New Law Forces VitalSource To Tell The Truth About 'Lifetime' Licenses (youtube.com)
AB2426.

Rossman has become a consumer protections guy.

5 years is what it legally means now, with permanent downloads supported, according to one company. Can't you call it a 5-year license?

Futo was able to change their terms because they ‘redefined what purchase meant’, as well as ownership, sale, sold, rent, buy' to not mean or imply any transfer of ownership.

Rossman referenced 2007 or whenever when there was a textbook scam where they changed the order of the content (without changing the content) in order to require university students to buy a new textbook every year, otherwise they'd get all their homework questions wrong.