Now French consumer group is taking Valve to court over pre-owned re-sales

First it was Germany and now France is doing its bit to try and force Valve to allow Steam users to re-sell their digital purchases.

French consumer association UFC-Que Choisir is unhappy about some of clauses in Steam’s subscriber agreement, as translated by Reddit.

As with the German case, UFC believe that European law dictates that the transfer of ownership of digital products or licenses is legal, which is at odds with Steam’s terms. It is also unhappy with Valve stripping itself of any responsibility should a user be hacked, and its claim of ownership of user-created content that is uploaded to Steam.

Also on the list of grievances is that Steam Wallet funds are permanently lost should an account be closed, banned or hacked.

In 2013 The Federation of German Consumer Organisations took Valve to court over a very similar issue following a 2012 EU ruling enforcing the right to re-sell digital goods. Valve won that case in 2014.

Valve amended Steam’s refunds policy earlier this year to bring it closer in line with EU regulations.

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