Buying Hirst for 7$

I can't tell if this is a cool idea or completely exploitative of people interested in "owning" a piece from a famous artist, meant to make already successful artists richer. Given that the last story I heard about Damien Hirst was that he decided to de-authenticate a large number of boxed pieces, retroactively saying that the pieces all had to be included together in order for the piece to be sold as an original Hirst, I have my doubts that this will be as care-free as it seems here.

The general idea is that you can buy a piece of digital art for your phone, computer or tablet that is numbered and comes with a signed certificate from the artist. The pieces are said to run between 5-500 pounds. I guess the certificate makes it official, I just hesitate to pay for something that you don't actually get to put your hands on (especially art). When you buy a print, you are paying for the edition that it comes in. The fact that only so many were physically made dictates the price and provides the insurance that you aren't paying more money for something that can simply be made a 100,000 more times and continually numbered. There is an edition number that will not be exceeded. The problem here is that the work is completely re-producable in the digital format. While the sellers may be completely honest in numbering and distributing the art, the people who buy it have every ability to post, print, or hand-out to any number of people, creating what I could see as a HUGE problem authenticating the works if you ever did want to sell them.

I suppose it's about the idea of spreading art around to everyone so I can't disagree with that...it just boggles my mind that people would spend hundreds of dollars on a digital file of a piece of art...especially when you can get an actual piece for the same price from most local artists (i realize the name is a big part of it)...I think it would be even cooler if it was an open call for artists to take part so that it not only spreads art to consumers, but actually helps working artists as well. I'd be interested in reading the fine print about what is and isn't allowed in terms of using the pieces after you have received them. I guess Im just not one of those people that wants everything digitized...

And if anyone is interested in this idea, I have real physical or digital art that you can buy for your home for good prices....and they're bigger than an Iphone screen.

http://www.theartnewspaper.com/articles/How-to-buy-a-Damien-Hirst-for-£7.50/25100