Valve sued by a French consumer association over Steam’s subscriber agreement

[AchillesLastStand]

http://www.vg247.com/2015/12/18/valve-sued-by-a-french-consumer-association-over-steams-subscriber-agreement/

Valve is being sued in France by UFC-Que Choisir, a French consumer association. The organisation revealed its decision in a new letter [French], and said Steam's subscriber agreement contains clauses which are "detrimental to consumer interests."

According to Reddit user Silencement's summary translation, the organisation takes issue with the fact that users cant resell their digital games, something that's allowed in French law.

Other problematic clauses include how Valve does not assume responsibility in cases where accounts get hacked and users' personal info gets stolen, the same can be said for how the company claims ownership of any user-created content uploaded to Steam.

According to the letter's translation, Valve uses Luxembourg's consumer law in all countries it operates in, not taking into account each country's different rules.

A similar case was filed against Valve in front of German courts by a German consumer group back in 2013. The case was won by Valve in 2014.


Interesting......
Didn't Germany sue Valve/Steam a couple years ago and it led to Steam finally offering refunds?

[Huw the Poo]

Who knows whether that's what led to the new refund rules.  To be fair to them, Valve did go above and beyond what anyone reasonably expected of them.  But this is as good a time as any to remind ourselves that you don't own shit on your Steam account.  You're renting those games indefinitely, and if Valve should ever take a dislike to you, they could all be gone with absolutely no redress.

[bobarossa]

I'm still waiting for the day some corporate bean counter says "We can make a mint if we charge $5 a month to have a Steam account! Those losers will pay through the nose to keep access to their games."

[Staggerwing]

You just had to say it out loud...  :(