Back to basics ...
We are talking, in the overwhelming number of cases, about software that in all practical intents and purposes has a limited shelf life. In that most software will be overtaken by the next "latest and greatest", and the old stuff is left for dust. I've still got old software going back years in dusty holes around the house. Its not high value in the great scheme of things, and when I've become tired of it, chances are so have others in the real world - therefore resale value is to say the least limited, expectations will have changed by that stage, the 'old' product will be no where near the expectations of the next buyer.
Could a case for more liberal "laws" on it be made, well for sure if you rummaged hard enough. You could create a legal case for a hamburger resale guarantee before anyone decided to buy, sure as hell I wouldnt buy someone's second hand burger whatever my "rights"
. Many people when yelling about "Rights" tend to forget or marginalise the flip side - the creator of the item. The creator has every right to lay out the conditions of use of their creation, they run a Business not a charity. If the product concerned had a Major shelf life (eg a house), then we are into a different scenario, sure as hell with the value of a house attached to the purchase decision, it needs nailing down to the floor - and more - the why's what's and wherefore's.
Should that level of precise guarantee be imposed with lower value items? Simply - No - because the more you go down that road of perfection (an impossible concept in itself) the more layers of bureaucratic quicksand is placed on the product. It gets to the stage where it becomes unviable to make it! And for what? A low cash value product that 99% were happy about in terms of "Rights" before the bureaucratic nonsense started. If the vendor made a product of poor Value (note Value, not price - there's a huge difference, in that difference is included terms of purchase) they'll go out of business, Period. The whole topic at low price point levels regulates itself in the long term. Place huge layers of regulation on low value items - then they will not be made, simple as that, and we all suffer - including the 99% who were happy in the first place and are now furious because their choice of product has plummeted !!
In the Real World I am a Business Coach, I show Business Owners how they should be working
ON the Business, not
IN the Business. I have on many occasions listened to them going through similar thoughts on games (etc) software during social non-work chit-chat. Many times I've said to a Client "Pity you didnt give that level of thought to your Business, you would have saved a lot of money by not having to pay my fees!!". I usually get sheepish grins in response.
The trend to more "Rights" is a very good thing - insane precise theoretical application to low value goods is, to put it bluntly - stupid. We all know the real world case for this - like it, buy it, hate it, dont buy it. Steal it (ie pirate it) expect to get your Butt kicked. For a fifty dollar piece of software, I suggest we all have better things to do than create a massive bureaucratic layer of "Rights" to cover every single possible twist and turn in the use of that low value product. Life's too short ..... certainly for 99% of people out there.
Regards
Zy
