Do I own my games or not?

[Zoltan]

I was around back when STEAM started. It took time to trust them that they will be around long enough from buying the games that were on disk to buying them on steam and still owning them.

Now I am being told I don't own my games that games are only a service.

What the Hell !

We need to know if steam is sticking to the original plan that we own our games.

[Boblin the Goblin]

Messaggio originale di Mod_Abuse_victim#488:

Messaggio originale di SlowMango:

Again, there is no debate. It's cut and dry and clearly explains what "Content and Services" means.

that's pretty much how you roll tho, init?

there is never an actual discussion to be had.

Only in situations where direct sources only support one thing.

[Paladin Dawnheart]

"If buying isn't owning, pie-hair-ting isn't stealing"

[Chika Ogiue]

Messaggio originale di Paladin Dawnheart:

If buying isn't owning...

If you didn't pay for a licenses to legally access the software, then you'd be unlawfully accessing it and potentially subject to the legal consequences, whatever those may be in your region.

[kitty]

Messaggio originale di Chika Ogiue:

whatever those may be in your region.

my region has piracy tax - you pay 5-10% off every purchase for video cards and storage. so I guess if someone already paid for something upfront by being declared guilty by default, there will be no other consequences?
they still owe me content for all these years I paid without receiving a thing.

[Tito Shivan]

Messaggio originale di {draconian} kitty:

my region has piracy tax - you pay 5-10% off every purchase for video cards and storage.

We havve a similar one over here taxing phones and storage devices (hard drives, SD cards, CDR/DVDR if anyone still buys those...)

Messaggio originale di Paladin Dawnheart:

"If buying isn't owning

'buying' and 'owning' has many aceptions and nuances.

[Paladin Dawnheart]

Messaggio originale di Tito Shivan:

Messaggio originale di Paladin Dawnheart:

"If buying isn't owning

'buying' and 'owning' has many aceptions and nuances.

Ya, we still don't care about about your misconceptions and fine print. We will get what we paid for and that's all there is to it.

[Chika Ogiue]

Messaggio originale di {draconian} kitty:

Messaggio originale di Chika Ogiue:

whatever those may be in your region.

my region has piracy tax - you pay 5-10% off every purchase for video cards and storage. so I guess if someone already paid for something upfront by being declared guilty by default, there will be no other consequences?
they still owe me content for all these years I paid without receiving a thing.

I'd check with a legal expert in your region to see if there's no actual punishment for unlawful ownership in addition to that tax. In my region, there is additional punishment in addition to increased costs leveraged at, for example, CD rentals. In other words, renting a CD and making a copy is permitted to an extent, but obtaining the contents of that same CD via other means that doesn't involve payment is still punishable by law.

Messaggio originale di Paladin Dawnheart:

yawn

Sorry, was it past your bed time? Perhaps come back to the discussion when you've rested.

[VaLiuM]

Messaggio originale di Paladin Dawnheart:

"If buying isn't owning, pie-hair-ting isn't stealing"

Your personal definition may vary depending on local laws, so if the feds come into your home and take your PC with them, you may be very well prosecuted after proper investigation and there are countries with very harsh punishments for "pie-hair-ting", as you call it.

[Paladin Dawnheart]

Messaggio originale di VaLiuM:

Messaggio originale di Paladin Dawnheart:

"If buying isn't owning, pie-hair-ting isn't stealing"

Your personal definition may vary depending on local laws, so if the feds come into your home and take your PC with them, you may be very well prosecuted after proper investigation and there are countries with very harsh punishments for "pie-hair-ting", as you call it.

My personal ability to not care is pretty high.

[Dr.Shadowds 🐉]

Messaggio originale di Paladin Dawnheart:

Messaggio originale di VaLiuM:

Your personal definition may vary depending on local laws, so if the feds come into your home and take your PC with them, you may be very well prosecuted after proper investigation and there are countries with very harsh punishments for "pie-hair-ting", as you call it.

My personal ability to not care is pretty high.

You mean low? If it was high wouldn't be here to begin with.

[kitty]

Messaggio originale di Chika Ogiue:

I'd check with a legal expert in your region to see if there's no actual punishment for unlawful ownership

our government passed the law in 2022 to ensure no one is getting away with pirating a movie or anything else. punishment varies from fine ($22-$120) to 2 years imprisonment (when the damage is severe, probably for those who distribute illegal goods). Nice to see our government has their priorities straight in these hard times. embezzling millions - no one cares, downloading 1 dollar game - you're so in trouble :)

on the lawmaker page they mentioned this law is for euro integration. so if not for EU we'd have no actual regulation. I'm liking this "join EU" things less and less with every law they pass on a way to join it. freedom turns into dictatorship (I'm not talking about this anti piracy law but rather the sum of all changes that were made to please EU, some of them really bad and damaging, like no immediate access to meds without prescription)

I have no data how this law is enforced or if there are any convicts, it's probably just on paper like many other laws, reserved to punish free thinkers or journalists who dig into financial schemes too much.

[Boblin the Goblin]

Messaggio originale di Paladin Dawnheart:

Messaggio originale di Tito Shivan:

'buying' and 'owning' has many aceptions and nuances.

Ya, we still don't care about about your misconceptions and fine print. We will get what we paid for and that's all there is to it.

You paid for a license, you are getting that license.

[Zeyo]

Legally, no. Property is a spook. A ghost of the mind. Anyone can say that they own something. Some just have the backing of a state to do it.

But, if the software that you paid for is saved on a hard drive in your posession and it's not a live service game, what are they gonna do about it?

[kitty]

Messaggio originale di Tito Shivan:

We havve a similar one over here taxing phones and storage devices (hard drives, SD cards, CDR/DVDR if anyone still buys those...)

yeah, our tax probably includes sd cards and other cheap things, it's just I noticed it in my bill for video card as it was outlined separately from shipping and other tax.
what do they do with all that money they're extorting from people worldwide? are they paying to EA and Ubi or (I hope) fund educational games and movies for poor children?

[GustavoM]

In a nutshell, you pay for rent, not to own the game. Which means devs can freely take away your game "rent" at any time they desire.