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by toast0 921 days ago
> They're physical things, interacted in the physical world, without any way for the companies involved to claw back the content

Oh, there's ways. In the 90s, there was a rental scheme with sealed discs that would degrade in air to become unusable within a week. (At least that was upfront, if wasteful). I've had one at least CD rot from the inside, and it's a major issue for LaserDiscs. Careful material science could make this the norm.