought with shareware. The program could be freely distributed amongst users but only unlocked with a licence key purchased from the developer.
