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lpkmckenna · Mar 14, 2011, 02:21 PM

VALVe cancels Steam account worth $1800.

I became a Steam user recently, and I don't think this is cool at all. A warning or temporary suspension would be fine, but outright cancellation for merely discussing something? VALVe is gonna get spanked hard in the press, and many people are gonna think twice about buying more games with the knowledge that a mere whim by VALVe could lead to no games at all.

I hope this goes to court. Frankly, most of the Terms of Service and End User Agreements that come with software is complete nonsense.

The Final Dakar · Mar 14, 2011, 02:25 PM

That's some 0bama level dedication to capitalizing Valve VALVe.

The Final Dakar · Mar 14, 2011, 02:33 PM

On topic, yes, they shouldn't be able to do anything until the account hits eBay, etc.

As for EULAs, I have a bad feeling they've been around so long we won't be able to fight them off in court. I think just last year someone got burned for trying to resell some expensive CAD program (or some such) in court.

BLAZE_MkIV · Mar 14, 2011, 05:28 PM

That was because he was selling disks for the old version and the liscences had already been upgraded to the new version. Not simplly transferring the liscences.

Mrjinglesusa · Mar 14, 2011, 07:19 PM

Valve re-enabled the account in question.

el chupacabra · Mar 14, 2011, 10:11 PM

so is it illegal to resell software?

mduell · Mar 14, 2011, 11:56 PM

Why doesn't this thread mention that the account has been re-enabled? It happened before this thread was even started.

lpkmckenna · Mar 15, 2011, 12:09 AM

When I posted the story, the account being re-enabled was not known by Ars Technica, the news source I posted from. But I'm pretty sure the threat of a media firestorm is the reason this fellow's account was so quickly re-activated.

P · 07:08 AM

Originally Posted by el chupacabra

so is it illegal to resell software?

Complicated question. If it has been sold, then it is legal to resell in any reasonable jurisdiction (in the US this is called First Sale doctrine). The issue is that software publishers tend to argue that they don't actually sell the software, they just license it for use. Most courts tend to tell the publishers to go screw themselves on that point, but in parts of the US (7th and 8th Appeals Court Circuit, according to WP. Might be correct, although the AutoCAD case that Dakar mentioned was in the 9th), the courts have been sympathetic. If it is licensed, then you have to follow the license. The way that Steam is set up to handle these things is sure to complicate matters further. The situation is more than a little murky.

TL;DR-version: It depends on where you live.

The Final Dakar · Mar 15, 2011, 08:03 AM

My Napoleon complex notes that this is in the wrong forum.

BLAZE_MkIV · Mar 15, 2011, 09:43 AM

Yeah but if he brought it up in the steam forums...

The Final Dakar · Mar 15, 2011, 09:48 AM

Originally Posted by BLAZE_MkIV

Yeah but if he brought it up in the steam forums...

Within MacNN.

Doofy · Mar 15, 2011, 10:42 AM

Originally Posted by The Final Dakar

My Napoleon complex notes that this is in the wrong forum.

Not if it turns into a wider discussion about how stupid it is to trust online services with anything important (like money).

The Final Dakar · Mar 15, 2011, 10:45 AM

Originally Posted by Doofy

Not if it turns into a wider discussion about how stupid it is to trust online services with anything important (like money).

Yeah, that's correct, but Napoleon here remembers a time when anything even tangentially related to gaming would be deported to the Gaming forum with extreme prejudice.