So here's a thorny issue that I wanted some other opinions on.
I recently bought a few games on sale from Steam, including a couple that I have no problems with. One of them, however, was a copy of the original "Crysis" for £4.99. Buying the game was no problem.
However, before installation, I was presented with a EULA of absurd complexity. Here's a link to the full EULA:
http://storefront.steampowered.com/eula_testapp17300/english.html
This EULA covered not only "Crysis" itself (which is ridiculous enough on its own - it's a damn videogame, why does it need a licence agreement that's that long?) but also a third-party program called "Gamespy Comrade". Here's what it says about the functionality of "Gamespy Comrade":
Here's the point: the EULA links to "Gamespy Comrade"'s privacy policy using this description:
...And, as you can see, you get a "404: Page not found" error. Which to me is absolutely ridiculous. I know that the game's nearly six years old now, but STEAM ARE STILL SELLING IT AS NEW. If I get a brand-new copy of something, I expect the correct documentation to be available. I'm not the kind of person who just clicks through an EULA without checking the details first; but you'd have to be completely naive to miss the fact that "Crysis" is dependant on a third-party program with advertising functionality and no privacy policy. What if that policy included a clause that let IGN trawl my computer's hard drives and send all of the information on them to a dozen different advertisers? (Yes, this would be a bad, bad thing.) For all I know, it does!
Now let's get to the legality of actually installing the game:
CONCLUSION: nobody can legally agree to this EULA while it's incomplete. Therefore nobody who buys the game new at this time can legally play it.
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I've complained to Steam Support about this, and they've agreed to refund me the cost of the game but only by crediting my "Steam Account". This, to me, is fishy: they've sold me a product that I can't use, through no fault of my own, therefore I should be entitled to a full refund, regardless of their "policy". Moreover they are quite capable of confirming that I've not USED that product. Having said that, I have no wish to go to war with Steam over £4.99, so I've agreed to take a refund via the Steam Account.
Steam Support have NOT told me what they'll do about the game (I've got back to them and pointed out that nobody can legally play it, yet they're still selling it. I haven't received a response on this one yet.) The EULA is un-altered and incomplete, the game is still on sale. I don't think this is satisfactory.
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A couple more points:
- You can see the EULA at any time (there's a link at the top of this post) but you don't have to agree to it until you have paid for the game and are ready to install it. One place that there's NOT a link to the game's EULA is on the Steam Store "Crysis" page; if you follow the link to the game's website, it takes you to the XBox 360 version. (There's not a link to the EULA there either as far as I can see... I might have missed one in the small print somewhere. At least it's not obvious.) To find a link for the "Crysis" EULA, I had to come completely out of Steam and google "Crysis EULA".
- Is it reasonable to expect people to do this BEFORE purchasing the game? Or should it be mandatory for people to agree to the EULA before Steam accepts their money? This is a very grey area for me. There's nothing to stop anybody from googling the "Crysis" EULA, yet I doubt anybody would do it unless they had any reason to suspect shenanigans... and obviously I didn't until after I'd paid them the money.
- What action do you guys think Steam should take? Should they stop selling the game (which is over five years old, after all)? Should they be forced to put pressure on IGN to make sure that their terms and conditions are kept up-to-date? Is there anybody who thinks this kind of thing is reasonable? Does anybody think it's a complete con? I'm somewhere in the middle of the two, but I'm nowhere near happy with the situation as it's been played out.
I recently bought a few games on sale from Steam, including a couple that I have no problems with. One of them, however, was a copy of the original "Crysis" for £4.99. Buying the game was no problem.
However, before installation, I was presented with a EULA of absurd complexity. Here's a link to the full EULA:
http://storefront.steampowered.com/eula_testapp17300/english.html
This EULA covered not only "Crysis" itself (which is ridiculous enough on its own - it's a damn videogame, why does it need a licence agreement that's that long?) but also a third-party program called "Gamespy Comrade". Here's what it says about the functionality of "Gamespy Comrade":
In other words, it's a communication / advertising platform. Why anybody would presume that I want access to this functionality, I have no idea; why I should NEED to install that in order to get "Crysis" to run is something that probably only "Crysis"' developers could say.
Here's the point: the EULA links to "Gamespy Comrade"'s privacy policy using this description:
Let me post that link again outside of the "quotes" tag: http://corp.ign.com/privacy
...And, as you can see, you get a "404: Page not found" error. Which to me is absolutely ridiculous. I know that the game's nearly six years old now, but STEAM ARE STILL SELLING IT AS NEW. If I get a brand-new copy of something, I expect the correct documentation to be available. I'm not the kind of person who just clicks through an EULA without checking the details first; but you'd have to be completely naive to miss the fact that "Crysis" is dependant on a third-party program with advertising functionality and no privacy policy. What if that policy included a clause that let IGN trawl my computer's hard drives and send all of the information on them to a dozen different advertisers? (Yes, this would be a bad, bad thing.) For all I know, it does!
Now let's get to the legality of actually installing the game:
I mean, I'm no lawyer, but it's not rocket science, is it? I can't agree to something that I haven't been given the opportunity to read. Ergo, if I or anybody else downloads, installs or uses "Crysis" while that privacy policy is missing, they're instantly breaking the terms and conditions of the licence agreement.
CONCLUSION: nobody can legally agree to this EULA while it's incomplete. Therefore nobody who buys the game new at this time can legally play it.
*
I've complained to Steam Support about this, and they've agreed to refund me the cost of the game but only by crediting my "Steam Account". This, to me, is fishy: they've sold me a product that I can't use, through no fault of my own, therefore I should be entitled to a full refund, regardless of their "policy". Moreover they are quite capable of confirming that I've not USED that product. Having said that, I have no wish to go to war with Steam over £4.99, so I've agreed to take a refund via the Steam Account.
Steam Support have NOT told me what they'll do about the game (I've got back to them and pointed out that nobody can legally play it, yet they're still selling it. I haven't received a response on this one yet.) The EULA is un-altered and incomplete, the game is still on sale. I don't think this is satisfactory.
*
A couple more points:
- You can see the EULA at any time (there's a link at the top of this post) but you don't have to agree to it until you have paid for the game and are ready to install it. One place that there's NOT a link to the game's EULA is on the Steam Store "Crysis" page; if you follow the link to the game's website, it takes you to the XBox 360 version. (There's not a link to the EULA there either as far as I can see... I might have missed one in the small print somewhere. At least it's not obvious.) To find a link for the "Crysis" EULA, I had to come completely out of Steam and google "Crysis EULA".
- Is it reasonable to expect people to do this BEFORE purchasing the game? Or should it be mandatory for people to agree to the EULA before Steam accepts their money? This is a very grey area for me. There's nothing to stop anybody from googling the "Crysis" EULA, yet I doubt anybody would do it unless they had any reason to suspect shenanigans... and obviously I didn't until after I'd paid them the money.
- What action do you guys think Steam should take? Should they stop selling the game (which is over five years old, after all)? Should they be forced to put pressure on IGN to make sure that their terms and conditions are kept up-to-date? Is there anybody who thinks this kind of thing is reasonable? Does anybody think it's a complete con? I'm somewhere in the middle of the two, but I'm nowhere near happy with the situation as it's been played out.
R. I wouldn't say that any laws are being broken, since EULA's aren't necessarily legally binding documents. We just haven't seen enough court cases to verify that EULA's are legal documents. Sure, you are being dishonest by clicking the "Agree" button, but I don't think you will have any lawyers breathing down your neck.
