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If buying isn't owning, piracy isn't stealing
(keep a copy of mr. goldburg)
this post was submitted on 28 May 2024
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Piracy: ꜱᴀɪʟ ᴛʜᴇ ʜɪɢʜ ꜱᴇᴀꜱ
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I mean... They're saying they can't transfer games from one account to another right? But you could just put your account details in your will and anyone could login to your steam account and access your games, right?
Sure would be nice if they had the feature. But I'm not sure it's such a big deal.
This is explicitly against their TOS. Whether or not you'll be found out is a whole other matter
I suppose they would only find out when the account is still in use after 130 years.
Or if they cared to check payment details and such.
What if I’m planning to live for more than 130 years, then what? Fuck big corporations /s
I can't be arsed to read the ToS again, but is it also forbidden to just share an account between several people?
My brother and I opened up that account six years ago and except for the times I forgot to turn my internet off to not be kicked out of games while my brother plays one we never had problems. It would be really shitty if we got into trouble for this because the account is valued somewhere between 1.500 and 4.300€ and is the most expensive thing I own except for my PC.
You typically don't get "ownership rights" when you purchase a game on Steam. You'll typically be purchasing a licence to play the game, which could be taken away at any point. Some Steam games don't include DRM after installation, and you'll truly own those games after downloading them. (you can search for a game here, and find the DRM used) I'd recommend avoiding purchasing games on Steam whenever DRM is included if you want to own the game you'd buy, there are a lot of online stores that sell games without DRM.
Can same game be with DRM on steam and without DRM on other platform.
Yes, happens all the time on gog. They don't have the same library of games but there is an overlap.
You typically don’t get “ownership rights” when you purchase a game on Steam. You’ll typically be purchasing a licence to play the game, which could be taken away at any point.
That is certainly what Valve thinks and writes in their TOS but if their store has a big button that says "BUY HALO" then courts may very well decide that you actually bought Halo.
And many countries have a strict legal definition of what buying means that cannot be overruled by some company's TOS.
That's why the button says "purchase" instead of "buy" it's been a bit since I used Steam, so I had to check to be sure. I think there's a legal loophole there, but I'm not great with English.
That’s why the button says “purchase” instead of “buy”
First off, they're synonyms
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/purchase#synonyms
Now, I'm certainly no expert on the US legal system. It certainly seems silly if you could circumvent entire laws just by using synonyms but what do I know.
However I have been talking about other countries where that is not the case and where the language is not English.
So It really doesn't matter whether it say "buy" or "purchase" in English when it's "kaufen" in German or "acheter" in French.
What's a steam account and why would i want one?
It's the biggest video game marketplace/launcher/DRM makers for PC. If you play video games on PC most games you buy would probably have to be through steam. Their parent company, Valve, is the only multi-billion dollar company I like because so far they have stayed pro-consumer.
😂 this platform continues to make me laugh. Everybody worships steam but somehow all other businesses are bad.
Yeah also billionaires are literally satan but Gabe Newell gets a pass for some reason lol
Yes as a long time PC gamer, I don't understand why people act as if steam and valve are gods. Like ok cool it has the most games and whatever, but they've been going downhill. There's so many random asset flips and porn games now, and their sales have been shit for years now. I remember games going on sale for 90% off during seasonal sales, and all the % off coupons they'd just randomly give out. That never happens now.
Treat people well, and people will like you.