So, just wondering...

...what's with the love for Californian(USA!) contract law ???
Seems very strange for an European(granted, registered on Cyprus) company, to say the least - or is it just me ?

And the following statement made me worry somewhat:
" You agree that GOG may terminate your log in access to the Service, including your user name and password, at any time for any reason without prior notice...."

ANY reason....?

That's in case they ever go bankrupt (I think). Also, I don't really think it matters, since the games are DRM-free so you can make back-ups.

They lie.

In most cases, in business-customer relations, if a customer is located inside EU, European laws would apply.

By the way, they technically CAN terminate your account without any reason given, but I doubt it would go smoothly without any compensation, if you contacted your local customer protection agency.

We're in EU. Customer here is a GOD.

By the way, since you live in Norway, not ALL EU laws would apply to you. But at least some of them apply to all countries in European Economic Area.

My theory is that they put stuff like that in just in case there comes a mortal offense that they couldn't anticipate. You know, like if someone finds a way to turn the site into a collection of pictures of some chicken house in Denmark without breaking any explicitly stated rules, and is clearly doing it intentionally. They can then just go "we said any reason, that's included" as they swing the account oblivionator hammer.

Heh, I was thinking more like some random GOG employee going "hmm, I have the Monday morning blues today, lets go axe some user accounts" kinda thing... :)

Thanks for replies so far. Still don't get why California supposedly is so good for GOG though... LOL

PS: if anyone downloading now, what speeds are we getting ?
(just me wondering if there is something wrong with my connection/modem etc, at only 60-90kB/s combined - 2 browser threads/no Downloader program)

Not if they like their jobs... But even then, I doubt they wouldn't restore your account.

GOG ToS is a standard thing that repeats all bulshits you may find everywhere else on the Internet. But GOG are cool guys (mostly...) , so you shouldn't be afraid.

Also, games are DRM free, so since you make backup, you don't need to worry much.

As for download speeds, I get my connection maximum - 6mbps.

Oh, snap! GOG staff posts have blue text!

I'm downloading Invictus (browser download) @ 2.8 MB/s

re speed:
oh.... it must be on my end then, crap.... :(

Granted, I don't really have a fast net subscription, but is normally faster than this sludge....

Try using GOG Downloader. It usually gives better speeds for people who have troubles with conn speed.

Every service contract ever has everything you could possibly be mad about, and more.

Sure. But for some reason I imagined GOG would be a little bit 'different' from all those others.... (less contractual 'drm', if you get what I mean)

They can't be different, because being different may cause lawsuits shitstorm. Most of these clauses are there just as a safety deposit.

For example, steam: they know that they have to guarantee a refund within 14 days without any reason given in most cases in EU countries (for example, if a customer changes his mind), but they made it virtually impossible with their TOS. Still doesn't make it legal and valid, but it will discourage most customers. Sadly.

They are, imho. GOG's ToS are more tame than those of many other online distributors.

Also, GOG's business practice (i.e. how they usually act and react regardless of ToS) has been splendid for as long as I'm here. I've never seen them hide behind the ToS even in situations where they easily could have done so. In fact, they seem to regularly bend their own regulations in favor of the customer (like, offering refunds in cases where the customer clearly wasn't entitled to one). Granted, the same can be said about several other distributors. However, there are also those who (as far as I can see) jump at every chance to take customer rights away from their members. GOG is certainly at the customer-friendly end of this spectrum.

The most important thing, however, is that GOG doesn't try to control your access to your games. Therefore, even _if_ they have to end the contract (which is a standard clause that appears in every contract), you can still use all the games you bought, by installing them from your local backups. GOG explicitly does not try to make its users _depend_ on it. That's an important difference, but one that you won't find directly stated in the TOS, unless you read between the lines. :)

If your account gets closed, your games will still work. Provided of course you have them downloaded and backed up in case you need to install them again in the future. They will also work if you need to install them and don't have access to an internet connection for whatever reason.

Those are the most important factors when buying games here in my opinion.

This right here. Changing terms of service won't effect access to anything you have bought and downloaded.