New Law Forces VitalSource To Tell The Truth About 'Lifetime' Licenses

[@dgo4490]

You don't get to say what others get to say, regardless of who's wrong and who's right. Lifetime warranty refers to the product line lifetime, this means if it is still available, they replace it for you. It has nothing to do with your lifetime or that of the company. Why in the world would anyone offer such a warranty? There is no legal requirement and zero commercial incentive. A product's warranty can well exceed the lifetime of the purchaser in many cases, does this means that the people who inherit his property should automatically lose their "lifetime warranty", or are you keeping that as a future cause for complaining in another video... Now you could demand for clear definition of each product lifetime, as per the definition of the company that manages that cycle, and users can then make an informed decision if the product line lifetime expectation matches their own requirement. That's the only thing that's missing to make it fair and square.

[@rossmanngroup]

i usually don't do ad hominem but idgaf, are you actually this fucking stupid ??? this isn't a warranty, it's about the length of time the product will function. in this case, the product is a glorified epub file. a textbook. textbooks made from tree bark have survived through wars, i'm sure a pdf file can make it past a few years if a company wanted it to. when you bought a book you used to own it, the access couldn't be revoked. we live in a time when access actually CAN be revoked... for a BOOK, that you bought as a "PURCHASE." Companies are now using the term "LIFETIME" to differentiate themselves, as if they do not take part in these practices - only to put in the fine print that they take away your property after a few years. We get to say others aren't allowed to lie in their advertising. If my website says an atten 862 is $199.99 I can't bill you $300 when you show up to buy it - that's called _LYING_ & there are laws against false advertising because you can't have a free market when people can pull things out of their ass when describing their product. _""_ Why do you defend this shit? people like you are why we have the world that we do. you accept getting fucked in the ass and then have a bone to pick, calling anyone who doesn't like someone else's dick in their long intestines _"future cause for complaining"_ a book's lifetime used to mean from someone grabbing it out of the library of alexandria to 2025. now it can mean a few years. or less. stop defending this.

[@Gamebuster]

Literally has nothing to do with warranties. It's referring to a license.

[@RiversJ]

You get imprisoned just for trying that shit in civilized countries and here you are defending practices that fly in the face of any reasonable interpretation of language and acceptable business practices over millennia, why the fuck would you ever do that if you aren't either A a scammer yourself or B wallstreet corpo bootlicker

[@mammutMK2]

If someone offers a warranty, it needs to include hard facts and not rubber definition...if they offer lifetime, it means the lifetime of the human that actually purchased the product or the company goes down If lifetime means the availability of the product, what happens if the product is EOL Three weeks later: "thank you for purchasing the XYZ for 4999$ at December 16 th 2024, sad to hear that it had a defect January 5th 2025, but we need to inform you it went EOL January first and your warranty expired by that date. We need to inform you that a repair is not possible due to the main component being destroyed, your product will get disposed of properly. As we are focusing on customer satisfaction we can offer you a 10% discount on our new product. Please reply to this email within 15 min to accept our offer " If a company has 10 years, why not write 10 years, if its 25 years write 25 years....why call it a lifetime

[@nicholasmoffett4327]

You are correct that "Lifetime" should refer to the lifetime of the product, and that is generally the common interpretation and implementation across companies. However, the issue here is that the lifetime of the media being sold _is_ or at least _should be_ the lifetime of the customer. If a company is offering "permanent content download" under a "lifetime license," it should be safe to assume that the content does not depend on the company's existence and support upon being downloaded. Not to mention, the particular "Lifetime License" wording in this context is paralleling existing lifetime licenses for other _digital_ media, like what used to be offered for Microsoft Office and other paid programs that were _actually_ usable for life.

[@soliniv1411]

Judge: I sentence you to lifetime behind bars! Criminal: Cool, thats only about 5 years typically

[@Soapy-chan]

You laugh but in Germany and probably other countries too, lifetime sentences last only 25 years

[@rossmanngroup]

I had this weird daydream where we lived in an alternate reality where luigis would get a lifetime sentence that matched the meaning of the word lifetime for that CEO's company. something I covered the other day where "lifetime" meant four months. ..... This is what happens when you binge watch six seasons of Black Mirror in five weeks.

[@pinkpanther8427]

​@@Soapy-chan yes and no, because depending on the Felony you can absolutely face a lifetime sentence in the meaning of the word. Its called "Sicherheitsverwahrung" - means they will lock you up even after the primary sentence is over, when you are still a threat to the public

[@schwingedeshaehers]

that totally depends. in Germany it means at least 15 years, and than it will reevaluated. and there is the option for "Sicherheitsverwahrung" after it, iirc​@@Soapy-chan

[@ElGoogKO]

even better one: judge: this heinous criminal is sentenced to 3 lifetimes in prison criminal: ends of old age, serving the punishment society of people with functional brains asking the judge: so his first life time is served, what's next? do you keep his rotting body in the cell for +100 more years to serve the remaining lifetimes????

[@havenbastion]

Saying in big bold letters "free", and in tiny little hidden print "free means not free" is not sufficient.

[@rossmanngroup]

Putting the propaganda in all caps on page 1 and the truth on page 26 with tiny font is bs

@@rossmanngroup It's like "satisfaction guaranteed or your money back" means to them that if they are not satisfied with your money they will give it back to you. If only I could pay them with Confederate money.

[@RalfPinkaire-f7w]

It does if there's a capital F. Could be "Free Software" as in FOSS.....

[@MonkeyJedi99]

If you have actual Confederate US currency in decent condition, it is worth more than many think. Me, I would pay in Monopoly money.

[@clintmatthews3500]

We need a law where the largest most prominent statement wins. Fine print should not be able to negate or redefine what’s said in the marketing

[@TheCommentSectionComedian]

I love how clever Berry is. She didn't have to say a single word to let us know that companies lying about lifetime licenses are total assholes.

[@Doc.BlackWolf]

wow, i didn't know the average lifespan of a human being was only 5 years. The audacity of these companies i swear

[@cheeseburgermonkey7104]

we going back to crab with this one 🦀

[@nobodycares85]

Depends on the human😅

[@patthewoodboy]

theres a David Bowie song about this

[@nobody8717]

over 70 million people over the past 50 years in the US have had an average lifespan of less than 0 years. if you average it out, it makes sense, i guess.

[@JohnADoe-pg1qk]

Should be applied on their management.

[@downbeatrhyrhm]

if you revoke my access to my lifetime purchase i want a legally guaranteed full refund

[@johanmetreus1268]

AND compensation for the time you did NOT get to use of the lifetime purchase.

[@hubertnnn]

@@johanmetreus1268 A refund would be enough to make companies actually respect "lifetime" claims. Though a fine (instead of a compensation) for breaching the terms of contract (revoking lifetime access) might not be a bad idea either, especially if it was government fine, then they will have to pay even for copies of product that customer no longer use and/or forgot about.

[@Terran.Marine.2]

With interest and penalties for the b. S.

[@BellCube]

​@@hubertnnn The problem with just a refund is that it doesn't account for the downtime it takes to switch programs in, say, an industrial setting. Let's say Adobe decides to sell a lifetime license to all of Creative Cloud for $40,000 USD (a price I'm sure Adobe could get behind, the scumbags). Then, 20 years later, they take down the licensing servers. I might get my $40,000 back, but that's worth closer to $18,400 because of inflation, and now I have to introduce a week of delay to my business clients who already paid for their designs. I'm a high-profile designer with some big repeat clients, so that reputational harm and delay in work was about $60,000 in damages. A full refund isn't enough to compensate for that. You have to cover the damages, not just the cost of the program.

[@hubertnnn]

@ I was thinking more about end customers than business. A business could just sue them for losses caused by breaking the contract and recover those losses in court. For a normal customer its usually not worth (due to high lawyer prices).

[@mizorenight3851]

Company just casually drops that if you buy their product, you will TYPICALLY have 5 years left to live.

[@DeutscheStrande-gl5xi]

@@mizorenight3851 It seems like this is a fortune teller company

[@breakendnb]

I think they will be kind enough to offer you another 5 years if you agree to extend your lifetime license!

[@fatespiker]

They send assasins in year 4.

[@amicaaranearum]

New California health disclaimer just dropped.

[@Dragon99GID]

Imagine a new law, where if a "lifetime" purchase or buying something is taken away by the company down the track, you are legally allowed to do a chargeback through your bank. That would stop this BS in its tracks.

[@saddane6897]

Its funny how termonology is used (or abused) sometimes, alot of comsumer Ram is litterally sold with LIMITED lifetime garanties, which is mostly 10 years. This termonology is spot on, as the lifetime mentioned here is actually related to the item itself, eg its considered as the lifetime norm of the Ram, you get 10 years usage or a free replacement in case of issues. But yeah if you want to put a limit on a license, its gonna be a hard sell to get anyone to understand the relation to "lifetime", unless you got a similar pre-stated EOL of say 10-20years, even calling calling it a limited lifetime license would be offensive to most xD

[@Mecharambu-dq6ib]

...allowed to do a chargeback through your bank. FOR A LIFETIME🎉

[@rodh1404]

What you'd get then is companies started solely for a particular product, and there would be no money left in the company to make chargebacks against. What would be better IMO is if a company does not support a product for the length of time it claims it will, the software in question should become public domain. That includes companies that sell "lifetime" licences to products that then change the terms of what a "lifetime" is.

[@erik_dk842]

@@rodh1404 When asbestos "Eternit" roof tiles were replaced with asbestos-less products, the replacement only lasted ten years. Danish Eternit re-organized and left a hollow shell company as the legal owner of the product and the 100's of millions in claims from homeowners with crumbling roofs. The billions in assets were transfered to a new company, which couldn't be sued.

[@gianthairypanda]

Companies should not be able to redefine everyday language unless they call it out on their branding. We need laws to stop people from redefining every word under the sun.

[@DeutscheStrande-gl5xi]

@@gianthairypanda panda has been redefined as a cat

[@hubertnnn]

@DeutscheStrande-gl5xi Snail has been redefined as a fish. Carrot has been redefined as a fruit.

[@erik_dk842]

A woman was redefined to also mean a dude with a penis and a beard.

[@DeutscheStrande-gl5xi]

@ that’s true, but they cannot redefine the language based on gaslighting …you are accepting their BS

[@TheBigExclusive]

This happened to me with my car GPS. I was promised "Lifetime Map Updates". Turns out the manufacturer redefined the word "lifetime" to mean only 2 years after purchase. After that, the map update service refused to give me updated maps for my GPS unless I paid for them.

[@Biru_to]

“Lifetime” referring to “lifetime of the product or service” as defined by us, arbitrary, with the ability to be changed whenever we feel like it.

[@johnsmith8981]

Same thing here. It's crazy that I can use Android Auto to use maps through my phone but if I use the built in GPS it wants me to pay to update.

[@rodh1404]

"Lifetime Map Updates" isn't quite the same as "Free Lifetime Map Updates", although maybe that's what you meant to write. I can certainly see a company offering lifetime updates if you're willing to pay whatever price they demand.

[@mammutMK2]

Hyundai and kia offers free (im not sure if they included the term lifetime) map updates over DIY. Even with the term lifetime, not offering any updates 12 years after EOL (didn't saw a new one Last year for my gen1 unit, haven't checked this year yet) for the old Gen nav units, it is still acceptable , as the latest update is still available on their servers and anyone that did not performed an update yet can still do it.

[@erik_dk842]

Time to sail the high seas, as I always did when I used Garmin.

[@FenriUnlisted]

"I would love to hear who disagrees with this law". I bet the new head of FTC disagrees with it

[@Freddisred]

The problem is quite simple: you assumed they meant a human lifetime when clearly they meant the lifetime of a rodent or guinea pig, an honest mistake.

[@budderguy2128]

Should have read the fine print, that’s on uou

[@DeutscheStrande-gl5xi]

@@Freddisred are you a Guinea-pig phobe?

[@DeutscheStrande-gl5xi]

@@budderguy2128 I don’t think they need the fine print when they define a life span as 5

[@Biru_to]

⁠@@budderguy2128should’ve put “five years” on the tin then, instead of “lifetime”

[@LawernceSimmons]

*I would ONLY expect that IF I were paying in rodent money!*

[@deathsyth8888]

If "buying" isn't "owning" then "stealing" isn't "theft".

[@scottb721]

Especially if they're stealing your item back

[@TallulahSoie]

Five finger discounts are all the rage in California. I guess they don't like those TV and banana contracts either.

[@SpaceTheAge]

3:25 Gotta love "Use of the term Ownership does not imply any transfer of ownership." Thanks Sony!

[@DeutscheStrande-gl5xi]

@@SpaceTheAge they meant to say that the word ownership doesn’t really mean ownership

[@deltamico]

A difference without a distinction

[@llydrsn]

I installed once a comic book app where I can purchase whole comic books that I can read via the app. After a couple of years, I think the publisher sold the rights to their titles to another online company and all their library will be accessible via the new owners' app. The good thing with them, they sent emails to those subscribed and gave us a link to pdf versions of the comic books we purchased - plus a few more for free. Too bad that gesture is more of the exception than the rule.

[@Jirodyne]

Courts have ADMITTED constantly that NO ONE Reads the ToS/Eula. So why would they legally be allowed to REDEFINE and CHANGE the meaning of words, and HIDE that in the ToS/Eula, to literally TRICK and FALSELY ADVERTISE the Product?

[@dahlia695]

Someone in Texas agreeing with a law in California. Hell has officially frozen over from all the cold air being blown in from the flying pigs.

[@rossmanngroup]

good is good, sensible is sensible, i don't care who came up with it. who out there disagrees that if a company sells you something or calls it lifetime that they have to honestly disclose if they intend to take it away from you later 18 months later with no refund? this is the most common sense thing that keeps people from being cunts.

[@o-hogameplay185]

@@rossmanngroup it would be fun if they just take the leaders of say 10-20 companies that are doing this crap the most, give them a sentence of 5 years in prison, and then after the sentencing redefine it to life without parole

[@EvenTheDogAgrees]

@@rossmanngroup Ah, misquoting Thumb Wars again? The "ackshual" quote is: "Bad is bad. Good is good. Bad bad good, bad. Good good bad good, bad... Good."

[@jasondrummond9451]

The Cold Air is being sent by pissed off Canadians who think that a country that sent their troops to die in Afghanistan, at American request, should not be hammered with a 25% tariff for the crime of existing - while a sworn enemy - China' gets off with 10%. Canada has a population of 41 million - and the Orange Smeghead thinks that 'somehow' we should buy the same amount of 'stuff' as a country of 360 million.

[@tyrsia]

I learned that Blackberry is in charge.

[@higihups]

I can see the small print already: "Lifetime" is defined as the lifetime of our office hamster. They last, usually 3 to 5 years. As it would be cruel to keep just one hamster alone, we also introduced a snake, so it has company.

[@dogoonubs997]

This is awesome that someone is finally forcing them to fix this. Now, all we just need to do is convince VitalSource to make their product not absolute hot garbage in every other aspect! Yeah, I'm a salty college student, how could you tell?

[@Mueller3D]

"Lifetime of the company" doesn't necessarily mean much either, given how easily companies can be dissolved and recreated. Big companies will just start selling products through subsidiaries that can be deleted and recreated as needed.

[@hubertnnn]

All you need is to count the life of parent company. The same way as copyrights are being transferred, responsibility for "lifetime support" should be transferred together with those copyrights. So if a product looses support due to company dissolvement, then the product itself should became public domain.

[@rodh1404]

@@hubertnnn Exactly. If the company wants to sell a "lifetime" licence and can't live up to that claim for whatever reason, then making the software public domain is the best outcome.

[@NoMoreBsPlease]

Harbor freight did it too! "Lifetime means the lifetime of the product."

[@ians5337]

I think that might mean "until you wear it out" in that case, rather than it's production life. Like, impact sockets will get rounded out if you're hammering away on lug nuts every day for a few months and you'll have to replace them routinely, but if a chunk breaks off because of a casting defect that'll be covered. That's always been my interpretation of that phrasing anyway

[@james50d]

Letting companies go for the lifetime of the company will just lead to companies spimming up a new sub brand every time they want to launch a new scam.

[@raketensven3127]

Yep, it's the same with 'tax optimization'.

[@hubertnnn]

That's already happening. Though some countries have protection against it in form of laws like "If you owned a company that went bankrupt you cannot start a new one for x years", or "if a company went bankrupt and is still owing people money, then the owner has to pay that money from his personal funds", though those are very rare.

[@MaliceTheCommentator]

Another way they get around 'lifetime' is by renaming the company, therefore the lifetime was for the OLD company, this new company, despite doing the EXACT same thing, is not /that/ company.

[@deltamico]

At least now they cannot build a brand

[@naota2k3]

This happened to me. I bought ebooks for my BA of science. I didn't know the license was for 5 years. I logged in recently and it was gone. about 20 techncial books accumlated over the course of 4 years of college gone. Talk about a swift kick to the nads!. Digital ownership sucks

[@KratostheThird]

You don’t own anything digital.

[@Biru_to]

@@KratostheThird​​⁠ Owning a perpetual license to the digital book is way more similar to owning a physical book than you might think. You don’t own the IP, etc, either for a physical book, but you can read it whenever you want.

[@mjc0961]

Digital ownership doesn't suck. DRM sucks. Demand DRM free digital files.

[@naota2k3]

@ I own multiple Cisco Press Books and I am able to access them anytime anywhere. They offer multiple ways of allowing me to access the files from Pub Format, to PDF, to other formats. IT sucks that I paid so much for my education and I cant access the training material I needed for future studying and referencing. F*** VitalSource.

[@KratostheThird]

@ If you have a physical book you read it as many times as you want. With an eBook, a corporation or organization has the right to take it away from you. Corporations cannot physically alter physical books, DVDs, games, etc. The big problem is the garbage they put on these DVDs and games, so they're not as safe as people think. There is also a timer on a lot of DVDs, so eventually, you won't be able to play them. If I have a Steam account I run the risk of having all my digital games taken away because I got banned from the platform or whatever. Not only do I lose my access permanently, I also have to repurchase the same games if I want to play them again. PC gamers have no other choice except either to do that or sail the high seas. Someone also notified me that a scene that I uploaded from the film Anger Management has an altered line when you watch it on Amazon Prime. Which again, points to physical DVDs being the proper choice if you don't want something to be altered. As long as they don't hit that timer.

[@homesteadhelper9126]

It's like the calculus textbook that has skipped steps and occasional incorrect answers necessitating a new book with different skipped steps and different incorrect answers.

[@ChristopherWoods]

Ah, I get it - nowadays "lifetime" is to "perpetual" licensing as "unlimited" is to "uncapped" in a broadband bandwidth quota sense... We went through a dark period in the UK where all broadband had usage caps but were sold as unlimited. Only massive consumer pressure and eventually Advertising Standards Agency rulings changed this dodgy practice. Other dark patterns and shady marketing like 'lifetime' actually meaning 'support lifespan of the version of the software, not your lifetime' needs to be eliminated by legislation and sueballs ASAP. Great work on continuing to call shoddy businesses out.

[@Holycurative9610]

I've just left a comment about BT and their unlimited broadband several years ago where unlimited meant until they think you've had enough internet then they cap your usage. The ASA sided with BT when I complained about false advertising but eventually they were forced to stop this shady practice when enough people complained.

[@MrJakeTucker]

I'm in the UK and was just about to make a post about the same thing.

[@MrJakeTucker]

@@Holycurative9610 I fell out with BT at least 10/15 years ago after being with them since the early 1990s. I won't go into why simply because it would be a wall of text. I went to Plusnet. I've phoned them 2 or 3 times with a problem and they were great. I'm on my own with copper 20Mb unlimited. It's fine for me.

[@BunkerSquirrel]

I can’t think of another state that has done more good for consumer advocacy than California.

[@KratostheThird]

It’s a failed state.

[@obscure.reference]

and they still cant save enough water to put out a fire

[@DeutscheStrande-gl5xi]

@@BunkerSquirrel yeah the gulf of Mexico should be renamed the gulf of California

[@apocalypse487]

​@@KratostheThird less so than most southern states. Would be nice if they actually educated their people instead of calling anyone educated elitist while thinking power hungry billionaires are friends

[@Biru_to]

@@obscure.reference The amount of available water is not the issue, they’re next to the fucking sea. It’s people and equipment.

[@itusvirus]

That companies get to change the meaning of words is absurd. Those companies should be heavily fined for these practices

[@AOLAmericaOnline]

I will say when I lived in California… I had the most privacy laws I’ve ever had. Used to get special prompts and things when I lived there

[@AdamBrusselback]

Cali may have a huge NIMBY problem, and likely a few more regulations than id really like for things I would deem 'silly'...but the state does seem to care about the general well-being of its citizens a whole lot more than others in the union. That includes things like privacy rights and other consumer protections that businesses may not like. Always a trade-off, but I wish more states would care about the citizens like California rather than just about always falling on the side of corporations trying to screw you over.

[@zeanyt2372]

A bare minimum, at bear freaking minimum, lifetime means the lifetime of the product. If you haven't taken it off shelves, It's still it's lifetime. I love how the corporations are pissing on our backs and telling us it's raining...

[@KratostheThird]

Pretty soon they will be telling us the sunshine is bad and we need to be “inside”.

[@DeutscheStrande-gl5xi]

@@zeanyt2372 they want to save water to reach their ESG goal

[@Gigaheart]

Then they will just obsolete them faster. Truth of the matter is, we need laws and regulations that force companies to support their products a guaranteed number of years.

[@zeanyt2372]

@@Gigaheart I love that you want the system to work. But it doesn't work without outside pressure. We want change. We need to support competition from smaller and more ethical organizations. They're never going to step up to the plate otherwise.

[@quancena5772]

There's absolutely no way anyone would be against a law like this???

[@can_with_beans]

Your cat's name is Blackberry? That's so cute. Blackberry is so cute.

[@InPhillyWeTrust]

He also has a cat named Mr. Clinton and Oreo as well!

[@TheChaoticWolf]

It's an adorable name

[@DeutscheStrande-gl5xi]

Imagine if blackberry, the Canadian company sends him a copyright claim on his cat 🤣🤣

[@amicaaranearum]

@@InPhillyWeTrust Plus a cat that doesn’t live there, but you hear him talking to/about him on screen.

[@raspucin70]

In bold letters: "LIFETIME USE". In small letters: "implying a lifetime is of a gnat in a lit furnace."

[@andriessalm]

Next time they will raise the licence fee by redefining the dollar. 🙃

[@DeutscheStrande-gl5xi]

@@andriessalm they will say the dollar does not necessarily mean 1 dollar but 5 dollars and has a lifespan of 1 day so you pay 5 dollars everyday 🤣

[@Biru_to]

@DeutscheStrande-gl5xiI I mean, they already made everything in subscriptions, so we’re well underway

[@hubertnnn]

They will redefine the constitution, so they wont need to follow the law.

[@Terran.Marine.2]

That's the Fed pulling that particular horseshit

[@DeutscheStrande-gl5xi]

@@hubertnnn hellooooo…that’s what lobbyists are for..

[@isaiahbriggs2093]

Has Futo considered making an open source translation app so people who don't speak the same language can have a conversation without Google spying on everything? It would also help you expand things like the keyboard to more markets.

[@AngieDeAguirre]

I guess you never used deepl, then?

[@unlimitedpancakes]

I guess you can’t simply suggest something without being an ass

[@canaconn2388]

​@@unlimitedpancakesThat's being an ass?

[@AngieDeAguirre]

@unlimitedpancakes ?

[@TheLordDragon666]

We grunted, waved, then words took flight, Grammar came and picked a fight. Now we chat, we text, we tweet- And TOS rewrites every word we speak!

[@FINNIUSORION]

someone needs to write this law as an executive order and slip it in front of trump while he's on one of his executive order signing spree's.

[@erik_dk842]

If he did, his opponents would all be against it, just out of spite.

[@Syndicate._]

I’m waiting for sponsorblock to skip the first minute of the video

[@rossmanngroup]

:'( blackberry is never this active, she has lumbosacral disease at 15 years old which has made her even more lethargic. & she's been crazy active the past 3 days out of nowhere. she never jumps on the chair to be on camera; even before she got that disease. she's adorable. 99% of the time, clinton is the kitty on the chair. he's an asshole. she's much nicer. :) i hope they let the kitty stay. *mark me as filler instead! the kitty is more important.* sponsorblock, you get an unlimited amount of shoutouts from now until the end of time, if you be nice to the kitty.

[@InPhillyWeTrust]

They better now!!! I fucking love the cat content on here!!!

[@snowballeffects]

Mr Clinton - If you please 😂

[@SethCohn23]

Highlight of the video!

[@ajsajs7451]

@@rossmanngroup you had 2 cats this whole time?!

[@Justin-dz2oo]

Thanks for all you do Louis!!!!

[@TYGod2011]

Good to see BlackBerry being BlackBerry. Keep up the info spreading Louis! It's appreciated.

[@patrickfutato6555]

I can see it now. Every item I buy will have a disclaimer on the package that says “This product my contain language that is known to have a different meaning in the state of California.”

[@lilalawrence1453]

A fun fact that’s both hilarious and terrifying: I’m in grad school marriage and family therapy and our textbook on ethics and the law is a Pearson product and comes with a helpful myLab Counseling homework system. My school thankfully does not use this but I cannot imagine a more perfect encapsulation of the issue with textbook companies than Pearson having the audacity to produce a standardized homework platform to teach future therapists about how to make ethical decisions. I already had major concerns in my undergrad with my lab for things with correct answers like math or physics. The main focus of therapeutic ethics courses is how to navigate complex situations with no clear answers and engage in conversation to view things from multiple perspectives. This feels like something so absurd it would be cut from the first draft of a comedy skit.

[@NATESUCKSATGAMING]

I hope we federalize this idea and every corrupt company has to hire hundreds and hundreds of lawyers to go back through their terms of service word for word and make sure it's perfect

[@billy65bob]

The "lifetime" products I have purchased have defined it as whichever comes first between my inevitable demise and a term of 99 years. Don't think I'll have a problem with that unless we figure out how to live substantially longer...(or the company goes under. They did charge about 5 years of their normal service upfront.

[@mattyb7736]

My dad left ne a snap on ring spanner set that he bought back in the 1970's with a " lifetime" warranty. I inherited it when he passed. I broke one of the ring ends and made a claim from snap on. They honoured it, i have one new shiny spanner in the set now.

[@rodh1404]

I'd like to see the term "lifetime" banned from being used in these licences altogether. Instead, every software publisher must state the minimum length of time they will support the software for, the date that support will be calculated from, and the minimum length of time you will be able to download and activate the product. If the product has an online component, then they will also need to state when the online component will be guaranteed to work until. If the publisher is unable to comply with their commitment, then the software should be immediately considered to be public domain and anyone can copy and/or modify the software in any way they want.

[@dima13693]

2:41 no blackberry, you're doing well. It's only a matter of time until louis becomes a talking cat head.

[@DeutscheStrande-gl5xi]

@@dima13693 you think cats don’t speak? They actually do have their language and they are very vocal.. don’t believe me? Try talking to a cat

[@ArtistiqueMusic]

0:37 CAT BUTTHOL

[@paulanderson9650]

Yep! There it is!

[@DeutscheStrande-gl5xi]

“Even cicadas live longer than this.” Their new vision

[@LanceThumping]

It should be a federal law that all language used has to have the majority/common meaning. You can't just redefine a word to mislead people. These are the same sorts of people as those who want to redefine consent with a little pill.

[@trustavidity]

To rephrase the common sentiment: If purchase doesn't mean transfer of ownership, pirating doesn't mean infringement of property.

[@Nullpersona]

Add to that list of words not allowed in contracts, product names, advertising, or companies; "Federal", "State", "County", "Municipal" or any other terms that falsely imply officialdom. Only official and exclusive parts of a governmental organization should be able to use terms that are specific to their operations. This would include financial institutions.

[@Hell_On_Gaming]

My lifetime purchase of Russian 1-5 from Rosetta Stone in 2015 that they stopped supporting in 2019. I tried to redownload it the other week, but I was offered a discount on the new improved version... .n.. ..n. "At Rosetta Stone, we're excited to be working with you every step of the way as you learn your new language and work towards conversational proficiency. We're dedicated to your success!" I guess they weren't lying if you consider my money a representation of my success...

[@tom.m]

Sounds like they should sell a Rosetta Stone course for the Rosetta Stone contract.

[@bartkomedy]

I remember when I sold luggage, the "Lifetime" warranty for defects in materials and workmanship was the "lifetime of the luggage," or roughly 10 years (not our or our company's decision, that's the wording of the manufacturers,) and once you go on more than a few trips on an airplane with a piece of luggage it becomes harder and harder to determine whether or not the warranty covered it. The repair guy we went to usually said it was under warranty, he was cool. We did sell a brand that was fully lifetime, and they still honored their pieces after over 20 years, but they were more expensive so most people never wanted them/could afford them.

[@katycatjulius]

Happened with ultraviolet as well, it is completely shut down meaning anything you owned on there can't be watched anymore. I understand that it shut down as it was a literal nightmare just to watch one of your movies/films on there just because of all the DRM requirements

[@lerkzor]

6:18 "When I buy something - and I own it - that means you can't take it away from me". - stares in irritated Rossmann - mic drop

[@c1ph3rpunk]

I’ll bump the stand. Fine. I’ll push it. Ok. I’ll eat the cord. Ya asked for it now.

[@nbcosta]

Rossmann is the consumer paladin

[@Flexin010]

Yup. I live in California and when you buy a game from steam, it tells you when you buy it, “you don’t own it” when you click “buy”. I don’t buy games from steam any more.

[@RedRavenNine]

CA also does a lot of stuff with cancer causing stuff on labels. If they think it may cause cancer or mess with pregnancy it goes on the label. Now seems the whole country might actually care about what goes in their body.... probably not, but at least they will now know better.

[@Draknfyre]

Prop 65. It's actually hurt more people than its helped. The warning is put on everything, even things not remotely related to cancer, or other health issues as a CYA for the manufacturer because California incentivized consumers reporting companies for violations (i.e. not marking a product that should be) by giving out rewards for reports. So companies just started sticking it on everything, which led to most people ignoring it as nonsense, which in turn completely defeats the purpose of having a warning to begin with.

[@KratostheThird]

@@Draknfyre CA has been a garbage fest for the past 30 - 40 years. Newsom and his cohorts are evil.

[@rossmanngroup]

my chair has a notice on it that it may cause cancer. prop 65 stickers are the same as online ads to me, my brain has learned to ignore it. if you put it on specific foods, i get it... but how is my chair going to give me cancer?

[@ThrawnFett123]

California has plenty of problems, but even if you don't like them "broken clocks" and all that. Anyone that can't let someone else have a single good day is a big problem in modern politics, either direction. I don't have to like someone to go "but eh, fair enough, that's a good idea, we should do that too" and still go "nah the rest of that is stupid". But people act like agreeing with "the enemy" on ANY issue is swearing an oath of allegience or something

[@GeeNo_]

I use VitalSource for cheap ebooks I rent for the semester when I can't find any textbooks anywhere, they are decent for that much....doesn't mean college textbooks aren't a scam sometimes, and it doesn't mean their 'lifetime' bs is okay.

[@50shadesofaustralia98]

The thing about this that really scares me is if they start trying to apply this to warranty agreements imagine being told a product has a lifetime warranty and later finding it out they only meant 5 years

[@johnr8856]

Lifetime is based on Goldie, our goldfish at our corporate headquarters.

[@raymond6845]

Believe me, I have no love for California; those words you listed 100% describe that state. Even so, I have to admit they do have the strongest consumer protection laws out of any state.

[@KratostheThird]

As someone who is from California, the politicians ruined it.

[@dogoonubs997]

@@KratostheThird This seems to be quite a common sentiment.

[@hubertnnn]

I think what we need is a law stating that "Any definition of a word in a TOS that is in contradiction with dictionary definition of that same word automatically marks that product as false advertisement and allows all customers to receive a full refund regardless of state of the product."

[@RehabFlamingo]

I have purchased almost all of my textbooks as physical copies to avoid licensing. During covid however, I had one course force the online purchase of one textbook through Vital Source. I really like this text book and I paid the price of a full textbook for access to this media. Thank you Louis, I'll be sure to spend some time over the next week on trying to preserve my access to it (even if it's just through repeated pngs or PDF prints with 1-2 page limits) I paid for the information, I will do anything I can to retain this information.

[@1110jesse]

The first 45 seconds of the video were pretty great, nice to see you not cutting it out.

[@Aguyinachair]

whats strange to me is food law is VERY strict on what you can put on packaging, but then the fed lets this slide. We have public dictionaries for a reason

[@roycsinclair]

A simple law that says when you use words in advertising that they mean the ordinary meaning of the word and any redefinition in fine print can only be applied if it's to the consumer's advantage.

[@TheWolvesCurse]

reminds me of the "lifetime" oilfillings in VW DSG transmissions, where the lifetime was the end of the first lease period after 3 years. people who bought the cars had transmission malfunctions left and right, and the (non- manufacturer related) workshops who have identified the problem, gave out suggestions to change the transmission oil after every 30.000km or 2 years, to avoid damage. VW designed the DSG transmissions with very tiny drain, and fill holes for the first few years as it wasn't expected to change thhe fluid during maintenance. the oil in those transmissions was so viscuous, and had to flow through such a tiny plug, that just the filling, letting the oil flow from the bottle into the machine, took 45mins at regular roomtemperature. also their first in house developed supercharger the "g-lader" was quoted as "lifetime part" something that doesn't wear out. turns out these things broke well under the 100.000km mark.

[@Revener666]

In europe car leasing companies advertised a set monthly cost in the adverts (fine print in the actual contract may differ). During covid economy they raised the monthly price anyway, Consumer Agencies told that that it wrong, if they advertised a set monthly cost they have to adhere to it no matter what the actual contract says.

[@trikeonabike4949]

Sounds like my old situation with Pep Boys and their "Limited life time warranty". Same goes for the local Autozone. They wiped out ALL my lifetime warranty parts on almost everything. I had the receipts of some brakes I've done (shockingly the ink hadn't disappeared yet- but it will in time), and it popped up in the computer- AFTER they told me they can't find it 🙄😒

[@IvnSoft]

"Why are you standing in front of my screen" Dude ! , a cat is gonna cat ! 😹

[@julesloveless]

They never said a person's lifetime, maybe it's the lifetime of a fly

[@InPhillyWeTrust]

A COUPLE GETTING MARRIED: “I promise to love you for a lifetime*” *Lifetime = 5 years

[@ko2610]

Isn't that what women do? 5 years or less and a divorce. That's a lifetime...

[@nicholasvinen]

Until subscription expiry do we part.

[@GlauciaAgrippa]

Fucked for lifetime, yes.

[@ildanach]

This channel became much better nowadays. Wisdom words from Louis, cuteness from Clinton and Blackberry. A great combination.

[@igelbofh]

They usually define it as the life of a product, not the life of the buyer. The same way Bungie defines "annual pass" - it's not a year from the day it is bought, it's a year from the day they imagine it

[@45nickname]

The only time i had to use a vitalsource book in school i used the 5 pages at a time i was allowed to print to get the updated problems and shared those and a pdf of a previous edition with the whole class.

[@AOLAmericaOnline]

100%. I used to work at a major USA book publisher as a developer. Our model? We’d contact professors. Asked them if they wanted to add a something into a chapter… and then make an agreement with the University. That’s where those special plastic wrapped editions come from.

[@DesignCutters]

Shark electronic air cleaner packaging is equally trying to fool people by saying NEVER NEEDS FILTER CHANGING, but on two other sides of the carton they say "up to 5 years". Sorry Shark - never means NEVER - not UP TO 5 years.

[@Mrs.Silversmith]

I agree, we need standard definitions that are upheld by laws. We do this for foods. There are legal definitions for what you can or cannot label as chocolate vs. chocolate flavored for example. Why not standardize the language for other kinds of consumer purchases.

[@dakelong6047]

This is why I fully support pirating and let's just say the way I watch KZbin videos I don't need an ad blocker

[@giovannibalsamo3005]

It’s 5 years online. It’s perpetual (lifetime) if you download the ebook on a device (mobile, laptop, tablet…)

[@SmallSpoonBrigade]

I agree, although, I do think that sometimes lifetime being the useful life of the product can be an appropriate use as well. But, that depends on what we're talking about. If the product is still under warranty coverage past the point where 90% of people have thrown it out or otherwise disposed of it, I'd say that's probably still a reasonable thing to label as having a lifetime warranty. Or perhaps more to the point, software that's purchased solely to interact with a particular product type. I bought transfer software for an MP3 player decades back and it wouldn't really make much sense for them to still be updating it now as hardly anybody still has that MP3 player.

[@Baoran]

In computer hardware lifetime warranty has for a long time meant lifetime of the product that the manufacturer can choose for the product. They dont tell that to customer in any clear way when purchasing products usually but they just advertise "lifetime warranty" on big letters. I of course know it is unreasonable to expect manufacturer to replace a product that fails after 20 years but that still means in my opinion that lifetime warranty should not be used for selling the products in the first place.

[@antoniodittman5820]

That cat wants some damn pets!!!

[@HattieLankford-24]

I love it. ❤️ Please stay safe, Louis.

[@RB-bd5tz]

They could easily simply say, "This is a five-year licence", or give a choice of, e.g., one-, two-, three-, five-, or ten-year licences, and let people choose. That's what they used to do. But lying is endemic in business and society today, so that's the default route.

[@lateefcarrere1649]

I'll give California credit for at least putting pen to paper, and creating a law that might help consumers. If the rest of the country did that, heck if a variation of the law became Federal, that would be great. Btw, Blackberry is going to Blackberry - especially when you're recording, Louis.😸

[@EspHack]

in civil law countries there's this principle of upholding "the implied intention of the parties at their convention" so if it says "lifetime" it has to mean that by the literal meaning of the word, not the made up "definition" of either party

[@tyler558806]

I'm getting sick and tired of companies being allowed to change legal definitions. "You are purchasing this house for $100,000. Click yes to accept" *****Purchasing does not imply you are buying this house. You instead, are borrowing it for the implied price. ******$100,000 does not mean $100,000, but rather $1,000,000 ******This house does not mean an actual house, but rather a picture of a random house as chosen by us *****You does not mean you, but you and anyone you know or related to, we can legally go after to collect funds ******Clicking Yes to accept, does not mean you are accepting it. Rather by simply reading our offer you have accepted the terms

[@kg790]

I have seen carry on luggage advertised on the lines of "Certified for ALL airlines*" followed by "*Applicable to some airlines", all on the same side of the packaging. I think what I'm saying is: this won't stop them, but it'll be funnier.

[@barongerhardt]

They should have to give a prorated refund. If bought a 2 year lease and I canceled on them after 1 year, I would expect to repay half the lease and potentially an extra fee for early termination.

[@Quasihamster]

Does America have an equivalent to Germany's Civil law chapter 119 (§119 BGB)? It basically states if an agreement, eg. a trade was made in error, or under premises that at least one party involved wouldn't have agreed to if you had been aware of them, then the agreement is void.

[@TwinShards]

When they made this "lifetime" they meant the time a Guinea Pig can live for. So this company think we are all guinea bank !

[@Ken-tc3nq]

I read that as "you can access the download for ~5years" but the download (once you have gotten it during that time) is indefinite

[@Wayloz]

Sounds about par for the course. If you take medical fundamentals through AAPC, they use vitalsource to access the book. - On multiple occasions the book got updated but I never saw the info change, and didn’t match the information they wanted for tests. I dropped it and chose a new path.

[@leonro]

I concur, lifetime should only be advertised if the program is either DRM-free or if they under a contract to release a DRM-free version or a cracking tool before shutting down the DRM servers. That version/crack should also be submitted to officials before release and before any updates, so that they can't screw people over in the future and just pay the tax for breaking the law. Or alternatively get weekly fines that increase up to a huge amount until a fix is released. I'd much rather have DRM outlawed or that source code were made available, but I am aware that I do, in fact, live on Earth, so I shall reach this compromise.

[@pigslayer275]

I figure louis just includes the cat shenanegans in his videos normally, but if possible, I'd watch the SHIT out of a 20-30 minute blooper log of the cats interrupting things.

[@sweetiespoon5150]

🐈‍⬛ B L O O P E R R E E L 🐈‍⬛