Home News Steam, Epic Required to Admit You Don't \"Own\" Games on Their Platforms

Steam, Epic Required to Admit You Don't \"Own\" Games on Their Platforms

Author : Elijah Jan 04,2025

加利福尼亚州通过新法案,要求数字游戏商店明确告知消费者购买的是许可证而非所有权

加利福尼亚州通过了一项新法律 (AB 2426),要求数字游戏商店,例如Steam和Epic Games商城等,必须明确告知消费者其购买的游戏是许可证而非所有权。该法案旨在保护消费者权益,打击数字商品的虚假和误导性广告。

Steam, Epic Required to Admit You Don't

该法律将于明年生效,规定数字商店必须使用清晰醒目的文字,例如“比周围文字更大的字体,或与周围相同大小文字对比鲜明的字体、字号或颜色,或用符号或其他标记与周围相同大小的文字区分开来”,来告知消费者其购买的并非游戏的所有权,而是使用许可。

Steam, Epic Required to Admit You Don't

违反该法案者将面临民事处罚或轻罪指控。“现行法律规定,违反特定虚假广告规定的个人将承担民事处罚,”该法案写道,“并规定违反这些虚假广告规定的个人犯有轻罪。” 该法案还禁止商家宣传或销售暗示“无限制所有权”的数字产品。

Steam, Epic Required to Admit You Don't

立法者在法案说明中写道:“随着我们越来越转向纯数字市场,消费者清楚地了解和理解其交易的性质至关重要。这包括他们可能没有对其购买商品的真正所有权的现实。除非数字商品已提供下载,以便无需连接互联网即可查看,否则卖家可以随时取消消费者的访问权限。”

Steam, Epic Required to Admit You Don't

该法案还禁止在线商店使用可能暗示数字商品无限制所有权的某些术语,例如“购买”或“购买”,除非明确告知客户“购买”并不意味着对产品的无限制访问或所有权。加利福尼亚州议员Jacqui Irwin在一份声明中说:“随着零售商继续从销售实体媒体转向,对数字媒体购买的消费者保护的需求变得越来越重要。我感谢州长签署AB 2426,确保数字媒体卖家虚假和欺骗性地告诉消费者他们拥有其购买商品的行为成为过去。”

订阅服务条款仍不明确

近年来,一些游戏公司,例如索尼和育碧,已将其一些游戏完全下线,使玩家无法玩到这些游戏,而这些玩家此前已向这些公司进行了交易。这引发了游戏社区关于消费者权利的讨论。例如,育碧在4月份将赛车游戏系列《The Crew》完全下线,之后又将其下架。“许可限制”是育碧为《The Crew》停运所列出的原因之一,最终导致玩家无法访问该游戏。这种情况通常会在没有游戏公司事先警告的情况下发生。

Steam, Epic Required to Admit You Don't

然而,新通过的法律并未提及基于订阅的服务,例如Game Pass,或允许玩家“租用”数字产品的游戏公司服务,也没有具体说明游戏的离线副本——因此,在这方面的情况仍然不明确。

Steam, Epic Required to Admit You Don't

育碧一位高管曾表示,玩家应该“习惯”不再拥有游戏(技术意义上),以应对游戏中基于订阅模式的兴起。育碧订阅业务总监Philippe Tremblay在谈到育碧新订阅服务的推出时解释说,随着越来越多的玩家习惯于此,需要转向基于订阅的服务。

Irwin议员补充说,这项新法律旨在帮助消费者更全面地了解他们为之付费的内容。“当消费者购买在线数字商品(如电影或电视节目)时,他们可以随时观看媒体。通常情况下,消费者认为他们的购买为他们提供了对该数字商品的永久所有权,类似于购买DVD上的电影或平装书一样,可以永久访问,”Irwin说。“但实际上,消费者只购买了许可证,根据卖家的条款和条件,卖家可以随时撤销该许可证。”

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