Subscription service

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A subscription service is a service whereby a consumer is expected to repeatedly pay fees over time to continue using the service. The proliferation of subscription services has major implications on the consumer's right to own their products and services.

How subscriptions can impact consumer rights

Subscriptions differ from purchases in that when a person purchases a product it is expected that they permanently own the product and have full control over it while a consumer's control over a subscription product/service ends when they stop paying or cancel the subscription; in other words a consumer temporarily controls a subscription product only after a subscription has been purchased while a user owns a product if they purchased the product. Subscriptions can be beneficial for consumers in that they act as a sort of "trial period" where a product or service is accessible for cheaper than it would be if they purchased it to own. Some subscription plans even guarantee their customers frequent updates that would otherwise require a secondary purchase. Subscriptions can also be negative for consumers, many companies see subscriptions as a way to extract more revenue out of their customers rather than a trial period, in addition some companies have even retroactively amended purchases such that consumers lose access to a product they previously "owned".

Negative trends in the shift towards subscription services

Subscription service revenue was estimated at "$3 trillion in 2024, up from estimates of around $2 trillion in 2023" subscription services are becoming more prevalent. The replacement of permanent ownership with subscription services has some negative impacts that can harm consumer rights.

Redefinition of ownership

Instances of companies using the terms "ownership" and "own" when referring to subscription products and services have become prevalent. These instances are at the bare minimum misnomers: consumers do not own something if they have to pay subscription to use it. The redefinition of language could be seen as a malicious attempt by companies to lessen the severity of the loss of ownership that consumers are now facing.

Licenses as subscriptions

A License grants rights to use a product or service. Licenses differ from subscriptions in that permanent licenses exist while no subscription is ever permanent, in addition many companies choose to make temporary "licenses" last longer than subscriptions as Adobe does. Licenses also may apply to large groups of people, I.E. a student license granted to students for free. The concern here is that permanent licenses are being phased out using the retroactively amended purchase strategy as Adobe has done possibly because subscriptions are more profitable. The term "license" is likely vulnerable to redefinition as ownership is.

Subscription inflation

Subscription inflation occurs when companies increase subscription prices often arbitrarily. This practice has been seen with Netflix subscriptions where in 2025 "The standard monthly subscription without advertisements will climb from $15.49 to $17.99, and a standard monthly subscription with ads will increase one dollar to $7.99, Netflix said.". Subscription inflation need not be done to recoup lost revenue as this Netflix subscription price increase actually occurred after a year of "a stellar earnings report" meaning that Netflix has the resources to improve their service without raising prices. Subscription inflation has and will be used solely to raise company profits by forcing consumers to pay more for what may be an unimproved service.

Examples of subscription services

TV/Film

Netflix

Further reading: Netflix, Inc.

Netflix is a subclass of subscription service, known as a streaming service, where consumers have access to a library of TV shows and movies that persist on the platform for a limited time.

Gaming

Game Pass

Further reading: Game Pass

Game Pass, also known as Xbox Game Pass or Microsoft Game Pass, is a subscription service maintained by Microsoft where for a fee, consumers have open (but temporary) access to games on both Xbox and PC.

Nintendo Switch Online (NSO)

Further reading: Nintendo Switch Online

Nintendo Switch Online is a subscription service that offers features that were either initially offered for free on previous Nintendo platforms, such as online play, or subscription-gates content that used to be one-time purchases, such as their emulation library. Additionally, all DLC freely obtained via the service is only accessible so long as the consumer continues to pay for the service.