Steam's Forced Honesty

This bit of news is making the rounds recently:

Thanks to a recent legal ruling in the US requiring digital
marketplaces to be more transparent on what you're actually buying,
Steam now includes a banner that reminds you that all you're getting
when you buy something on Steam is a _license_ and not the game
itself.* A license that -should Valve or the publisher so choose-
could be revoked at any time, preventing you from using the product
you paid good money for.

In other words, it's a CYA "don't come crying to us if your game stops
working because Publisher decided they don't want to support the game
anymore, or if you lose access to your entire Steam library because we
feel like you violated your subscriber agreement!" clause.

None of which is really new; this has been the state of affair since
Valve started in Steam in 2004, and has been a major concern for a lot
of people. But now Valve is being forced to be a little more up front
about it, which hopefully will bring the whole issue of digital
ownership more into the limelight. The software industry has mostly
gotten by with the whole 'licensing versus ownership' issue because
the vast, vast majority of people not only don't understand the issue,
they aren't even aware of the discrepancy.

Somewhat disingenuously, rival GOG.com piped up with a twiiter post
claiming "if only there was a storefront that actually lets you own
your own games...." even though, technically, GOG only licenses you
the games as well. The only difference is that --because you can
download stand-alone installers for the games that don't verify the
license online-- if your license is revoked, there's no way for it to
be enforced (short of legal action to remove the software from your
physical possession). But the actual licenses sold on GOG and Steam
are very similar, and almost all of them grant the publisher the right
to revoke the license at any time, and for any reason.

(That said, I still think GOG's option is the superior one ;-)





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* Steam and your Subscription(s) require the download and installation
of Content and Services onto your computer. Valve hereby grants, and
you accept, a non-exclusive license and right, to use the Content and
Services for your personal, non-commercial use (except where
commercial use is expressly allowed herein or in the applicable
Subscription Terms). This license ends upon termination of (a) this
Agreement or (b) a Subscription that includes the license. The Content
and Services are licensed, not sold. Your license confers no title or
ownership in the Content and Services. To make use of the Content and
Services, you must have a Steam Account and you may be required to be
running the Steam client and maintaining a connection to the Internet.