A new patent published by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) details an Apple invention that enables the transfer of ownership of digital content like iBooks, songs, movies or apps from one user to another. In other words, in the future, you might be able to sell or loan your iTunes purchased content to a third-party once you’re done using it.
While there can be a lot of parallels drawn between physical and digital goods, the one key differentiator between the two is that the end-user can create multiple copies of an e-book or a song file. This is why certain DRM implementations tie purchases to an account, which prevents transfer of ownership.
Apple’s patent describes a system which allows the transfer of ownership of digital content, while at the same time ensuring that not more than one instance of a song, ebook or an app are in a usable state. This can be done by a server side mechanism, where an iTunes server updates the ownership information, and renders the copy of the digital good with the seller unusable, either by deleting it or through some other mechanism. The whole process could also happen on either of the devices involved in the transaction rather than on a third party server.
Since content owners don’t like the idea of their goods being sold again and again, Apple also includes a provision to let some portion of the transaction price be paid to them. This would obviously be less than what they’d get from the purchase of a fresh copy, but movie studios, record labels and book publishers would be more likely to accept a system like this rather than one in which they’re not involved at all.
Such a system would work nicely with content that needs to be fetched from servers everytime it needs to be accessed, such as a movie stream. For local copies, though, the device would have to keep checking with servers to verify if the copy is authenticated, and only then proceed to let the user access it. Apple specifically includes the requirement of an internet connected device in the application:
The device may be configured to remind the user that the device has been in an unconnected state for a certain period of time and, optionally, that the user will lose access to one or more digital content items or services if the device is not synced with intermediary [like an iTunes server] within a particular period of time.
We imagine, Apple would let content owners opt-out of (or opt-in to, depending on what’s default) this system, and any attempts to sell second hand copies of an opted-out digital good would be prevented. Additionally, Apple could include cost and time constraints in the transfer, to comply with requirements of the content owner. An example:
[A]ll digital movies must be sold for a minimum of $10 until six months after their respective original purchase date. After the six month period, all digital movies must be sold for a minimum of $5.
Notably, Apple also includes a section for “Limited Edition” digital goods, that come in a limited quantity, and when those get over, the prices in the resale market become more than what the fresh copy sold for.
Amazon has a similar patent which provides a centralised platform for the resale of digital goods, one that Apple’s application doesn’t include. Amazon, in fact, already lets users loan Kindle ebooks to other users for a 14 day period.
As a user, I certainly like the idea of reselling or renting my iTunes content, but the ultimate vetoing power remains with content owners, who aren’t exactly known to make customer friendly decisions.
USPTO via Apple Insider
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