{"id":37943,"date":"2025-05-07T19:00:51","date_gmt":"2025-05-07T19:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/publicknowledge.org\/?p=37943"},"modified":"2025-05-07T19:00:54","modified_gmt":"2025-05-07T19:00:54","slug":"public-knowledge-joins-16-groups-urging-ftc-to-define-digital-ownership","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/publicknowledge.org\/public-knowledge-joins-16-groups-urging-ftc-to-define-digital-ownership\/","title":{"rendered":"Public Knowledge Joins 16 Groups Urging FTC To Define Digital Ownership"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Today, Public Knowledge joined 16 other public interest, consumer rights, and library groups in a <a href=\"https:\/\/publicknowledge.org\/policy\/group-ftc-letter-on-digital-ownership\/\">letter<\/a> urging Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew Ferguson to protect consumers in the digital marketplace by establishing clear ground rules for digital ownership and sales of goods. The groups argue that \u201cownership must mean something in the digital age\u201d and that \u201cif a transaction does not include the essential rights of preservation, use, and transfer, it should not be marketed or labeled as a sale.\u201d The letter asks Chairman Ferguson to provide \u201cdefinitional clarity\u201d to bring honesty and transparency to the digital marketplace \u2013 and to restore consumer trust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The following is an excerpt from the letter:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAmericans understand ownership to mean more than mere temporary access \u2013 it means control. It means they have bought something, not leased it on someone else\u2019s terms. These expectations do not vanish when the format shifts from physical to digital. Yet today\u2019s digital platforms often advertise a \u201csale\u201d while delivering only a revocable license \u2013 without disclosing the limitations until after the purchase. This is not just a failure of transparency; it is a distortion of basic consumer understanding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cTo that end, we urge the FTC to define the term \u2018digital sale\u2019 in a way that reflects traditional ownership rights. Specifically, a transaction should only be labeled as a sale if it includes:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The Right to Use: Ownership must mean continued access and the ability to use the digital product. If a digital store closes or a service ends, users should retain functional access to their media.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The Right to Preserve: Consumers must have the technical and legal ability to archive, repair, and back up digital purchases. Ownership must allow consumers to ensure they can still access and use their stuff even after a platform ends support or the content is removed from a catalog.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The Right to Transfer: Like physical goods, digital products should be transferable. Whether by lending to a friend, leaving to children in a will, donating to a library, or reselling, consumers deserve to exercise this traditional ownership prerogative.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThese ownership rights are critical to restoring and maintaining the public\u2019s trust in digital marketplaces. Without them, Americans are paying the same or even higher prices for digital goods that can be revoked, altered, or rendered inaccessible without warning \u2013 scenarios we\u2019ve already witnessed in cases involving Sony, Amazon, and others, as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wyden.senate.gov\/news\/press-releases\/wyden-to-ftc-stop-companies-from-offering-bait-and-switch-sales-of-digital-tv-e-book-music-and-video-game-purchases\">Senator Wyden highlights in his letter<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cLet us be clear: we are not asking the FTC to require digital platforms to offer true sales. Companies remain free to license content under limited terms if they wish. However, if a transaction does not include the essential rights of preservation, use, and transfer, it should not be marketed or labeled as a sale.\u201d<br><br>You may view the <a href=\"https:\/\/publicknowledge.org\/policy\/group-ftc-letter-on-digital-ownership\/\">letter<\/a> for more information.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Today, Public Knowledge joined 16 other public interest, consumer rights, and library groups in a letter urging Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew Ferguson to protect consumers in the digital marketplace by establishing clear ground rules for digital ownership and sales of goods. The groups argue that \u201cownership must mean something in the digital age\u201d and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":122,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[12],"class_list":["post-37943","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-press-release","tag-copyright-reform"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.5 (Yoast SEO v26.5) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Public Knowledge Joins 16 Groups Urging FTC To Define Digital Ownership - Public Knowledge<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Public Knowledge promotes freedom of expression, an open internet, and access to affordable communications tools and creative works. We work to shape policy.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/publicknowledge.org\/public-knowledge-joins-16-groups-urging-ftc-to-define-digital-ownership\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Public Knowledge Joins 16 Groups Urging FTC To Define Digital Ownership\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Public Knowledge promotes freedom of expression, an open internet, and access to affordable communications tools and creative works. We work to shape policy.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/publicknowledge.org\/public-knowledge-joins-16-groups-urging-ftc-to-define-digital-ownership\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Public Knowledge\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-05-07T19:00:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-05-07T19:00:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/publicknowledge.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/pk_social_logo-2.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Shiva Stella\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Shiva Stella\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/publicknowledge.org\/public-knowledge-joins-16-groups-urging-ftc-to-define-digital-ownership\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/publicknowledge.org\/public-knowledge-joins-16-groups-urging-ftc-to-define-digital-ownership\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Shiva Stella\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/publicknowledge.org\/#\/schema\/person\/f91ba684ee6c75ffda797642f02e2f47\"},\"headline\":\"Public Knowledge Joins 16 Groups Urging FTC To Define Digital Ownership\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-07T19:00:51+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-05-07T19:00:54+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/publicknowledge.org\/public-knowledge-joins-16-groups-urging-ftc-to-define-digital-ownership\/\"},\"wordCount\":476,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/publicknowledge.org\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"Copyright Reform\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Press Release\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/publicknowledge.org\/public-knowledge-joins-16-groups-urging-ftc-to-define-digital-ownership\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/publicknowledge.org\/public-knowledge-joins-16-groups-urging-ftc-to-define-digital-ownership\/\",\"name\":\"Public Knowledge Joins 16 Groups Urging FTC To Define Digital Ownership - Public Knowledge\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/publicknowledge.org\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-07T19:00:51+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-05-07T19:00:54+00:00\",\"description\":\"Public Knowledge promotes freedom of expression, an open internet, and access to affordable communications tools and creative works. We work to shape policy.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/publicknowledge.org\/public-knowledge-joins-16-groups-urging-ftc-to-define-digital-ownership\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/publicknowledge.org\/public-knowledge-joins-16-groups-urging-ftc-to-define-digital-ownership\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/publicknowledge.org\/public-knowledge-joins-16-groups-urging-ftc-to-define-digital-ownership\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/publicknowledge.org\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Public Knowledge Joins 16 Groups Urging FTC To Define Digital Ownership\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/publicknowledge.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/publicknowledge.org\/\",\"name\":\"Public Knowledge\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/publicknowledge.org\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/publicknowledge.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/publicknowledge.org\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Public Knowledge\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/publicknowledge.org\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/publicknowledge.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/publicknowledge.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/pk_social_logo-2.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/publicknowledge.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/pk_social_logo-2.png\",\"width\":400,\"height\":200,\"caption\":\"Public Knowledge\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/publicknowledge.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/publicknowledge.org\/#\/schema\/person\/f91ba684ee6c75ffda797642f02e2f47\",\"name\":\"Shiva Stella\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/publicknowledge.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3972a3158caa1a43dc53ff01456ac66a51833e250e2f2d874bc4db9f2f93f665?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3972a3158caa1a43dc53ff01456ac66a51833e250e2f2d874bc4db9f2f93f665?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Shiva Stella\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/publicknowledge.org\/author\/shiva-stella\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Public Knowledge Joins 16 Groups Urging FTC To Define Digital Ownership - Public Knowledge","description":"Public Knowledge promotes freedom of expression, an open internet, and access to affordable communications tools and creative works. We work to shape policy.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/publicknowledge.org\/public-knowledge-joins-16-groups-urging-ftc-to-define-digital-ownership\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Public Knowledge Joins 16 Groups Urging FTC To Define Digital Ownership","og_description":"Public Knowledge promotes freedom of expression, an open internet, and access to affordable communications tools and creative works. We work to shape policy.","og_url":"https:\/\/publicknowledge.org\/public-knowledge-joins-16-groups-urging-ftc-to-define-digital-ownership\/","og_site_name":"Public Knowledge","article_published_time":"2025-05-07T19:00:51+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-05-07T19:00:54+00:00","og_image":[{"width":400,"height":200,"url":"https:\/\/publicknowledge.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/pk_social_logo-2.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Shiva Stella","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Shiva Stella","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/publicknowledge.org\/public-knowledge-joins-16-groups-urging-ftc-to-define-digital-ownership\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/publicknowledge.org\/public-knowledge-joins-16-groups-urging-ftc-to-define-digital-ownership\/"},"author":{"name":"Shiva Stella","@id":"https:\/\/publicknowledge.org\/#\/schema\/person\/f91ba684ee6c75ffda797642f02e2f47"},"headline":"Public Knowledge Joins 16 Groups Urging FTC To Define Digital Ownership","datePublished":"2025-05-07T19:00:51+00:00","dateModified":"2025-05-07T19:00:54+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/publicknowledge.org\/public-knowledge-joins-16-groups-urging-ftc-to-define-digital-ownership\/"},"wordCount":476,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/publicknowledge.org\/#organization"},"keywords":["Copyright Reform"],"articleSection":["Press Release"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/publicknowledge.org\/public-knowledge-joins-16-groups-urging-ftc-to-define-digital-ownership\/","url":"https:\/\/publicknowledge.org\/public-knowledge-joins-16-groups-urging-ftc-to-define-digital-ownership\/","name":"Public Knowledge Joins 16 Groups Urging FTC To Define Digital Ownership - Public Knowledge","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/publicknowledge.org\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-05-07T19:00:51+00:00","dateModified":"2025-05-07T19:00:54+00:00","description":"Public Knowledge promotes freedom of expression, an open internet, and access to affordable communications tools and creative works. We work to shape policy.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/publicknowledge.org\/public-knowledge-joins-16-groups-urging-ftc-to-define-digital-ownership\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/publicknowledge.org\/public-knowledge-joins-16-groups-urging-ftc-to-define-digital-ownership\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/publicknowledge.org\/public-knowledge-joins-16-groups-urging-ftc-to-define-digital-ownership\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/publicknowledge.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Public Knowledge Joins 16 Groups Urging FTC To Define Digital Ownership"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/publicknowledge.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/publicknowledge.org\/","name":"Public Knowledge","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/publicknowledge.org\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/publicknowledge.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/publicknowledge.org\/#organization","name":"Public Knowledge","url":"https:\/\/publicknowledge.org\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/publicknowledge.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/publicknowledge.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/pk_social_logo-2.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/publicknowledge.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/pk_social_logo-2.png","width":400,"height":200,"caption":"Public Knowledge"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/publicknowledge.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/publicknowledge.org\/#\/schema\/person\/f91ba684ee6c75ffda797642f02e2f47","name":"Shiva Stella","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/publicknowledge.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3972a3158caa1a43dc53ff01456ac66a51833e250e2f2d874bc4db9f2f93f665?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3972a3158caa1a43dc53ff01456ac66a51833e250e2f2d874bc4db9f2f93f665?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Shiva Stella"},"url":"https:\/\/publicknowledge.org\/author\/shiva-stella\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/publicknowledge.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37943","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/publicknowledge.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/publicknowledge.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/publicknowledge.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/122"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/publicknowledge.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37943"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/publicknowledge.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37943\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/publicknowledge.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37943"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/publicknowledge.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37943"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/publicknowledge.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37943"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}