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Media insurance

Candace Lombardi
In a software-driven world, it's easy to forget about the nuts and bolts. Whether it's cars, robots, personal gadgetry or industrial machines, Candace Lombardi examines the moving parts that keep our world rotating. A journalist who divides her time between the United States and the United Kingdom, Lombardi has written about technology for the sites of The New York Times, CNET, USA Today, MSN, ZDNet, Silicon.com, and GameSpot. She is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not a current employee of CNET.
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Candace Lombardi

In the event of a fire, insurance can cover you for the cost of replacing physical DVDs, CDs, and yes, even vinyl. But what if your iPod, or a terabyte server holding your entire movie collection, goes down in the blaze?

Those who store their media as computer files can now get insurance to cover their collections, according to a report from the Independent.

According to the article, insurance companies, like Nationwide Insurance, are now offering coverage for the "intangible assets" stored on computers, phones and portable media devices. The coverage includes content like ringtones and games, in addition to music and movies.

With into mainstream downloading, this new option of replacement coverage could be the deciding factor between building physical or virtual collections.

There is one caveat, however: Users must show proof of purchase for the content they have lost. That collection of Phish bootlegs you may have downloaded during Naptster's heyday, for example, would not be covered.