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Maxvorstadt: Well, what does a page prove where I`m prompted to register?
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Alaric.us: Ah so you haven't read it? Very well, here is how you can. Right click on the link and select "open in incognito window" or just open an incognito/private window in your browser and paste the link there.

But since you probably cannot be bothered, here he the beginning of the article. For the rest of it, you'll have to actually go read it yourself:

February 18 2014. The Berlin Regional Court has dismissed a lawsuit brought by German consumer watchdog group Verbraucherzentrale Bundesverband (vzbv) against Valve Inc over provisions in the company's terms of service that prohibited the sale or transfer of user accounts on the Steam digital distribution platform.
Well, I guess you didn`t read the quote that I made from the geek link you provided, right?
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Shadowstalker16: If this was possible, ie GOG legally allowed this, you would need to provide proof of death and will of the former owner to transfer their games to the new guy. GOG would also need to set up a system to receive and verify both these claims, as well as find the new owner and give the games to them. It would be a lot of work for a rarely used feature.
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Seeker_of_7: It might be rarely used feature now, but in the future, if there is no change in how games (and other software) are bought and owned, it will become a real and common issue

and as game owners age and start thinking about that, whether a service allows you to inherit libraries might become one of things customers consider when choosing where to buy games
Yes, that is true. There can possibly be some bonuses to companies that get in on this early, like steam did with DD of games.
low rated
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Alaric.us: Ah so you haven't read it? Very well, here is how you can. Right click on the link and select "open in incognito window" or just open an incognito/private window in your browser and paste the link there.

But since you probably cannot be bothered, here he the beginning of the article. For the rest of it, you'll have to actually go read it yourself:

February 18 2014. The Berlin Regional Court has dismissed a lawsuit brought by German consumer watchdog group Verbraucherzentrale Bundesverband (vzbv) against Valve Inc over provisions in the company's terms of service that prohibited the sale or transfer of user accounts on the Steam digital distribution platform.
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Maxvorstadt: Well, I guess you didn`t read the quote that I made from the geek link you provided, right?
/facepalm

You quoted the first article I posted. A 2013 one. Where these people were hoping to win based on the 2013 Oracle ruling.

It didn't help them.

This article I'm quoting above is not the same article. It is from 2014. VZBV lost. Again.
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Maxvorstadt: Well, I guess you didn`t read the quote that I made from the geek link you provided, right?
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Alaric.us: /facepalm

You quoted the first article I posted. A 2013 one. Where these people were hoping to win based on the 2013 Oracle ruling.

It didn't help them.

This article I'm quoting above is not the same article. It is from 2014. VZBV lost. Again.
Well, it`s annoying how judges act against the law. Valve pays them really good!
But the fact is:
Law says you can inherit and it also says that your account is your property. EOD.
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Maxvorstadt: No, it would be similar to inheriting a bank account. :-)
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Piranjade: The content of bank account is property, that is not the case with the games on the Steam account. You only have a license to access them.
While in both cases you may have a service agreement, your relation to the "object" the service agreement is about is totally different. You own the money in your bank account, you don't own the games in your Steam account.

That's why it is closer to a library card IMO, as this also only gives you access to the books in there but you don't own them. (Admittedly to ALL the books in the library which is kind of a better deal than Steam ;-))
Not sure if the library is appropriate comparison, although steam and major part of software industry is pushing for that

Netflix is like library, you pay a monthly fee and you are able to access all of its inventory. I think there was/is similar service for games, but Steam does not provide that kind of service.

in the end, money you spent to read 300 hundred books or watch 300 shows(or episodes) is far lesser than you spent on 300 games in your Steam/GOG/... Library
and you have access only to those titles

for the comparison to be fully appropriate prices on steam would have to be significantly lower than those of physical copies of the game (not considering discounts)

legislature in the digital goods(rights)/information technologies fields is years if not decades behind the developing technologies
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Alaric.us: /facepalm

You quoted the first article I posted. A 2013 one. Where these people were hoping to win based on the 2013 Oracle ruling.

It didn't help them.

This article I'm quoting above is not the same article. It is from 2014. VZBV lost. Again.
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Maxvorstadt: Well, it`s annoying how judges act against the law. Valve pays them really good!
But the fact is:
Law says you can inherit and it also says that your account is your property. EOD.
If Valve is able to buy German judges at will, then Germany in far worse condition that I thought. But that's your problem. All I wanted to do was demonstrate that your claims do not hold water due to the fact that the judiciary of your own country disagrees with them. I'm still with you on how things should be, but sadly that's not how they are.
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Maxvorstadt: Well, it`s annoying how judges act against the law. Valve pays them really good!
But the fact is:
Law says you can inherit and it also says that your account is your property. EOD.
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Alaric.us: If Valve is able to buy German judges at will, then Germany in far worse condition that I thought. But that's your problem. All I wanted to do was demonstrate that your claims do not hold water due to the fact that the judiciary of your own country disagrees with them. I'm still with you on how things should be, but sadly that's not how they are.
Well, I think German judges are not more worse than US ones. But in one thing you`re right: law says something, but the people who should enforce th law don`t follow the law.
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Alaric.us: However, this does not reflect reality and the current laws. That's not how things do work.
Too bad. Send this to the lawmakers.
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Maxvorstadt: Well, it`s annoying how judges act against the law. Valve pays them really good!
But the fact is:
Law says you can inherit and it also says that your account is your property. EOD.
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Alaric.us: If Valve is able to buy German judges at will, then Germany in far worse condition that I thought. But that's your problem. All I wanted to do was demonstrate that your claims do not hold water due to the fact that the judiciary of your own country disagrees with them. I'm still with you on how things should be, but sadly that's not how they are.
Interesting conversations going on here.

But surely the argument here is the legality of transferring or selling an existing account. That is a bit different from transferring a license.

Transferring a license would solve the OPs dilemma.

Edit: I checked the steam subscriber agreement and it seems you can't even do that. Just ignore this post.
Post edited May 25, 2016 by lazydog
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Alaric.us: If Valve is able to buy German judges at will, then Germany in far worse condition that I thought. But that's your problem. All I wanted to do was demonstrate that your claims do not hold water due to the fact that the judiciary of your own country disagrees with them. I'm still with you on how things should be, but sadly that's not how they are.
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Maxvorstadt: Well, I think German judges are not more worse than US ones. But in one thing you`re right: law says something, but the people who should enforce th law don`t follow the law.
Problem is the laws don't say that, because most countries haven updated their laws into the digital age
don't know if Germany has any digital rights/digital properties/digital goods specific laws but most countries don't (or at least not really good ones, or laws that cover other areas except criminal activity)
and because of that providers of services can formulate their user agreements as they wish, because they can say digital content is not material goods and therefore it don't fall under laws that govern material goods (in this case inheritance)
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Alaric.us: If Valve is able to buy German judges at will, then Germany in far worse condition that I thought. But that's your problem. All I wanted to do was demonstrate that your claims do not hold water due to the fact that the judiciary of your own country disagrees with them. I'm still with you on how things should be, but sadly that's not how they are.
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lazydog: Interesting conversations going on here.

But surely the argument here is the legality of transferring or selling an existing account. That is a bit different from transferring a license.

Transferring a license would solve the OPs dilemma.

Edit: I checked the steam subscriber agreement and it seems you can't even do that. Just ignore this post.
this isnt about steam specificaly, i was more interested about gog's policy and used steam as example
Sealed envelope with information inside. Pass on the envelope to whomever. Use enclosed information for stuff. Don't ask, don't tell.
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lazydog: Interesting conversations going on here.

But surely the argument here is the legality of transferring or selling an existing account. That is a bit different from transferring a license.

Transferring a license would solve the OPs dilemma.

Edit: I checked the steam subscriber agreement and it seems you can't even do that. Just ignore this post.
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Seeker_of_7: this isnt about steam specificaly, i was more interested about gog's policy and used steam as example
In that case, I think your question has been answered already.

Gog states on the front page "you buy it, it's yours"

Obviously a certain amount of personal responsibility comes into play, and there would be no inheritance of an account, but if the game is yours then just make sure you pass it on before you die.

If you are worried about the timing, try this one ;)

http://deathclock.com/
Post edited May 25, 2016 by lazydog
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Seeker_of_7: this isnt about steam specificaly, i was more interested about gog's policy and used steam as example
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lazydog: In that case, I think your question has been answered already.

Gog states on the front page "you buy it, it's yours"
I hate to be the guy who does this, but no, that's not exactly how it works.

What is meant by that statement, is "it's yours to store."

However, other parts of the agreement explicitly mention that your use of these games are subject to your acceptance of each individual publisher's EULA. So you have to accept a license. The games are, therefore, licensed to you, not sold as property.

This is not a good thing, and not something I like, but this is how it is at the moment.
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Seeker_of_7: this isnt about steam specificaly, i was more interested about gog's policy and used steam as example
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lazydog: In that case, I think your question has been answered already.

Gog states on the front page "you buy it, it's yours"

Obviously a certain amount of personal responsibility comes into play, and there would be no inheritance of an account, but if the game is yours then just make sure you pass it on before you die.

If you are worried about the timing, try this one ;)

http://deathclock.com/
Okay, I`ll die at Friday, March 26, 2038. Thank you! :-)