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The Federation of German Consumer Organizations (Verbraucherzentrale Bundesverband e.V. or VZBV) has sued Valve for not allowing Steam users to resell their games. Speaking about the policies of Valve's digital distribution service, VZBV project manager Carola Elbrecht said that if customers truly own the titles they purchase on Steam, they should have the option to resell them when they want to, just as they would when dealing with a physical card or board game -- a shaky comparison, some would argue.
Elbrecht noted that although a Steam user could technically download a game, burn it to a disc and sell the physical media, the buyer generally wouldn't be able to play the title because it's likely bound to a specific account. Additionally, Valve doesn't let users transfer accounts, so legally selling an entire library is also impossible. Given those policies, Elbrecht feels consumers only have partial ownership of their games. "If I pay the full price for a game, then why am I not allowed to do with it what I want," she said.
The filing marks the VZBV's latest attempt to loosen Valve's restrictions. The group targeted Steam's lack of support for account transfers in a 2010 suit that case made it to the German Federal Court of Justice, which sided with Valve. Given that outcome, it remains to be seen how successful the VZBV's latest push will be, but the group may catch a lucky break considering the CJEU's recent ruling in favor of the ability to resell digitally distributed software. If nothing else, it will raise awareness Elbrecht said.
Speaking with PCWorld about the latest suit, Valve vice president of marketing Doug Lombardi said he was aware of the VZBV's press release about the filing, but that Valve hasn't laid eyes on the actual complaint yet. "That said, we understand the complaint is somehow regarding the transferability of Steam accounts, despite the fact that this issue has already been ruled upon favorably to Valve in a prior case between Valve and the VZBV by the German supreme court," he said, referring to the mentioned 2010 case.
In addition to pressuring Valve over the resale issue, the VZBV has criticized the company for following the lead of other industry heavyweights by banning class action suits and forcing users into an arbitration clause with an EULA update last year. The organization deemed the policy change to be a form of coercion because Valve essentially forced users to agree with the new terms by holding their accounts hostage. Without agreeing to the updated conditions, users couldn't access their accounts or games.
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User Comments: 28
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sliderider said:
I understand where they are coming from tho...they can push any agreements they want on us, probably even payments to play games we purchased because if we don't accept those agreements they just delete your account and all your games go bye bye...if you defend that your insane...You are not paying for the games, though, just the ability to play them. You do not own anything that can be transferred to someone else. You are paying for an intangible service and if you do not agree to the terms of the service, then they are not obligated to keep you as a customer.
Who said anything about discounted rates? What does the amount paid for the game have to do with its value to the customer?Physical media is just a content delivery system and doesn't give you any resell rights either, cause you still need to activate the game on steam/origin/etc before you can play it.
You are being overly defensive about something that should be common sense. If I buy a game and get tired of it after 4 hours (that terribad dungeon keeper remake for example) why can I not resell that to somone else for 5$ or w/e I want to sell it for?
It's not like I could still play it after I sold it so whats the problem?
It's BS like this that enables/encourages piracy! Try before you buy became "pirate before you buy" because once you buy you are hosed.
You can't sell it to someone else because you do not own anything that can be sold. It's a pay to play system similar to rentals except that the money you pay entitles you to play the game indefinitely where rentals are for a fixed amount of time.
Luckily there are countries where consumer rights aren't as easily lobbied against as in the US.What consumer rights are you talking about? Did you even read the terms of the Steam agreement? It specifically states that you do not own the games, you are only buying the ability to play them on the Steam network. What exactly is it that you think you own?
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@Slider
Give it up. These ppl complaining didnt read the ToS. If they did, they agreed to it anyway. Its just little boys crying because they cant have what they want. Put no more stock into it then you would a child having a temper tantrum because he didnt get his way either. Its as easy as can be to understand the Steam business model.
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I even posted the relevant section of the subscriber agreement tht you must agree to before ANY game is purchased or activated...
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