Some consumers who purchased Valve's Orange Box from vendors located outside of their home country--mainly in an attempt to save on cheaper products--have recently reported that their otherwise legally-obtained games have since been deactivated by Valve's Steam software for territory violation. Talking with Shacknews, Valve's Doug Lombardi now says that the Steam software is merely carrying out this function by design. "Valve uses Steam for territory control to make sure products authorized for use in certain territories are not being distributed and used outside of those territories," said Lombardi.
"In this case, a Thai website was selling retail box product keys for Thailand to people outside of Thailand. Since those keys are only for use in Thailand, people who purchased product keys from the Thai website are not able to use those product keys in other territories." So are users who bought the game outside of their own country completely out of luck? It appears so, as Lombardi recommends purchasing a legal copy from a local shop in order to keep playing. "Some of these users have subsequently purchased a legal copy after realizing the issue and were having difficulty removing the illegitimate keys from their Steam accounts," added Lombardi. "Anyone having this problem should contact Steam Support to have the Thai key removed from their Steam account."
View: Full Story @ Shacknews
"In this case, a Thai website was selling retail box product keys for Thailand to people outside of Thailand. Since those keys are only for use in Thailand, people who purchased product keys from the Thai website are not able to use those product keys in other territories." So are users who bought the game outside of their own country completely out of luck? It appears so, as Lombardi recommends purchasing a legal copy from a local shop in order to keep playing. "Some of these users have subsequently purchased a legal copy after realizing the issue and were having difficulty removing the illegitimate keys from their Steam accounts," added Lombardi. "Anyone having this problem should contact Steam Support to have the Thai key removed from their Steam account."
View: Full Story @ Shacknews
Last edited by Unwonted on 30 Oct 2007 - 17:04
They claim these copies are "illegal" even though they were legally bought and paid for? That's not right.
Exactly. What if I buy cheaper stuff from overseas on Ebay, is that considered illegal? Didn't think so. Just shows how much companies rip everyone off, because I'm sure that they still make plenty of money, even from the "lower prices".
Last edited by RiVaLSSJ on 31 Oct 2007 - 13:48
Who are they to deem that it's "illegal" because it's from another "territory". So, if tomorrow I go drive to the States (since I live in Canada and I'm close to it), buy a TV there because it's cheaper, and bring it home - it's illegal? C'mon. Why would Valve care so much? Screw off.
So if they can afford giving it cheaper to those countries, doesn't it show you how much they rip us off? They wouldn't lower prices out of the goodness of their heart.
So if they can afford giving it cheaper to those countries, doesn't it show you how much they rip us off? They wouldn't lower prices out of the goodness of their heart.
Welcome to the magical word of economics, where cost, supply, and demand are all related.
Last edited by Unwonted on 31 Oct 2007 - 17:41
They've blocked those games purchased in Thailand and Russia being played outside those territories to stop people reselling or passing on the accounts where the games were bough cheaper. For the most part it won't affect most customers, such as those from the EU, USA or Canada. Though if you do live in Thailand/Russia and move at a later date, that's unlucky. If you contacted Valve then they'd probably work it out for you.
SteamReview.org have an article explaining it all.
Last edited by Unwonted on 30 Oct 2007 - 17:18
...either you didn't read the article or have no idea what some words like "piracy" even mean.
This is about price control and media region. It has nothing to do with piracy.
Why would they go through measures such as this if it weren't about piracy. Like someone said earlier about Thailand and Russia, they are protecting their interests. Do I support their decision? That remains to be seen.
Its funny how everyone jumps at companies protecting themselves from an otherwise very free and liberal internet.
Not the same thing. This is like me travelling to that country, buying Office, and bringing it home and using it. I'm not buying a "Student edition" game, and using it at my business.
Yes, it is evil. Why would you voluntarily give up your rights? You want PC gaming to suck as much as console gaming?
I purchased one of them super-cheap Counter-Strike Condition Zero keys from another country back when you could play the CS
Valve can say "people that buy a product from another country must paid the difference prior the use for a different zone".
bad:
But Valve said "you are so fu## up, surrender and buy it again your a##.. "
what if parents move around the world and a kid gets a game also then that kid needs to buy everytime a new game in the country where he's living for a year or 2.
That sucks way to much, and about thai stuff that means that we need to pay for those poor countries that does not have so much money.... ( we did know that already so why not get our stuf from there even if it is made there!?!?!?!?)
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