Slashdot Mirror
Disney Sues Redbox, Hoping To Block Digital Movie Sales (marketwatch.com)
phalse phace writes: About 1 month ago, Redbox started selling through their kiosks slips of paper with codes on them that lets the buyer download a digital copy of a Disney movie.But Disney says that's a no-no and this week it sued Redbox in an attempt to stop the code sales. According to Marketwatch: "Walt Disney sued Redbox on Thursday in an attempt to stop the DVD rental company from selling digital copies of its movies. Privately held Redbox last month began offering consumers codes they can use to download a digital copy of a Disney movie. Redbox charges between $7.99 and $14.99 for slips of paper with the codes to download Disney films such as "Cars 3" and "Star Wars: The Force Awakens." That is less than those movies cost to buy and download from Apple's iTunes Store. Redbox is only offering digital copies of Disney movies because it doesn't have a distribution arrangement with the studio and buys retail copies of its discs to rent to customers. Those retail DVDs come with digital download codes."
The codes are only for use by the owner of the disc. You cannot rent, borrow, or covertly steal a code from a friend. You must be the owner of the physical disc. People that Redbox gives these codes to are not the owners; they are simply renting the disc from the true owner (Redbox). This should be open-and-shut.
I know the Supreme Court has upheld shrinkwrap licenses, but anyone with any critical thinking ability whatsoever can see how that decision was wrong.
I shouldn't post this early in the morning. The Supreme Court struck down the shrinkwrap license in the case that made it in front of them. And they were right to do so.
APK quotes people (including myself) without context and should not be trusted. Just thought you should know.
There has to be opportunity to negotiate to meet the legal "meeting of the minds" requirement.
If there's no opportunity to negotiate, there's no contract. A mere purchase is not a contract. A sale (with a bill of sale, etc.) often is.
One sided contracts hold some weight, but not much, because there's no indication that a person was informed of, understood, or agreed to the egregious bullshit hidden deep within. This is why you sign and initial multiple times on a rental agreement, purchase agreement for a vehicle, gym membership, etc. underneath specific clauses.
This is why shysty shops have a sign saying "ALL SALES FINAL" posted somewhere in view of the counter. The shop owner can spout his bullshit about how he'll treat you right, but he'll lie about what he said if you take him to court. Instead, he'll bring a photo of that sign as seen from where you stood at the counter, and a copy of the dated receipt which has similar language on the bottom / back. Proceeding with the transaction despite that clear and obvious sign and the ability to ask the shop owner about it counts. Shrink wrap licenses don't count. Printing terms on the box may count, if they're big enough and obvious enough that a person would see and read them before deciding to make a purchase.
Too this date, I've only seen small print, summary terms and conditions on the box of most products. That's not going to convince anyone that someone agreed to them.