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→Physical Reliability vs. Digital Storage
;4. Censorship and Availability:
:'''Digital Storage''': "Digital content can be censored or removed from online platforms by the provider or due to copyright issues. This can lead to the loss of access to previously purchased digital media. Digital content on platforms like Android can be especially vulnerable to access loss. Even after purchase, providers Providers may remove content from digital stores due to censorship, copyright issueseven after purchase, or simply decide to delist the software entirely. [https://support.google.com/googleplay/answer/12246761] This is compounded by the challenge of preserving older mobile software. Many older applications, with their associated APK and data files, become unusable over time due to a lack of proper preservation efforts. Even those successfully preserved applications can still face hurdles due to restrictive copy protection methodslike defunct activation check servers."
:'''Physical Storage''': "Physical media offers more control over access and censorship. Once you own a physical copy, it cannot be easily removed or altered by a third party."
Distributors rarely release official patches to bypass activation, updates that remove online activation requirements altogether, if their servers are down. Some software cracks bypass copy protection checks, allowing installation and use of software without the original disc. These modified executables, often called "NoCD" or "NoDVD" cracks, are distributed on illegal sources. See [[ROM_%26_ISO_sites#Bypassing_Copy_Protection]] section.
On mobile platforms like Android, a large number of older software applications are unusable today due to copy protection. As a result, some users resort to patching the executables to bypass the protection and preserve the files including "APK and Data" files. But as mentioned in [[Copy_protection#Physical_Reliability_vs._Digital_Storage]] section, even those successfully preserved applications can still face hurdles due to restrictive copy protection methods like defunct activation check servers.
=Download required and online dependent discs=
