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Steam DVD games: can you sell them?
- Thread starter magellan
- Start date
OP
- Joined
- Jul 20, 2002
- Thread Starter
- #3
In the US is it legal to prevent someone from selling software they legally own, or for that matter, give it away?
It would seem this would be a great way to eliminate altogether any secondary games market.
You really should read those things you click "accept" on. Steam is pretty clear on game ownership.
OP
- Joined
- Jul 20, 2002
- Thread Starter
- #6
There hasn't been much of a secondary games market for PCs in years. Where have you been?
Ever heard of Ebay?
OP
- Joined
- Jul 20, 2002
- Thread Starter
- #7
You can put anything you want in a contract, that doesn't make it legal.
I don't remember reading anything on any of the Call of Duty games I've bought that state ON THE OUTSIDE OF THE BOX that I cannot re-sell or give away the game in perpetuity.
- Joined
- Dec 30, 2004
Technically you don't 'own' the game, you're merely licensed to use it, even if you own the physical media. That's why you can be prevented from reselling.
OP
- Joined
- Jul 20, 2002
- Thread Starter
- #9
Well if this is the case, why shouldn't I support software p*i*r*a*c*y? I shelled out $60 for a game I can't even give away to my nephew or friends? WTF?
End user license agreements. They are very much legal.
I'll highlight some of the things you "Agreed to" with call of duty
http://www.activision.com/legal/terms-of-use
"Activision grants you a personal, limited, non-exclusive license to use the Product for your non-commercial use."
" reproduce, distribute, display, transfer or use any part of the Product except as expressly authorized by Activision."
"The Product is licensed, not sold, for your use. Your license confers no title or ownership in this Product and should not be construed as a sale of any rights in the Product."
Like it or not, once you installed the game, you used your license. Those white boxes full of text are more then just light reading. You can get upset all you want, its really not their fault you didnt read the fine print.
You can give away your game to your friends and nephews? Oh wait, youre implying you played the game.
You remember that box you didnt read, and scrolled to the bottom and checked off "I agree" without regarding anything? Yeah, it explicity defines how you may use the games and transfer them (or not transfer them rather). Give your nephew your steam password if you wanna give him the game so bad.
http://store.steampowered.com/subscriber_agreement/
OP
- Joined
- Jul 20, 2002
- Thread Starter
- #12
Maybe a lawyer should look into a class action lawsuit on behalf of hundreds of thousands of end users of such software.
What if you bought a video card and they enforced a similar lifetime ban on you ever reselling it? Or how about your car?
So what if I played the game? I drove my car and I still sold it.
- Joined
- May 29, 2005
Welcome to the discussion of almost 10 years ago when Steam first started.
It is in the license agreement, and you agree that you are buying a none transferrable license to a game. The same thing happens if you buy a game on PSN or XBL - with that said, you can still trade/sell physical copies of console games; which was the cause of mass confusion and anger towards the XB1 DRM policies before they backtracked against everything a month later after announcement.
It is in the license agreement, and you agree that you are buying a none transferrable license to a game. The same thing happens if you buy a game on PSN or XBL - with that said, you can still trade/sell physical copies of console games; which was the cause of mass confusion and anger towards the XB1 DRM policies before they backtracked against everything a month later after announcement.
OP
- Joined
- Jul 20, 2002
- Thread Starter
- #14
I had thought that only applied to games I downloaded from steam, not games I bought in a retail setting that had hard media. I never figured MS would be more liberal in their policies than Valve, but maybe Gabe's greed got the best of him.
Most games these days don't have much in the way of depth. I play them for a year and give them away or sell them, especially CoD titles. It irks me that console players can rent games and sell them or give them away but I can't. It's painfully obvious why valve did this as well.
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- Dec 27, 2003
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- The Alamo City
watch The Peoples Court, she will explain
BUt when you bought your car, you didnt sign/agree to not reselling it. You bought the car, not the rights to simply drive it. It is like getting a lease or a rental and selling it, LOL!
Like Janus said, this is a decade old discussion. If there was any merit to getting a lawyer and them having a snowballs chance in hell to win, it likely would have been done already.
- Joined
- May 29, 2005
Most PC games you buy at a store are just the installation with a serial number that hooks into a digital distribution site. Example: Buying Battlefield4 at the store has you install Origin and type in the serial number to link to your Origin account permanently.
It isn't just Steam though, it is [almost] every digital distribution place. And M$ definitely isn't more liberal in their policies, they were going to have incredibly strict DRM policies at the announcement of the XB1, but they received such negative feedback (read: their pre-order numbers were terrible in comparison to PS4) that they did a 180 and removed the majority of the DRM policies they had in place.
And of course it is obvious why any company has this policy, what company wouldn't do it if they could 'get away with it'? There was actually a lot of arguments over why there was such a negative outcry towards the XB1 with their DRM policies and yet Steam has been doing it for years, I think the answer is Steam Sales and overall very good customer relations can build a lot of faith in the consumer.
OP
- Joined
- Jul 20, 2002
- Thread Starter
- #18
BUt when you bought your car, you didnt sign/agree to not reselling it. You bought the car, not the rights to simply drive it. It is like getting a lease or a rental and selling it, LOL!
Like Janus said, this is a decade old discussion. If there was any merit to getting a lawyer and them having a snowballs chance in hell to win, it likely would have been done already.
So you think this is a good thing? Why doesn't it apply to books, manuals or magazines? They're IP.
Can console gamers still rent games? Is this policy being forced on them as well or only PC gamers?
So is starforce a dead issue now? Because it would seem you wouldn't need it if everyone is locked into owning a game forever.
I wonder if someone in the EU can't challenge this...
I won't be buying anymore steam games...ever.
Because books, manuals, and magazines, you are not paying for the licensing to use them. You are paying for the physical book. Whereas with Steam/Origin etc, you are paying for the license to use it. Now, with consoles, you are paying to OWN the game. See the lease/rent analogy I mentioned earlier. I can lease or rent a car, but can't sell it. But if I buy it, I can do as I please. The difference is in what you are actually buying as far as I know...But truly, I do not know too terribly much about it. I just recall this discussion from a decade ago, and it occasionally gets rehashed, like now, and it brings back some scary memories of a scratched record, LOL! Its completely a non issue to me as I do not sell games, nor care to. I honestly play like 2-3 games (BF4, Grid 2), so this issue isn't exactly front burner stuff to a middle aged married man... lol!
