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Originally Posted by calvin-c
Don't overlook the fact that they might be selling the license. And a license doesn't need a 'return' condition unless you consider "when the license ends you must delete the file" to be a 'return'. (And I'm not sure they even insist on you deleting it-with other software they typical requirement is that you 'stop using' it.)
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License ends = file deleted/no longer used, is what library ebooks have. Those are licensed, not sold or given away.
Books purchased from Fictionwise, Amazon, BoB and so on contain no expectation that the buyer will stop using the file at some point in the future. You don't buy a temporary right to use the file; you buy permanent access, including the right to put it on your own machines--which legally qualifies it as a "purchase" rather than a "licensed use."
Their maintenance of an online archive/library of your purchases doesn't change the nature of the sale itself. You don't buy "access to your fictionwise library + permission to download;" the lack of requirement to stop using the ebooks means you bought them.
To change that, they'd have to put a note in their sales descriptions that said they have the right to remove your access to the books under [condition], and that you are expected to delete all copies at that point.
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You're right that selling the license gives you the right to transfer/resell it yourself, but if one of the terms that ends the license is the transfer of it, then who's going to buy it from you?
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I have no idea what you mean by this. A "license" doesn't necessarily include the right to transfer the contents; a "purchase" does. Most ebook stores offer purchases, not licenses, regardless of what their FAQ says.