VitalSource "Lifetime" false advertising: Difference between revisions

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<!--{{Incident
{{IncidentCargo
|title=VitalSource "Lifetime" Access Controversy
|Company=VitalSource
|company=VitalSource
|StartDate=2024-12-18
|date=2024-12-18
|EndDate=
|tags=digital ownership, licensing, misleading advertising
|Status=Active
}}-->[[File:Vitalsource calculus textbook.png|alt=Screenshot of vitalsource' product page for a calculus book|thumb|Screenshot of vitalsource' product page for a calculus book as of 2025-02-18 <ref>https://www.vitalsource.com/products/calculus-james-stewart-daniel-k-v9798214339221</ref> - Notice that there is no place that a user can go to read that the license is not a lifetime license. The only item that links to a disclosure page is a "details" link next to "This is a digital license"]]
|ProductLine=
|Product=
|ArticleType=Service
|Type=Broken Promise, Deception, Ownership
|Description=Five-year textbook licenses are misleadingly advertised as "lifetime" licenses.
}}
[[File:Vitalsource calculus textbook.png|alt=Screenshot of vitalsource' product page for a calculus book|thumb|Screenshot of vitalsource' product page for a calculus book as of 2025-02-18 <ref>https://www.vitalsource.com/products/calculus-james-stewart-daniel-k-v9798214339221</ref> - Notice that there is no place that a user can go to read that the license is not a lifetime license. The only item that links to a disclosure page is a "details" link next to "This is a digital license"]]
[[File:Vitalsource calculus textbook CA disclosure.png|alt=Screenshot of vitalsource' "details" page [1] that is clickable from the bottom of the product page for a calculus book as of 2025-02-18|thumb|Screenshot of vitalsource' "details" page <ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20250126183825/https://support.vitalsource.com/hc/en-us/articles/28012656781847-CA-Disclosure-Support-Page</ref> that is clickable from the bottom of the product page for a calculus book as of 2025-02-18 - In the middle of the page it mentions two important points.]]
[[File:Vitalsource calculus textbook CA disclosure.png|alt=Screenshot of vitalsource' "details" page [1] that is clickable from the bottom of the product page for a calculus book as of 2025-02-18|thumb|Screenshot of vitalsource' "details" page <ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20250126183825/https://support.vitalsource.com/hc/en-us/articles/28012656781847-CA-Disclosure-Support-Page</ref> that is clickable from the bottom of the product page for a calculus book as of 2025-02-18 - In the middle of the page it mentions two important points.]]
'''VitalSource "Lifetime" Access Controversy''' is in reference to a practice by VitalSource, a large digital textbook & course material provider for college educational markets in the United States, whereby they market some digital products as having ''"lifetime"'' access; while defining this term as a '''limited 5-year period'''.<ref>https://support.vitalsource.com/hc/en-us/articles/28012656781847-CA-Disclosure-Support-Page</ref>
'''VitalSource "Lifetime" Access Controversy''' is in reference to a practice by VitalSource, a large digital textbook & course material provider for college educational markets in the United States, whereby they market some digital products as having ''"lifetime"'' access; while defining this term as a '''limited 5-year period'''.<ref>https://support.vitalsource.com/hc/en-us/articles/28012656781847-CA-Disclosure-Support-Page</ref>