California signs a law that will make digital game stores fess up about your lack of ownership of what you’re buying

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California signs a law that will make digital game stores fess up about your lack of ownership of what you're buying

What you need to know

  • Governor of the State of California, Gavin Newsom, has signed in to a law legislation that will force digital stores to finally be up front and honest about exactly what it is you’re buying. 
  • Digital content, including games, video content, music, and e-books, will have to be sold with a disclaimer that you’re not buying the product, merely a digital license to use it. 
  • The law comes into effect next year, and will be applicable in every instance that doesn’t offer a full offline download and keep option for the product. 

As a tech enthusiast who has spent countless hours and hard-earned money on digital content over the years, I wholeheartedly support California’s new legislation that requires digital stores to be transparent about what they’re selling. It’s about time we as consumers know exactly what we’re getting ourselves into when we click that buy button.

It’s pleasant when world politicians act in ways truly advantageous for the public, and that’s happening right now in California. According to The Verge, Governor Gavin Newsom has just approved a new law mandating digital stores to clearly disclose what exactly you are purchasing.

To clarify, I’m not purchasing the content and I don’t claim ownership of it, with one exception: if a permanent, offline-accessible version of the content is provided, then I may own it, but only under such circumstances. However, even in this case, the new law won’t affect my ownership.

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If they fail to comply, all stores such as Steam, Ubisoft, Epic Games, and even the Microsoft Store may face fines for not abiding by the new regulations.

A summary of the bill reads as such: 

As a passionate advocate, I’d rephrase it like this: “I believe in upholding transparency when buying digital goods. This bill aims to prevent sellers from using terms like ‘buy’, ‘purchase’, or any similar language that might imply unrestricted ownership, unless they first get explicit consent from the buyer, or clearly communicate the specifics before every transaction.

California signs a law that will make digital game stores fess up about your lack of ownership of what you're buying

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In simpler terms, this means that these stores must clearly disclose to you what product you’re buying, not just inform you vaguely that you’re purchasing something. If it turns out to be a digital license for a game, that’s fine. The goal is to ensure that consumers are better informed about their purchases.

The rest of the world should follow suit

California signs a law that will make digital game stores fess up about your lack of ownership of what you're buying

As more content becomes digitized, it offers ease of access but raises questions about ownership. Lately, Sony and Ubisoft have found themselves in the spotlight over this issue. Sony initially decided to remove video content from users’ libraries, content they had already purchased, leading to a backlash. On the other hand, Ubisoft ended support for The Crew game by shutting down its servers and not offering an offline mode, leaving players unable to continue playing.

Although California’s new law won’t prevent similar incidents, it should at least empower consumers with more knowledge about what they’re purchasing from these businesses. If this leads to fewer game sales due to customers becoming more cautious about spending their money without knowing how long they can use the product, so be it. In my opinion, it is inappropriate for any game with a single-player mode not to have offline access at all. Ubisoft seems to have taken note of this issue and plans to include offline modes in future games within the series.

It would be great if more people understood rules like this. Consumers should always have clear information about what they’re purchasing. For instance, when you sign up for services like Netflix or Xbox Game Pass, you recognize that you’re essentially borrowing content. But when you click on a ‘buy’ button, it would be helpful to know whether you are truly making a purchase or not.

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2024-09-27 14:39