Users should be able to resell the games they own, says the Federation of German Consumer Organizations
By Loek Essers | 31 January 13
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The Federation of German Consumer Organizations (VZVB) has sued
computer game distributor Valve because it prohibits Steam-gamers from reselling their games.
Steam users own the games they purchase and should be able to
resell them when they want to, just like owners of traditional card or
board games can, said Carola Elbrecht, project manager for consumer
rights in the digital world at the VZVB, on Thursday. But while those
traditional game owners can resell their games whenever they like, Steam
users often cannot, she said.
In theory, a Steam user could download a game, burn it on a CD
and resell it, she said. In most cases, though, buyers wouldn't be able
to play the game they purchased because the games are linked to a user
account and without the key for that specific account, online only games
are not playable, she said.
Because Valve forbids its users to sell or transfer their
accounts to another person, the exchange of games that can only be
played online is impossible, she said. This means that a Steam user only
partially owns games, Elbrecht said. "If I pay the full price for a
game, then why am I not allowed to do with it what I want," she added.
Valve was warned in September by the VZVB to change this
practice, but the company did not comply with the federation's demands.
Therefore, the federation
sued the company in the District Court of Berlin on Wednesday.
Valve did not respond to a request for comment.
The VZVB sued the game distributor for similar reasons once
before, Elbrecht said. That case went all the way to the German Federal
Court of Justice, which ruled in 2010 that Valve did not violate German
law by prohibiting the transfer of user accounts.
The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), however,
ruled in July that the trading of "used" software licenses is legal and that the author of such software cannot oppose any resale.
While the CJEU's case is not exactly the same as the current
litigation against Valve, the VZVB reckons that the ruling gives
sufficient basis for a new lawsuit, Elbrecht said. She expected the
litigation to go on for years, and it will probably end up at the
federal court again, she said.
Nevertheless, a new lawsuit is useful, she said. Besides raising
awareness of the issue and possibly changing the minds of the judges,
the litigation is also meant as a signal to other game distributors that
have the same practices, she said.
While Valve was unwilling to change its practices on this point,
it promised to change the way it gets users' consent when it changes its
terms and conditions. The last time Valve changed the terms and
conditions for Steam, users were unable to play their games if they did
not accept the new rules, Elbrecht said.
Valve promised to adjust the
mandatory consent to let users who don't want to accept the new terms in
the future to still be able to play their purchased games.
