If you buy an apple, you buy an item. And if you buy a pizza, you buy a service.

:D

We should not bother with the tax law here, as it has nothing to do with this.


Service may be based on selling an item, which may be a part of the service.

You are the owner of the pizza, if you order it from Pizza Hut, and they cannot take it back if they close.

1) I have comfirmation from CDP that they can delete an account if they desired, but I got the impreassion that it hasn't happened, as I was advised they would notify the user to enable downloadingof uninstalled titles.

2) D2D sold indefinite redownloads as part of the transaction, so they will have to provide access to existimg owners or face a massive class action.

3) You most definitely do own your Steam games. Consumer protection jidgements have determined that if it looks like a duck.
.it's a duck. Steam advertises game sales, not a license subscription service. I dom't thinl anyone has sued them yet, but if they suspended your account, and you fought them, they would have to compenste you. No eula stands up if it contradicts existing CPL's.

Good question. I thought that the first all-capital sentence in "Disclaimer of Warranties" would allow to revoke a license, but upon re-reading it, I don't think it does.

If you just bought a pizza, you shouldn't expect they will give you a plate and fork with it , for example.

You buy pizza in supermarket, because it's pizza and nothing else.

You buy a service in pizza hut, because there's a waitress, and many other details that differentiate it from oridinary sale.

I talk about tax law, because it could be considered in court, if you decided to sue them. If they brought up it's a service not a sale and proved it by their taxation bills, it would be difficult for you to defend.

SInce your pirated copy is not even a legitimate copy to begin with it's not like saying that all.

In steam's case i'd have to resort to shady venues to bypass steam's drm even if i had a legit steam backup of the game on my HD.

Saying that it's irrelevant because you can crack it it's rationalizing, period. If i were willing to dwell on shady venues for entertainment i might as well start doing it now and save myself some serious cash. I'm not willing so that's pretty much that.

here's some additional food for thought regarding Steam:

with most games you buy on Steam, you get a licence key (or CD-key, as it is archaically called).

Steam shuts down permanentely or closes your account for whatever reason. but you have the licence key still.

you go and acquire the game data from another source. depending on your location, even an 'illegal' download could be legal. at any rate, you'd use your legal CD-key.

do you still have a licence?

Except for the huge Steam Subscriber Agreement which repeatedly uses the word subscription. How is that not a licence subscription service?
I would say only about 5 games on my Steam account come with a CD-key.

That.

Yeah, and I buy a service (making pizza, waitress service, chair, table, forks and plates) plus you buy a pizza (I like their pepperoni).

And btw, several times I have ordered pizza from Pizza Hut and took it to eat at home or in my car. Did I buy a pizza, or I bought a service? ;)

The thing that you do it at one time doesn't mean those aren't different things.

A service may include selling an item. Not really.

It's like saying that EU law that sais snails are fish would be considered by the court if I sue the guy who were supposed to bring be fish, and he brought me snails.

The SSA is a TOS, or as lawyers and judges call it: "oh how cute, do you really thought this would stick" (when it comes to endconsumers like us).

Steam advertises game sales, not a license subscription service.

This is the relevant part. That directly contradicts there TOS, hence they are void in that regard. That goes for all of th EU e.g.
I know I'm intruding here, but:

In Germany a restaurant visit is a combination of several contracts. The is always a service component AND a purchase component. Which law is applicable depends on various factors.

Therefore, you both couldn't have picket a worse example ;-P

well, that doesn't say much. SteamWorks games obviously don't have a CD-key, but many 'normal' games in my library do.

it should be possible to use these with or without Steam. so, as long as you hold on to these keys, you cannot actually lose your legal licence for those games.

this. the game is the product you purchase through Steam. Steam is the service that delivers it, allows you to play it in an online community, patches it, etc.

i think it would. since legally snail is a fish then he never breached a contract between himself and you.

if you ordered specific fish and got snail. then we have a problem. if you just said: Fish me good sir and I do not care what you bring as long as it is a fish!
and you got snailed.... he would be right your would be wrong :D

I'll answer you with a quote that i'm sure you're familiar with

"not legally. end of story. by going the piracy route you just encourage further DRM, making the situation worse for the rest of us.

either accept the way a publisher/developer chooses to release his games in, or be man enough to say no, and say no all the way. you are not entitled to get somebody else's product your way."

I think there's some Polish idiom that I'm not getting or something. :P
Since when have snails and fish had anything to do with each other? o.0
I only have a couple of full 'steamworks' games, but I still have loads that don't have a CD-key...