What do we really own?

Ownership is tricky.

- iTunes media. If I "buy" a movie on iTunes, do I really own a copy? Or is it just an infinite lease? I paid about the same amount as getting a physical copy in a store. I can download that movie on each device I own. I can stream it on anything capable of streaming from iTunes. So, I own it, right? What if iTunes experiences an outage? What if my account becomes corrupted, or iTunes shuts down for some reason? Looks like I don't own it anymore.

- Software licensing. I have a license key for Windows 7 that I paid for. That license entitles me to install Windows 7 on my personal machine. I don't have to pay Microsoft any additional money to use Windows 7. I also have a license key for Adobe Lightroom. I paid for a version that required a single purchase to "own" a license. Again, I don't have to give Adobe any more money. What if I wanted Photoshop? Well, Adobe has moved to a subscription-based licensing platform. I can get Photoshop for only $10/month! Great deal? Let's think about it. An old, single-purchase license was about $350. At $10/month, I'm losing money on the deal after 3 years. No thanks.

- I have a job, right? Or is it more like the company that pays me has an employee? We live in an at-will employment state, meaning any employee can be terminated at any time, with no advance notice, for absolutely no reason at all. Does that still make it "my" job if I have no control over whether I can continue to exchange services for money?

- Finally, consider the CharlieCard. The card is free, so I technically own it. I can do whatever I want with it...unless I use it fraudulently--then the T can confiscate it. What about the money I loaded onto it? I spent that money at the time it was loaded, not each time I use it to get on a bus or train. The MBTA spent that money 3 years ago. It's like a gift card--the company or store the gift card is valid for doesn't care if you don't use all the money on it. In fact, they'd prefer you leave a few dollars unused. They already got the money, so they're actually going closer to breaking even each time you use it. Now this begs the question: whose money is it, and when does it actually change hands?

- The Admiral