Corvus Consulting

We enter new eras not with ribbon cuttings and big parties, but by small steps that can pass by easily unless we look for them. Here’s an example of what’s going on as the worlds of digital content become more of a mainstay of our day to day lives:

From the Independent, an article about how insurers are starting to provide policies for loss of digital content.

This is great news for two reasons:
First is that traditional business is taking digital content more seriously and approaching it not as a problem, not as a fad, but a reality of modern life that has new service needs.

Second is that it marks the first time I’ve ever seen anyone take responsibility for protecting digital content. Most software licenses, and I’ll be writing more about those in the future, aggressively deny any warranty or right of reimbursement should you lose your digital content. The new insurance services being offered recognize the value of digital content to its holders (you and me) and says that business can not only put a value on that content, but can also offer some protection.

As digital content gains recognition from traditional business as something with legitimate, protected value, I think we’ll see digital content gain a more equal footing with tangible belongings in law. And that, I hope, will put pressure on software licensors to be more realistic and responsible in their license agreements.

We wouldn’t buy a house without an inspection and certification that it is safe and built properly; we wouldn’t allow cars to be sold that suddenly emptied their gas tanks onto the streets. There are laws to protect us from such things. Soon, we might also see laws that give more protection to the immense value we create on our hard drives.