So buying any kind of "steam activation key' is illegal?

[r¡sê ºƒ çhaös]

Just curious, as I see it pretty much all over the place now, i.e. purchasing game downloads and then activating the game on Steam. All kinds of third party sites, Amazon, etc etc etc. Apparently anytime you get an activation key ....that game can be removed from your account at any moment. What is the official word on this? Anytime you buy a 'steam game' from anywhere but Steam you pretty much do it at your own risk? It seems that any time after you activate the key the company who sold it to you can reclaim ownership of it and Steam will delete it from your library.

[Τhe Rolling Cheese Wheel]

Illegal? No it is not. Just exercise caution and you should be OK. Don't buy from shady businesses unless you're experienced in the market etc.

[r¡sê ºƒ çhaös]

Seems to me that once you activate a game on Steam using a key, that game and key is yours, period. If they say, congradulations you have activated and now own such and such a game on Steam, that should be the end of it.. It means that no one has claimed that key and its yours.

[r¡sê ºƒ çhaös]

But apparently thats not the case... I know you just have to exercise caution and I definitely won't be buying anymore games on ebay etc.. but its just strange that there is no black and white rules on this. Whoever activates a game first should own that game, period.

[Kenny32673]

Authorized sellers are fine (Amazon, Green Man Gaming, Gamersgate, GetGamesGo, Impulse to name a few).

Dodgy eastern european websites selling region locked CD keys are not.
Websites selling CD keys (that are often photographs of keys from retail boxes) are not.

Buying sealed brand new PC games in a box from eBay is fine, buying used PC games or buying a key from eBay is not as it leaves you open to losing that key again and PayPal won't help you, since eBay's terms don't allow the sending of keys via email.

[r¡sê ºƒ çhaös]

Seems to me that there needs some serious clarification about activating games on Steam. When I purchase a game and activate it on Steam and it says 'congradulations you now own Dead Island, I expect that I activated that key, it has not been activated previously, and its a done deal. I dont like coming home a few weeks later and seeing that Dead Island has been removed from my library by Steam. I don't care if I bought the game from Amazon, ebay, or whoever... I ACTIVATED that game successfully on my account, that number HAD NOT BEEN USED, and I USED IT, and I OWN THE GAME. If anything is dodgy, its Steam coming back after accepting the key and then removing it from my account. I ACTIVATED THE KEY AND STEAM ACCEPTED IT. I dont care who has the box anymore.. they sold me the rights to the game and I redeemed it.

[r¡sê ºƒ çhaös]

Not arguing with anyone of course... just opening the issue for discussion, from a legal standpoint etc, and interested in anyone's thoughts/viewpoints. I'm sure 10-15 years from today there will be an entire legal field devoted to this type of thing.

[dirrtymartini]

Originally posted by slick_trick:

I dont like coming home a few weeks later and seeing that Dead Island has been removed from my library by Steam. I don't care if I bought the game from Amazon, ebay, or whoever...

So where did you buy the game from? You cite an authorized dealer but don't actually say you purchased from Amazon. If you did and the game was revoked, there is a valid issue.

If you purchased from a shady, unauthorized site, then you got what you deserved.

[Satoru]

If you buy a key from reputable sources this is not a problem. Revocation of keys happen only when you get said key from shady sources like eBay or a shady cdkey shop that may have used a keygen or illegally exported the keys.

If you buy your game from legitimate sources you do nt have anything to worry about

Get them from eBay or shady Cd key shops and issues you have are not steams problem. You assumed that risk when you decide to save a few bucks. Yell at the retailer that sold you the bogus key. No different than when the cops take stolen items you may have bought.

[Satoru]

Dead Island keys were known exploited keys so most likely it was revoked because whoever you got it from used a keygeb

Again BLAME THE PERSON WHO SOLD IT TO YOU.

[r¡sê ºƒ çhaös]

Originally posted by Satoru:

If you buy a key from reputable sources this is not a problem. Revocation of keys happen only when you get said key from shady sources like eBay or a shady cdkey shop that may have used a keygen or illegally exported the keys.

All true.. however the issue that I'm raising is that Steam accepted the key and activated my game. If the key was not from an 'authorized retailer', I expect to find that out when I attempt to activate the key. In this case it was bought on Ebay (last year) and so after happily activating the key I went ahead and left positive feedback thinking that I recieved a valid key.

I'm arguing from a legal standpoint. If Steam activates the key, as far as I'm concerned, that means it was from an authorized retailer. I don't believe Steam should have legal grounds for accepting a key and then later revoking it. Obviously this implicates the entire buyer cycle. I can fully understand that this is a problem, but either Steam should stop accepting keys in the first place, or they should go ahead and accept responsibility for it if they do accept a key. Coming back later and revoking my key 6 months after I purchased the game does not add up in my book. Im just saying I believe this is a grey area from a legal standpoint. If my key is not from an 'authorized source' then don't accept it. I can then go return it to the purchaser and get my money back. But if Steam accepts it, then leave it at that. Don't come back 6 months later and say that my key was a bogus key. As far as I'm concerned, for all I know, Steam could even be in business with the ebayer who sold it to me... whats to say that this isn't whats going on? Steam should know better than this.

[Fact_Sphere]

So you buy a dodgy key and you want Steam/valve to take the short fall?

Blame the person/company you got it from. They could have re-sold your key... anything.

What you want Steam to do will allow these bogus key sellers to stay in buisness, publishers will miss out on real sales and it'll open a whole world of rubbish.

I'm not sure how keygens work but I'm sure that knowing they're not real keys can take a while. (It'd be nice if someone could explain it... for me and the op. I'll google it at somepoint as well.)

It is YOUR responsblity to buy keys from a decent source. You didn't, you got burned, learn from it rather than blaming everyone BUT yourself.

[r¡sê ºƒ çhaös]

Not arguing from a moral standpoint just saying from a legal standpoint if Steam accepts the key and activates the game, that should be the end of it. If the key turns out to be bogus or whatever that is Steams issue, not the consumers once the key activated successfully. If they are unable to discern the proper keys then stop accepting key activations. I am not saying I want the bogus key operations to stay in business, I am simply saying from a legal standpoint that Steam revoking a key after they accepted the activation is not up to business standards. Its basically stomping around in a grey area because there is no existing law on the matter. If they accept the key, thats the end of it. If the key is faulty or 'bogus' then I don't expect it to be accepted when I attempt to activate it. If it is activated, I don't expect to hear any lip from Steam later on about it, as they have no problem accepting all the revenue from the games they sell, learn how to bloody discern the right keys from the wrong ones or don't accept them in the first place.

[r¡sê ºƒ çhaös]

Originally posted by CPoG Vulpine Vixen:

Blame the person/company you got it from. They could have re-sold your key... anything.

This is exactly what I'm talking about. This is an issue of digital property. The property and legal right to the game becomes mine once I successfully activate the key. The key can only be activated once... whoever activates that key the first time owns that game. I can give a rats ass about the box, the piece of cardboard with the sticker on it, a digital photo of whatever... that is a bunch of hogwash and I expect a hell of lot more professionalism from a company like Steam. They are trampling around in a gray area simply because there are no definite laws on the issue. A professional, upstanding company, in my opinion, easily discerns that whoever activates the key first, owns the game.

[Fact_Sphere]

Originally posted by Steam User Agreement :

A. License Terms.

Steam and your Subscription(s) require the automatic download and installation of Software onto your computer. Valve hereby grants, and you accept, a limited, terminable, non-exclusive license and right to use the Software for your personal use in accordance with this Agreement, including the Subscription Terms. The Software is licensed, not sold. Your license confers no title or ownership in the Software. To make use of the Software, you must have a Steam Account and you may be required to be running the Steam client and maintaining a connection to the Internet.

In terms of legality you're not owed anything. You signed your name to a user agreement, you did something that was against ther terms of service and your game was terminated. The lesson from this? Read what you sign up for.

[r¡sê ºƒ çhaös]

Hell for all I know, Steam could have sold the keys to the people who sold it to me, who the hell has anyway of knowing? In the business world, its called the buck stops here. Once Steam accepts that key and activates your game, thats the end of it... whatever issue they have with the key after that is there issue and their loss. If they have a problem with it, don't accept keys in the first place. I am not sure who the hell thinks this is upright business practice, to me its pretty damn obvious, once the key is accepted and the game is activated thats the end of it its a done deal. Whatever issue Steam has with the keys afterwards they can work out with whoever. Steam can't accept a key and then retract it.. thats like taking someone's money and then taking the item they bought back later on.