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Of course, the use of the word license is a misuse of the word as well. It's a bit like the use of the word intellectual property, because it implies that ideas can actually be property which can be owned by someone. An idea is, of course, not property in any real sense.
The word license is used to get around the first use legal doctrine, to wit, that once you sell something, you can not restrict the buyer's ability to sell that item to someone else. I can understand why various companies want to establish a monopoly on selling their products or restrict the used market for their products, but then again, I can understand why Eisner considers it stealing to fast forward through commercials. But, just because I understand why someone wants to force other people to do something, doesn't mean that I consider it valid. To a great extent, the IP and Licensing movements want to have the best of both worlds, all the privileges and none of the responsibilities.
For the most part, few people consider buying a digital book simply purchased the license to use that digital content. They consider it buying a book, just like buying a book in a physical bookstore. The concept of buying a license is merely a legalistic construction. DRM is simply a method to enforce copyright protections. Nothing more, nothing less.
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