Re: Steam Backs Down From Forced Arbitration

On 28/09/2024 15:35, Ross Ridge wrote:

JAB  <noway@nochance.com> wrote:

In the UK my understanding is that arbitration courts exist* but they
can only be used for a civil offences if both parties agree including
who will be the arbitrator.

 It the same in the US and other countries.  In this case, both parties,
Valve and the Steam user, agreed to use a certain arbitration service to
resolve any disputes.  That happened when the user agreed to the Steam
Subscriber Agreement.
 

In the UK you just can't do that in general as the principle is you can't sign away your rights just because the shop says so regardless of what you sign/agree to. There has to be a law in place that specially says you can sign away an individual right and even then it still has to met the criteria of could someone reasonable expect it. So no, burying it in ten pages of texts just doesn't work.