German Consumer Rights Group sues Valve over Game Ownership

One of the big things that many people don’t seem to understand about computer software, by and large, is that it is NOT a thing, it is a license. This is what the Federation of German Consumer Organizations (VZVB) is challenging.

The line of thinking according to Carola Elbrecht, project manager for digital consumer rights at the VZVB, is that games purchased online through services such as Steam, should be able to be resold such as traditional board and card games can be.

The VZVB has attempted to sue Valve over a similar situation in the past, with a ruling from the German Federal Court of Justice in Valve’s favour, that Valve did not break any German laws by preventing the transfer of user accounts.

The VZVB is apparently not satisfied and has started a new case against Valve, taking into account a ruling by the Court of Justice of theEuropean Union in July, that trading of software licenses is legal and authors of the software cannot impede the process. This case revolved around Oracle and a company called UsedSoft regarding reselling “used” licenses.

The VZVB’s Carola Elbrecht feels that this case will raise awareness around the issue and act as a warning to other game publishers and distributers regarding their practises on the matter.

Thanks to Slashdot for the alert and PC Advisor for the source!

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