Latest Steam update forces you to give up your legal rights

[Jmustang1968]

More like being forced to give up the opportunity for some class action lawsuit lawyers to make a lot of money in a settlement...

[DinnerX]

I didn't even notice.

I'll just add it to the list of reasons I don't want to buy anything from Valve.

Now I know that I'm not terribly likely to need to file a class action lawsuit against Valve, but I don't really care to sign away my right to do so and it pisses me off that they are holding my games ransom until I will sign off on this.

I'm sure we agreed to let them do that somewhere.

EDIT:OK now I noticed it. Just got the notice today.

[CRTGAMER]

There was a Thread that mentioned the European Ruling allowing selling of used download games and Gamestop looking into buying used download licenses. I wonder if this is Valve's reaction to keep this from happening?

[J T]

More like being forced to give up the opportunity for some class action lawsuit lawyers to make a lot of money in a settlement...

Possibly true. There is a history of some really ridiculous class action suits out there that made lawyers a lot of money and gave consumers something like a lame coupon for more of the product that they had a grievance against to begin with.

Nevertheless, these large lawsuits can also set precedents that help protect consumers in the future. In regards to digital game sales, the one area where I think a class action lawsuit would be most likely to happen and most useful for consumers would be if we were to, for some currently unforeseen reason, have all of our accounts disabled and were to no longer have any way of accessing our games, whether they are currently installed or not. This is a major fear people have about the digital download service industry and if a service like Steam were to one day prevent all customers from being able to access their games, then I would think a class action lawsuit would be in order. I don't want to have sold my rights away in the event that this happens. The reality now though, is that I can't access any of my games because I'm not willing to sign away that right.

[isiolia]

There was a Thread that mentioned the European Ruling allowing selling of used download games and Gamestop looking into buying used download licenses. I wonder if this is Valve's reaction to keep this from happening?

Could be, but the rationale they gave in statements is that class action suits rarely benefit customers much. I'm also not entirely sure they need to, depending on how the license is written. I think it reads a lot more like adding features to a service than buying something like a direct-download copy of Photoshop, but I may be wrong.

More logical is that MS, Sony, and EA (at least) have already gotten away with issuing similar revisions. It seems to be the kind of protect-thine-own-ass thing that a large company would be foolish not to do if the law allows them to. If it gets ruled they can't do it, then /shrug, worth a shot.

The system they put forward isn't as flexible as actual court proceedings, but considering how much money most users probably actually have invested in the service it seems fairly reasonable. To me, the fact that they at least drew attention to the course of action their customers have is decent. Kind of like saying, no, don't go to the police because someone took the stapler from your desk, that's what HR is for (and burning down the building is right out).

[CRTGAMER]

This is a major fear people have about the digital download service industry and if a service like Steam were to one day prevent all customers from being able to access their games, then I would think a class action lawsuit would be in order. I don't want to have sold my rights away in the event that this happens. The reality now though, is that I can't access any of my games because I'm not willing to sign away that right.

The rules have changed so there should be an option to get a refund cancellation of purchased games. That or just apply the signature requirement to just new downloads. This has making of a lawsuit in itself.

[irixith]

I'm not sure what the big deal is. It just means that if you have a dispute, you will need to go before a private arbitrator instead of the court system. It's just a way to reduce the legal costs for both sides. It doesn't mean that the arbitrator will rubber stamp all decisions in favor of Valve.

This is how I felt. Seems fair to me.

[MrPopo]

This is a major fear people have about the digital download service industry and if a service like Steam were to one day prevent all customers from being able to access their games, then I would think a class action lawsuit would be in order. I don't want to have sold my rights away in the event that this happens. The reality now though, is that I can't access any of my games because I'm not willing to sign away that right.

The rules have changed so there should be an option to get a refund cancellation of purchased games. That or just apply the signature requirement to just new downloads. This has making of a lawsuit in itself.

Yeah, except that the EULA you signed up for already included the "we can change the agreement any time we want, suck it" clause.

JT, if it'll make you feel better I could swing by and sign away your rights for you. That way you can still have the moral high ground of not wanting to sign away your rights and you can still participate in wallet raping sales.

[gtmtnbiker]

The reality now though, is that I can't access any of my games because I'm not willing to sign away that right.

So what are you going to do now? I guess you could contact Valve and say that you're unhappy with the new terms and would like some sort of refund?

Or call 1-800-CLASSACTION and get the court system going.

[J T]

I've clicked "disagree" to the agreement and contacted Valve support to state that I do not want to agree to this clause and would like to have the option for an opt out similar to what was allowed by Sony when they went through with this.

Until I hear back from them, I'll just keep playing games via GOG and Desura.