The Future of Ownership: A Review of "The End of Ownership: Personal Property in the Digital Economy"

Abstract: This paper reviews the book The End of Ownership: Personal Property in the Digital Economy. Against the backdrop of rapid digital technology development, intellectual property holders are strengthening control over intellectual products through technical means such as digital rights management and end-user license agreements, while consumers' dominion over their purchased products continues to weaken. With the rise of cloud storage and streaming services, the trend of ownership shifting to usage rights has become irreversible. The advent of the Internet of Things era has further deepened the binding of software and hardware, with consumer use of products being preset and restricted. This paper analyzes the causes, processes, and impacts of the end of ownership, explores legal responses to this situation, and points out that digital technology has not only changed the logic of personal property operation but also profoundly altered relationships between people and things, and between people themselves. The paper argues that striving to restore people's autonomy over things and themselves is a collective appeal of this era, and maintaining a clear understanding of digital technology while preserving independent personality among the general public is an urgent new enlightenment needed today. Keywords: Ownership, Digital Technology, Intellectual Property, Digital Rights Management, Consumer Rights, Personal Autonomy. Title: The Future of Ownership: A Review of “The End of Ownership: Personal Property in the Digital Economy” Author: Han Rong International Journal of Recent Research in Social Sciences and Humanities (IJRRSSH) ISSN 2349-7831 Vol. 11, Issue 4, October 2024 - December 2024 Page No: 203-209 Paper Publications Website: www.paperpublications.org Published Date: 31-December-2024 DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14625899 Paper Download Link (Source) https://www.paperpublications.org/upload/book/The%20Future%20of%20Ownership%20A%20Review-31122024-5.pdf