FAO legal peoples :D

[Chronictank]

Regarding Bioshock,

2K Elizabeth

"hey guys,

first, let me say this. you DO NOT NEED TO USE THE INTERNET EVERY TIME YOU PLAY THIS GAME. it is only the first time.

second, you can uninstall and reinstall this game, and if, by chance, you have 2 computers you want to simultaneously play this game on, you also can do that.

if by some chance you are reinstalling this game without uninstalling it first, a lot, there is a chance you may have to call securom and get a key, or deactivate some older installations.

but if you upgrade your hardware next week, you'll still be able to play the game. if you revamp your system and need to reinstall bioshock, just uninstall it before you go through the overhaul, and then do your reinstall.

calling it "hardware fingerprinting" is a bit alarmist. we do not transmit any of your data to any companies.

really, the only people who will be concerned about any of these security measures are those who are rapidly putting bioshock on many pcs... if you use the game as you normally do, you won't notice this at all."

So basically you are only allowed to have the game installed on 2 pc's at any one time

I just want to ask is this is against statuatory rights, i.e. i purchased the product so i can do with it as i please?

 

[Wonk]

wasn't it the same with HL2?

 

[Chronictank]

wasn't it the same with HL2?

nop, you can install the game to as many pc's as you like but only play 1 copy at a time

 

[Lamp]

Go speak to a lawyer. Half the people on this board aren't even qualified to stick their finger up their own ass let alone give legal advice LOL

 

[tris-]

i dont know jack shit about copyright laws and stuff yet

 

[Dudley52]

Go speak to a lawyer. Half the people on this board aren't even qualified to stick their finger up their own ass let alone give legal advice LOL

lol!!!

 

[Chronictank]

Go speak to a lawyer. Half the people on this board aren't even qualified to stick their finger up their own ass let alone give legal advice LOL

there are a few people on here doing law degree's
why on earth would i pay a lawyer for something that i was mildly interested in

 

[GReaper]

I am not a lawyer, however...

You agree to a license to install the software. The owner of the program has ownership of the copyright to it, so the owner is free to license usage of the software to you (hence the license agreement when you install software).

Software is a literary work, you're buying a license to use it.

 

[Thorwyn]

Most licence agreements respectively EULAs are a pile of utter bollocks with no legal value whatsoever. Software companies tend to put all kind of bullshit into their licence agreements because they know that their customers won´t have the guts to put up a legal dispute. But that doesn´t make them any more valid.

Yes, software companies have copyrights to the product they produce and sell. They are also free to design their software in any way they want. If they don´t want their software to run together with a copy of - say - Winzip, they can code it that way. The customer has the choice to either accept that, or give back the software and claim a refund.

Changing the code, circumventing protection features and generally "reverse engineering" is still a grey area. Some claim that it´s illegal, some say it´s not. The entire thing is way too complex to cover it in a few sentences. However, the important thing is that after Steam and Sony and Starforce, we´re once again facing a new form of "diminishing customer rights", which is pretty sad.

 

[crispy]

What does steam do to our "diminishing customer rights"?

I find steam pretty good method of distribution tho.

 

[Thorwyn]

Forced updates, tracing the IP and PayPal accounts to identify the user, forced internet connection, closing accounts ad lib, the inability to relsell your game... and the list goes on.
If you´re happy with game companies hassling around on your computer and tracing your gaming habits, then I guess there´s nothing wrong with Steam though.

 

[Killswitch]

Remember that no matter what you agree to in a EULA (or any other kind of contract) it does NOT trump the law. If Valve were to use data taken from your PC in a way that contravened the Data Protection Act or do things to your PC that stopped Unreal Tournament running properly they would be in breach of the law.

 

[crispy]

Any evidence of this hassling around on my computer?

And why do they close accounts?

Forced updates? Couldnt care less. Update is good!

I can start steam easily in offline mode and play my games...

And how do they stop me from reselling my account? By identifying the user? How? Creditcard information?

 

[Thorwyn]

Steam (content delivery) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

...just for a start.

Like I said, if you´re happy with all those things, then go for it. I won´t stop you.

I want to install a game, register when *I* want, play on- and offline when *I* want, update it when *I* want, install mods when *I* want and most of all, I don´t want to get spammed with advertisements for other products.

 

[Chronictank]

And why do they close accounts?

We have a zero-tolerance policy for any violations of the Steam Subscriber Agreement and Online Code of Conduct - we will permanently disable all accounts in a user's possession for any of the following activities:

*
Piracy or Hacking

This includes using an unauthorized ("hacked") Steam client to access Steam, attempting to register fake CD Keys, or attempting to register a CD Key which has been published on the internet.
*
Payment Fraud

Any fraudulent credit card use, credit card chargebacks, or Paypal chargebacks (regardless of when the transaction occurred).
*
Hijacking, Sharing, or Trading Accounts

Do not use Steam accounts which you did not create.
*
Account "Phishing" and Deliberately Deceptive Activity

This includes contacting other users outside of Steam or over the Friends network under a misleading screen name or e-mail address (i.e. "Steam Admin" or "John@Steampowered.com") and requesting password or account information.
*
Buying, Selling, or Trading Accounts

Accounts which have been bought, sold, or traded will be permanently disabled.
*
Any violation of the Steam Subcriber Agreement or the Rules of Online Conduct

Please see the Steam Subscriber Agreement and Online Code of Conduct if you have any questions about the policies which govern Steam account use and account termination.

Answer

Forced updates? Couldnt care less. Update is good!

Not always, if a update will break your game then you dont want to install it
Especially if it has been heavily customised, prime example is modding cs models a few months back a minor tweak to the model code resulted in custom models breaking.
Updates may be good for the most part, but not always
The user should be able to choose

I can start steam easily in offline mode and play my games...

Not all games, when HL2 was originally launched it needed a internet connection to play it, and was hardware tagged. This was patched out pretty quickly tho.

And how do they stop me from reselling my account? By identifying the user? How? Creditcard information?

It is against steam policy to buy/sell accounts, see above
They are well within their rights to ban accounts they believe to be sold

 

[crispy]

Well i dont plan on selling my steam account anyways And i dont plan on adding illegit games to my account either so i should be pretty safe. Either way, if i were to sell my account i doubt they would be able to ban it anyways.

As long as the buyer dont add new games with a new credit card i cant imagine how on earth they would find out. And i also dont think that their so called EULA has any juristriction here in denmark. They still have to obey danish law when they sell a product here, even if its bought over the internet.

And as long as they only collect data from steam i dont care about my privacy

 

[Bahumat]

I dont know what the law says, but...

Spoiler

Captain Chunk says, Lets get the hell outta here!

 

[Huntingtons]

i do care about my privacy tho

 

[aika]

thats just a load of BS tbh, wtf is wrong with games now soon you will need to give them your rl info and cc number just to play :E