STEAM: You are Dead to Me:(

Actually, if you could ensure that fingerprint scanners were reliable, then I'd go for that, but the problem is that as long as the program files are stored locally offline, cracks can be developed and applied to bypass the authentication method.

 

Fingerprint scanners can be defeated quite easily.

 

yeah, just cut off the person's finger.

 

or use a peice of tape with the finger print

 

Just finished installing HAWX which I purchased from Best Buy this morning...based on this thread, for the first time in over 15 years of PC gaming, I actually read the EULA...if Steam is bad, Ubisoft is the Father of All Evil...

Here goes an excerpt...

Please read this Licence carefully before installing the game (“Multimedia Product”.
This Licence is an agreement between you, the “User”, and Ubisoft Entertainment and/or its licensors and/or its beneficiaries (“Ubisoft”, which grants the User the non-exclusive and non-transferable right to use the Multimedia Product.
This Licence is valid in the United States of America.
By installing the Multimedia Product, the User undertakes to respect the terms and conditions of the Licence.

1- The Licence

Ubisoft grants the User a non-exclusive and non-transferable Licence to use the Multimedia Product, but remains the owner of all the rights relating thereto.
Any rights not specifically transferred by this Licence remain the property of Ubisoft.
The Multimedia Product is licensed and not sold to the User, for private use.

THE MULTIMEDIA PRODUCT MAY BE PROTECTED BY DIGITAL RIGHTS MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE (“DRM SOFTWARE”. IN SUCH CASE, THE USER HEREBY AGREES, ACKNOWLEDGES AND CONSENTS TO THE FOLLOWING REGARDING THE DRM SOFTWARE: (I) THAT THE INSTALLATION OF THE MULTIMEDIA PRODUCT WILL CAUSE THE DRM SOFTWARE TO BE INSTALLED ON THE USER'S COMPUTER; (II) THE DRM SOFTWARE MAY LIMIT THE NUMBER OF INSTALLATIONS OF THE MULTIMEDIA PRODUCT; (III) THE DRM SOFTWARE MAY INSTALL ON THE USER'S COMPUTER ADDITIONAL COMPONENTS REQUIRED FOR COPY PROTECTION; AND (IV) DURING THE INSTALLATION AND/OR THE FIRST LAUNCH, AN ONLINE CONNECTION MAY BE REQUIRED TO UNLOCK THE MULTIMEDIA PRODUCT THROUGH THE DRM SOFTWARE. IN NO EVENT SHALL UBISOFT BE LIABLE IN CONNECTION WITH THE COMPONENTS THAT MAY BE INSTALLED ON THE USER'S COMPUTER BY ANY DRM SOFTWARE. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE VISIT THE WEBSITE OF THE DRM SOFTWARE APPEARING DURING THE INSTALLATION OF THE GAME.

...

3- Use of the Multimedia Product

The User is authorised to use the Multimedia Product in accordance with the instructions provided in the manual or on the packaging of the Multimedia Product.
The Licence is granted solely for private use.

It is not permitted:
- To make copies of the Multimedia Product,
- To operate the Multimedia Product commercially,
- To use it contrary to morality or the laws in force,
- To modify the Multimedia Product or create any derived work,
- To transmit the Multimedia Product via a telephone network or any other electronic means, except during multi-player games on authorised networks,
- To create or distribute unauthorised levels and/or scenarios,
- To decompile, reverse engineer or disassemble the Multimedia Product.

The User cannot sell, sublicense or lease the Multimedia Product to a third party.
The User can only transfer the Multimedia Product if the recipient agrees to the terms and conditions of the Licence. In this event, the User undertakes to transfer all components and documentation relating to the Multimedia Product. He also undertakes to delete any copy of the Multimedia Product from his computer. In this event, this Licence is automatically and immediately terminated.
The User acknowledges that Ubisoft may collect and use certain User data in accordance with the privacy policy accessible on the website <http://www.ubi.com/US/Info/Info.aspx?tagname=PrivacyPolicy>.


4- Termination of the Licence

The Licence is effective from the first time the Multimedia Product is used.
It is terminated automatically by Ubisoft without notice if the User fails to adhere to the terms and conditions of the Licence.

I purchased a physical game in a physical store, and Ubisoft (depending on the DRM they employ) can terminate my rights to the license at any time and they don't even have to tell me. I don't think there is any DRM out there that is that malicious...but I didn't realize things had got so bad.

If I wasn't so addicted to gaming, this behavior towards the end consumer (me) would stop me from ever making another purchase...

 

Wait, so mods and other user created content are in fact directly in contravention with the EULA?

XDDD

 

Yeah, but not in a way that can be downloaded by the unwashed masses (to my knowledge). Or were you referring to software cracking?

 

IWantMyMTV im pretty sure all games are like that. You just license the game, you don't own it so technically they have the right to reclaim it. Same thing exists with Microsoft Windows, etc.

 

Someone should do a press release about how games are no longer yours, they are just rentals for $50.

 

Here's a 'EULA' from Syndicate in 1993...you did not have to agree to anything to install the game...and it was not a license...

This manual and the software described in it are copyrighted,
with all rights reserved. Under the copyright laws, this manual or
the software may not be copied, in whole or part, without written
consent of Electronic Arts, except in the normal use of the software
or to make a backup copy of the software. The same proprietary
and copyright notices must be affixed to any permitted
copies as were affixed to the original. This exception does not
allow copies to be made for others, whether or not sold, but all
of the material purchased (with all backup copies) may be sold,
given, or loaned to another person. Under the law, copying
includes translating into another language or format.

You may use the software on any computer owned by you, but
extra copies cannot be made for this purpose.

Somewhere, the publishers and perhaps the legal system changed...wikipedia suggests that only a couple of the U.S. Circuit Courts will uphold the license argument in favor of the publishers when arguments on licensing vs ownership pop up...

 

Here's a 'EULA' from Blizzard for the battle.net version of Warcraft 2 (1999)...don't remember if you had to agree to the EULA to install the game or not...you probably did...

YOU SHOULD CAREFULLY READ THE FOLLOWING END USER
LICENSE AGREEMENT BEFORE INSTALLING THIS
SOFTWARE PROGRAM. BY INSTALLING, COPYING, OR
OTHERWISE USING THE SOFTWARE PROGRAM, YOU AGREE
TO BE BOUND BY THE TERMS OF THIS AGREEMENT. IF
YOU DO NOT AGREE TO THE TERMS OF THIS AGREEMENT,
PROMPTLY RETURN THE UNUSED SOFTWARE PROGRAM TO
THE PLACE OF PURCHASE OR CONTACT BLIZZARD
ENTERTAINMENT CUSTOMER SERVICE AT (949) 955-1382
FOR A FULL REFUND OF THE PURCHASE PRICE WITHIN
30 DAYS OF THE ORIGINAL PURCHASE.

This software program (the "Program"), any printed
materials, any on-line or electronic documentation,
and any and all copies and derivative works of such
software program and materials are the copyrighted
work of Blizzard Entertainment, a division of Havas
Interactive, Inc. and/or its wholly owned
subsidiaries, or its suppliers. All use of the
Program is governed by the terms of the End User
License Agreement which is provided below ("License
Agreement"). The Program is solely for use by end
users according to the terms of the License Agreement.
Any use, reproduction or redistribution of the Program
not in accordance with the terms of the License
Agreement is expressly prohibited.

END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT

1. Limited Use License. Blizzard Entertainment
("Blizzard") hereby grants, and by installing the
Program you thereby accept, a limited, non-exclusive
license and right to install and use one (1) copy of
the Program for your use on either a home or portable
computer. In addition, the Program has a multi-player
capability that allows up to eight players per
registered version of the Program to play
concurrently. These additional copies of the Program
are known as and referred to hereafter as "Spawned
Versions." You may install Spawned Versions of the
Program on an unlimited number of computers. However,
Spawned Versions of the Program must be played in
conjunction with the registered version of the Program
from which they were spawned. All of the terms and
conditions of the License Agreement shall also apply
to the Spawned Version of the Program, with the
exception that the Spawned Version Program may be
installed on as many computers as you wish. The
Program also contains a Level Editor (the
"Editor") that allows you to create custom levels or
other materials for your personal use in connection
with the Program ("New Materials"). All use of the
Editor or any New Materials is subject to this License
Agreement. The Program is licensed, not sold. Your
license confers no title or ownership in the Program.

2. Ownership. All title, ownership rights and
intellectual property rights in and to the Program and
any and all copies thereof (including but not limited
to any titles, computer code, themes, objects,
characters, character names, stories, dialog, catch
phrases, locations, concepts, artwork, animations,
sounds, musical compositions, audio-visual effects,
methods of operation, moral rights, any related
documentation, and "applets" incorporated into the
Program) are owned by Blizzard Entertainment or its
licensors. The Program is protected by the copyright
laws of the United States, international copyright
treaties and conventions and other laws. All rights
are reserved. The Program contains certain licensed
materials and Blizzard's licensors may protect their
rights in the event of any violation of this
Agreement.

3. Responsibilities of End User.

A. Subject to the Grant of License hereinabove,
you may not, in whole or in part, copy, photocopy,
reproduce, translate, reverse engineer, derive source
code, modify, disassemble, decompile, create
derivative works based on the Program, or remove any
proprietary notices or labels on the Program without
the prior consent, in writing, of Blizzard.

B. The Program is licensed to you as a single
product. Its component parts may not be separated for
use on more than one computer.

C. You are entitled to use the Program for your
own use, but you are not entitled to:

(i) sell, grant a security interest in or
transfer reproductions of the Program to
other parties in any way, nor to rent,
lease or license the Program to others
without the prior written consent of
Blizzard.

(ii) exploit the Program or any of its
parts for any commercial purpose
including, but not limited to, use at a
cyber cafe, computer gaming center or
any other location-based site. Blizzard
may offer a separate Site License
Agreement to permit you to make the
Program available for commercial use;
contact Blizzard for details;

(iii) use or allow third parties to use
the Editor and the New Materials created
thereby for commercial purposes
including, but not limited to,
distribution of New Materials on a stand
alone basis or packaged with other
software or hardware through any and all
distribution channels, including, but
not limited to, retail sales and on-line
electronic distribution without the
express written consent of Blizzard; and

(iv) host or provide matchmaking services for
the Program or emulate or redirect the
communication protocols used by Blizzard
in the network feature of the Program,
through protocol emulation, tunneling,
modifying or adding components to the
Program, use of a utility program or any
other techniques now known or hereafter
developed, for any purpose including,
but not limited to network play over the
Internet, network play utilizing
commercial or non-commercial gaming
networks or as part of content
aggregation networks without the prior
written consent of Blizzard.

4. Program Transfer. You may permanently transfer
all of your rights under this License Agreement,
provided the recipient agrees to the terms of this
License Agreement and you agree to remove the Program
and any New Materials from your home or portable
computer.

5. Termination. This License Agreement is effective
until terminated. You may terminate the License
Agreement at any time by destroying the Program and
any New Materials. Blizzard may, at its discretion,
terminate this License Agreement in the event that you
fail to comply with the terms and conditions contained
herein. In such event, you must immediately destroy
the Program and any New Materials.

...

10. Miscellaneous. This License Agreement shall be
deemed to have been made and executed in the State of
California and any dispute arising hereunder shall be
resolved in accordance with the law of California. You
agree that any claim asserted in any legal proceeding
by one of the parties against the other shall be
commenced and maintained in any state or federal court
located in the State of California, County of Los
Angeles, having subject matter jurisdiction with
respect to the dispute between the parties. This
License Agreement may be amended, altered or modified
only by an instrument in writing, specifying such
amendment, alteration or modification, executed by
both parties. In the event that any provision of this
License Agreement shall be held by a court or other
tribunal of competent jurisdiction to be
unenforceable, such provision will be enforced to the
maximum extent permissible and the remaining portions
of this License Agreement shall remain in full force
and effect. This License Agreement constitutes and
contains the entire agreement between the parties with
respect to the subject matter hereof and supersedes
any prior oral or written agreements.

I hereby acknowledge that I have read and understand
the foregoing License Agreement and agree that the
action of installing the Program is an acknowledgment
of my agreement to be bound by the terms and
conditions of the License Agreement contained herein.
I also acknowledge and agree that this License
Agreement is the complete and exclusive statement of
the agreement between Blizzard and I and that the
License Agreement supersedes any prior or
contemporaneous agreement, either oral or written, and
any other communications between Blizzard and myself.

 

How that would work is that when you put your fingerprint on the the scanner it has to go through a various part of the game, then when everything matches up it would unlock. It would be easy just to add a mod in between the fingerprint user, and the process that activates the game. So you wouldn't even need to scan your finger print.

 

In 2002 for Warcraft 3, Blizzard's 'EULA' remained unchanged in the language but added a couple of paragraph items regarding 'Customer Support', 'Online Components' and this...

12. Limitations on License. Nothing in this License Agreement shall preclude you from making or authorizing the making of another copy or adaptation of the Program provided, however, that (1) such new copy or adaptation is created as an essential step in your utilization of the Program in accordance with the terms of this License Agreement and for NO OTHER PURPOSE; or (2) such new copy or adaptation is for archival purposes ONLY and all archival copies are destroyed in the event of your Transfer of the Program, the Termination of this Agreement, or other circumstances under which your continued use of the Program ceases to be rightful.

 

We've progressed from (1) ownership to (2) licensing where you're required to destroy the program if you violate the license to (3) licensing where they (the publisher/distributor in the case of Steam) can destroy the program if they feel you've violated the license...

Very, very sad...and I wasn't even aware that it was going on until this thread...

 

Just butting my head in here... from a perspecive from Sweden

I don't really know anything about Law in general, but I do know that there are several problems with EULAs and the like:

This is what flies in the face of Swedish Law:

1. EULAs cannot be signed in any way. This means they are not legally binding no matter how many "yes" buttons / boxes levers you click, pull or drag.

2. EULAs do not care if you are a minor (minors cannot agree to any kind of legal contract, period). See above.

3. EULAs can never trump the law. Even if it was (which is it not) a legal contract. This means that since the law states that you own something you buy (key phrase: Purchase, not Lease, and again, it's not a legal contract!) you can do whatever you want with it. Including selling it or giving it away.

This means that you legally can make copies of a game or program you have bought (if the copy protection lets you) as long as you keep the copies for your own use.
This also mean that vendors HAVE to take back games or other software that has been opened if it does not work on a computer, even if the EULA states "use as is" and whatever...

Anyway, so far this has not been actually tested in court, since the few times it has been an issue the software company has quietly agreed to replace / pay back / whatever instead of risking making it public knowledge that EULAS are useless...

 

Sounds about the same here in the States. Plus, who is going to sue over a $50 game? I guess that's what they're counting on. It needs to be a class action suit against all the publishers to make it change.

I know they have to protect themselves, but there has to be a better way than guilty until proven innocent or not proven at all!

 

Interesting subject... sorry to all who lost their accounts, that's not right. If anything is going to be done it's not going to be through their online support system, that thing sucks.

It makes me a little frightened of my account ever getting disabled as well. I have probably $300 or more worth of games over the last 6 years on my account. Lot's of that is from the weekend deals though.

Anyone find this a little ironic after reading this thread though?
http://store.steampowered.com/news/2372/

 

I remember back in the day before STEAM that people were called tin foil wearers if you thought this could/would happen.

 

I do

Or I will if my attorney general complaint isn't resolve satisfactorily.

It takes about $25 bucks and a little time to issue a small claims against a company. It takes far more than $50 just to get their representative to the court I'm suing them in. Even if I lose, I win.

 

It has been a long time coming. They may as well just admit they are renting games for full purchase price.

 

After 6 days I'm back into my steam account. File a support claim. Very slow but at least i got my games back.

 

EPIC yeaaaa

 

Basically, yeah. $50 to play it as long as they say you can.

And that steam news article:
http://store.steampowered.com/news/2372/

Funny how it is titled "Steamworks makes DRM obsolete". Isn't Steam a DRM?

 

It's not really DRM. And they're right, it would be pointless to try to steal a steam game, at least to the extent that you'd have to bypass steam activation before that would work. This will probably happen down the line at some point. But really Steam is doing this the wrong way.

If they want to run a business without going afoul of property/ownership laws, they need to tell people upfront that it is a conditional rental rather than phrasing things as purchases. The way their subscriber agreement reads, they're just not. And they can't have it both ways.

I've actually seen services that offer unfettered access to their entire games catalog for a monthly fee. This makes a lot more sense because you know right away that you're not actually purchasing any of the games involved.

 

My only concern is in the long run, will we have access to these games ten years down the line? I have CD games that I bring out from time to time, and now that I have a netbook, they are especially applicable. I don't know if we'll have that chance in the future.

 

This has always been a question with these services. At some point you will probably not have access to them. The question is always when.

Of course you could always lose your cd's to.

 

Mfox76 did you ever get your account back???? i am in the exact same situation as you

 

Negative, got my second reply answered another week later, and strangely after I threatened them about their libelous claims that I was doing something Illegal, they answered basically dropping all the threats, saying too bad, you still "perpetuated fraud" against "Steam" by purchasing the game on Ebay and you are not getting your account back.

 

That sucks man. At the very least hopefully it's a warning to others who may have wanted to buy a Steam game on Ebay.

I forget who it was earlier, but they were able to get their account back under the same circumstances. You should try what they did.

 

I contacted them and they replied with the same standard response that they gave you and i made a post on thier forum which was locked ....i sent them another response and i contacted ebay and told them that they needed to get involved in this and they got steams contact information and said that they would contact steam on my behalf and that i should contact my local law authorties

 

Just for a reference, here was the feedback for the seller who was selling them, he has since stopped over the last week, I guess word of this thread has gotten out.

Anyhow, take a look at the feedback, and you tell me, what someone who is not familiar with Steam's polcies Via their obtuse EULA/TOS would think when they stumble upon this deal.

http://feedback.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewFeedback2&userid=wflemm57&ftab=AllFeedback

Anyhow, Kcchiefs31 keep us updated on any progress you make...I am highly doubtful we will get anywhere...

Also, whoever said they got their account back under the same circumstances...would you care to explain how you went about that?

 

Technically, it is your fault but Steam went way too far and removed your account. Has anything happend yet?

 

Ya thats the same guy that i got my game from

 

http://www.evga.com/forums/tm.asp?m=100555481&mpage=1&key=�

i started a thread on evgas website

 

There are other online vendors where you can purchase digitally-acquired games that require CD-keys (including Steam games) for great prices. They all sell you a valid working Steam key to which you can input into the Steam client and download the game.

How is that any different from buying the key on ebay? Neither sales outlets are official Steam partners so whats the deal with Steam disabling some games and not others? Left4Dead can be bought on such sites for the regular price of $25. The following thread depicts so.

 

The only difference I see is that you are technically not allowed to "purchase" a gifted game. I would assume it probably wouldn't be a big deal, I mean, when Prey was a $5 deal, it wasn't available to me in mexico, but a friend gifted it to me and I reimbursed him. The problem must be is that the vendor on Ebay was getting these games illegally, since I don't know of any other way he could have bought it so cheap on Steam, since $50 is still the cheapest.

 

Citzen....

You are on the right track I think...Valve Does not care one Iota at the venue which the games or bought...all they care about in this case is money...and ostensibly, due to charge backs or whatever, Valve is losing money, so clearly they are targeting the only people they can, the end user, with extreme impunity, almost like a spoiled child who would rather destroy his toys then see his little brother play with them...

 

Heres the thing...in my response from steam they linked there subscriber agreement and i didnt see anything in there that said you couldnt purchase games via ebay...It did say you could you could purchase games through an authorized reseller and the guy on ebay was advertising steams name and offering warranty and moneyback refunds....he has over 180 feedback that is all 100% positive ...from the end user's perspective there is no reason to think that he isnt an authorized reseller..i think steam disabling accounts becuase of people buying games from someone who is advertising to be affilated with steam is insanity...if not illegal

 

I would try writing in to the consumerist, and read about how to write an executive email bomb over there. That technique has a pretty good history of getting results for people.

 

Write to Gabe Newell, and plead your case just as you and kcchiefs31 here have. Link to the eBay page, and explain. Also bring up the point about authorized resellers. There's nothing in there that says how to identify an authorized reseller.

As difficult as it can be, don't be accusatory or negative. Just state the facts, provide the information, and show them that this was an honest mistake that anyone could have made. You obviously didn't steal the code, and didn't intentionally try to "rip off" Steam. You are an honest customer who was dealt some bad cards.

 

Agreed, that seems fair. Gabe Newell seems like a decent guy...

In any case, most rational people would just remove the game at your loss of $30, not your entire account.

 

just spent some time skimming through all this... as, I have a great deal invested in my steam collection as well. Please do keep us updated, and if there is anything we can do to help. I do believe in the service, but as seen here, ultimate power with any one entity is scary.

Well, for what it's worth, I just sent a long message to steam stating my concern and possible loss of an entire collection over a single misunderstanding, scam, or problem. Will update if I get a meaningful response. And, as others have stated, I love Steam, but this is a bit frightening.

 

thanks for the effort be77solo maybe it will help to persuade steam to reactivate some accounts that dont deserve to be permanetly disabled

 

well it appears steam has made a sticky forum post in thier genreal forums today regarding the issue....although im not sure what it means for me its a little bit after the fact for me

 

hmm, just checked it out and it hits all the issues you've had it appears... I have to hope that they realize this was an issue and will help you out. Keep us informed, and I'm still curious what kind of reply I will get as a customer with a concern.

 

They posted you can contact a moderator. Find one who seems friendly, send them a message saying you've started a ticket, but that you were denied, and it happened before that was posted. It was just posted today, so you can still plead ignorance and hope they reactivate your account.

http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=831297

 

Just an update on my end, they did respond, and on the weekend to boot which suprised me. But, all they said was "we can't comment on other users", but they did link me to the post in their forums concerning the ebay scam. So, they are definitely aware of the issue, and I do hope they hook you up. I would stay on them until they fix it.

 

I see steam kind of like putting all of your eggs in one less expensive basket. I always prefer to buy all of my games stand alone apart from any online activation.

The last steam game I purchased would not work and kept on giving errors about missing steam dll's. I simply do not have time for any of this.

I just buy pre owned games on CD to save money.

 

no luck yet

 

Am I the only one here that loves game boxes?! Especially the plastic ones (not so much the old paper/cardboard ones)!

Anyways back on topic...hopefully if your account was in good standing before the incident they're give it back.