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Quote from Jandsomewaterdrinker >>

Correct, you will own nothing you pay for on this site, and they can change or take anything you have paid for anytime they want.

Yes, because there's nothing for you to physically own when dealing with electronic versions of things.

When you buy a physical rulebook, what you "own" is only the paper, card, and ink that makes up the book, it's physical components. You don't own the IP contained within its pages, the rules and art. You own the physical object that has had that IP bound to its surface. That book is your physical access token to the content, limited in use to keeping the token intact.

When you buy a digital license, you're buying a license because there's no physical token, nothing physical at all to own. What would you own, the electrons?

This is nothing new and nothing insidious. It's simply how electronic access must function. Even when you buy a PDF from say the DMs Guild, you don't own that PDF. What you own is a license to access the download portal and download PDF onto your local machine. That machine is the "physical access token" much like the book. Basically with accessing IP, be it rules for a game or a work of fiction or an academic textbook, that access basically takes one of three forms:

1. A physical license in the form of a physical book. That book is your proof of license to access the IP and that license lasts as long as it physically endures.
2. A digital license to download digital duplicates of the IP in some format, be it PDF, ePub, or proprietary. That license lasts as long as your agreement with the platform lasts (per their TOS) and the digital copies endure on whatever storage medium you use.
3. A digital license to access digital versions of the IP through some form of browser or app. That license lasts as long as your agreement with the platform lasts (per their TOS)

D&D Beyond primarily uses 3, but their offline app kinda strays into 2. It's a bit hazy because the app requires re-authentication to verify licenses so it's closer to 3.

If someone wants to "own" something (albeit not the actual IP itself), physical is the only way to do that. But that's nothing new nor shocking

 While I mostly agree with you, the difference in modern D&D Beyond is the lack of a PDF or portal format capability.

So while a paper book is a physical item, that cannot be removed even if you don't own the IP, a digital license to a platform does not guarantee the same permanent access format.

D&D Beyond needs to go back to selling the PDF versions of books for those people who want to guarantee usability of their purchases beyond the life of the platform.  As Sly Flourish says, 3 different formats is the safest way to retain something.

We don't own the IP, but without the PDF, we can't walk away from the service, but the service *can* walk away from us (go offline or be changed).

 
You can literally use a browser’s print function to save the pages as PDFs.

And, despite the handwringing about them theoretically deciding to nuke the site, let’s look at reality: the initial iteration of 5e ran for 10 years with a steady stream of new content releases. Beyond has been around for most if not all of that time and in addition to keeping up with the official publications hosted some 3PP ahead of WotC’s current partnership arrangement with publishers. WotC has deemed 5e to have enough interest and support they went for a relatively low-end rules update this past year rather than attempt a whole new edition, they stuck with Beyond rather than trying to invent a better mousetrap for the update, and they’ve been adding more and more 3PP content to Beyond. They are giving every indication that Beyond is a cornerstone of their business model going forward, and they expect 5e to remain relevant for the foreseeable future. Barring something on the order of being hit by a bolt of lightning, there’s no reason to expect that everything here is going to just go poof without warning.

So thirteen PDFs unless you then go and reassemble it all again.

And "Allow a PDF download" is not some sort of unreasonable request, from a litigious group.  It's the basic modern standard for book content delivery.  WOTC is a publishing company, and doesn't provide that basic service.

They are giving every indication that Beyond is a cornerstone of their business model going forward

Which is why people want to protect themselves against a company that has REPEATEDLY shown a willingness to revoke 'cornerstone' agreements like the Open Gaming License and their intention to remove the 2014 versions of items on DDB in favor of 2024,  in the pursuit of profit over community. They did try to nuke access to 5e 2014 in their business model.

Quote from MaedraDawnkeeper >>

Sub if you want to, or don't.

Doesn't get rid of the fear of endless redistribution of free copies from IP lawyers who don't want to go to court, tho. So getting that PDF would require an uphill battle.

 Just because I'm locked into a form if I want digital access, doesn't mean I can't complain and demand better.

"Submit or walk away" isn't the only options.