Steam Adds the Harsh Truth That You're Buying 'A License,' Not the Game Itself (arstechnica.com) 22
In response to California's new law targeting "false advertising" of "digital goods," Valve has added the following language to its checkout page: "A purchase of a digital product grants a license for the product on Steam." Ars Technica reports: California's AB2426 law, signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom Sept. 26, excludes subscription-only services, free games, and digital goods that offer "permanent offline download to an external storage source to be used without a connection to the internet." Otherwise, sellers of digital goods cannot use the terms "buy, purchase," or related terms that would "confer an unrestricted ownership interest in the digital good." And they must explain, conspicuously, in plain language, that "the digital good is a license" and link to terms and conditions.
Which is what Valve has now added to its cart page before enforcement of these terms was due to start next year. The company has long made it clear, deeper inside its End User License Agreement (EULA), that a purchase is a license, and those licenses cannot be resold, which avoids issues of one's right to resell a game. Now it is something that every user sees on every purchase, however quickly they click-through to get to their download.
Which is what Valve has now added to its cart page before enforcement of these terms was due to start next year. The company has long made it clear, deeper inside its End User License Agreement (EULA), that a purchase is a license, and those licenses cannot be resold, which avoids issues of one's right to resell a game. Now it is something that every user sees on every purchase, however quickly they click-through to get to their download.
I find your failure to read the EULA disturbing. (Score:5, Funny)
Re:I find your failure to read the EULA disturbing (Score:4, Funny)
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This is called truthiness. Technically it is true that the aforementioned terms aren't in the agreement but they are a fair comical paraphrase of the real terms:
"
B. Unilateral Amendment
Furthermore, Valve may amend this Agreement (including any Subscription Terms or Rules of Use) unilaterally at any time in its sole discretion. ... If you don’t agree to the amendments or to any of the terms in this Agreement, your only remedy is to cancel your Account or to cease use of the affected Subscription(s). Va
About #$%2 time. (Score:5, Insightful)
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I know I'm an outlier here but this sort of thing really doesn't bother me. I get the problem. I understand why it bothers so many people. But for the rest of us, the use case is generally: see game video, see on twitch, buy game on steam, play through until win or bored, never play again. I've never sold a game. I've never bought a used game. How many people really do that? Resold games was a big part of the Gamespot business model but it ultimately failed them.
And while we're here, major software
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Ive bought a couple used games at a reseller in the past, but I've mostly, at this point, sold my games on ebay. I don't have any interest in playing console games anymore, so might as well see who wants them.
Re:About #$%2 time. (Score:4, Insightful)
While I never got confused by license vs. ownership, I think it is a good thing to make it clearer for all people what exactly they're throwing their money into. Especially these days where the stuff you're "purchasing" can be stripped away from you for a number of reasons.
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A lot of people do get confused though. I don't know if this steam issue is shocking gen zers or something but this isn't where people get confused.
People get confused with software and other things where you ARE purchasing a copy and purchasing/use doesn't require any sort of license but the item comes with a license agreement. This is actually a contract. You legally acquired the copy and have all the usual rights that come with that under the law. You can break the contract all day long and the worst you
Re: About #$%2 time. (Score:2)
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When I was a child, playing my SNES/N64 or PS1/2 games, I would often re-sell games and then buy new ones, since I didn't have a job or any real way to buy new games on my own otherwise (the games having been gifted to me, were mine to what I wanted with). By the time I was in my later teens and working a job, it didn't really matter anymore.
These days, what you described is exactly my own pattern. Most games I see, buy, play, finish, move on. I've bought digital games from now defunct storefronts that I n
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I've bought used games all the time. Because often that's the only way to play a game.
Want to play Super Mario Bros. on the original NES? You're going to have to buy a used NES and a used copy to do so.
Ditto all the way up to the PS3 or so. Discovered a game you'd like to play, but out of print now? Used is the only way.
What did in Ga
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It's a little more involved than used games as Steam will eventually change owners or simply goes bankrupt and leaves a hulking crater in the collective memory.
As is, there are games that were originally released only on Steam that have been pulled so short of piracy, they will not exist for future generations.
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> I know I'm an outlier here but this sort of thing...
Sorry, apathy really isn't an outlier in this focus group.
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Re:About #$%2 time. (Score:4, Interesting)
We've already done through three phases.
Us old folk who used to get physical media and an instruction booklet how to play the game. The concept of blowing $19.99 on a non-tangible item was horrifying. Games also were complete/less bug ridden.
Then we had younger folk who grew up more connected, they no longer purchased the item and understood they'd lose access to it, and would re-pay for the same item if they lost an account password or the like, willingly. Products would also be released incomplete, with bugs, expecting to potentially fix them in the future. There were also pre-release purchases, which surprisingly people spent on.
Now we have a new set of people who might pay for a game that doesn't make it and shuts down freaking out over losing whatever money they spent on it not understanding they only were paying for a temporary license.
Given that if you want to play, it's the only way to play for most nowadays, sales impacts are likely to be unaffected IMO.
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"Then we had younger folk who grew up more connected, they no longer purchased the item and understood they'd lose access to it, and would re-pay for the same item if they lost an account password or the like, willingly."
To many a 'steam game' vs a disc game is like a dvd vs a bluray and they were okay with buying the game again later if they wanted a blu-ray instead. They were okay they had a dependency on a 'steam player' and got over their subsequent discover that didn't work without internet. But they s
Dishonest business (Score:3)
This law forces businesses to be honest, at least in this one narrow area. Obviously the business lobby hates it, and will do all they can to keep this kind of thing happening beyond online "purchases". EULAs are a rigged game: heads they win, tails you loose.
Corporations don't want you to own anything and they plan to charge you for everything forever. That's why auto makers want to have a monthly fee for heated seats that you already paid for, and why they tried to remove AM radios from cars. They can't rent you the radio (yet).
When you don't own things you are a serf or a peasant. Part of the Big Lie of corporate America is the myth of a free market and consumer choice. Both have almost vanished. We live in an economic regime of cartels that offer an illusion of choice while growing bloated on guaranteed profit. Every consolidation makes the situation more dire.
A License to operate a self-service checkout. (Score:1)
Do I need a driver's license to operate a car on private property? Have we just never figured out how to differentiate digital goods from certifications and licenses for personnel in highly complicated fields?
License doesn't imply a