Steam now explicitly states you don’t own the digital games you’re buying

Have you ever bought an app or game from a digital storefront, only for it to suddenly disappear and become inaccessible without warning? It’s both confusing and frustrating, which is why some governments are stepping in and hoping to make things clearer for consumers. Gavin Newsom, governor of California, recently signed a new law (AB 2426) that involves the purchasing of digital goods and services. Under the new law, online storefronts that sell digital copies of video games, music, movies, TV shows, and ebooks must be explicit as to whether customers actually own what they’re purchasing. Some digital services are already adapting to the new regulations, which aren’t set to be enforced until next year. Steam is one such company, having already implemented a change in the Steam storefront that explicitly notifies customers that they’re purchasing “a license for the product on Steam” and don’t actually own the game outright. What does that mean for you? Well, a license is just permission for you to access content that’s provided by the service (i.e., the game). If the content is made unavailable for whatever reason, you aren’t entitled to access in perpetuity. (As opposed to buying a digital download, in which case you’re buying permission to download and keep said files.) According to Engadget, this new wording in Steam is used in all countries and territories, not just the United States. Further reading: Why digital games can vanish in a heartbeat Continue reading at 'PC World'

[ PC World | 2024-10-11 19:19:30 UTC ]
News tagged with: #game outright #digital services #digital download #explicitly states #digital games #digital storefront #suddenly disappear #gavin newsom #recently signed #digital goods #online storefronts #video games #tv shows #made unavailable #ebooks

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News Corp to cut hundreds of jobs in move towards digital-only publishing

Publisher of the Australian, the Daily Telegraph and the Herald Sun is expected to stop publishing as many as 100 titles News Corp Australia is poised to cut hundreds of jobs as it moves towards digital-only publishing for many of its local and regional papers and more copy sharing among its... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2020-05-27 10:53:51 UTC ]
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The academic digital revolution is here... again

What’s an industry painstakingly crafted on authority, history and traditional processes to do, when suddenly the world rips up the rule book and says: Forget the last 300 years. Do something else! Now, your authority is challenged, your history less important, and your traditional processes... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-05-27 06:34:43 UTC ]
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Booksellers Association to buy Bertline

The Booksellers Association is buying Bertrams' bookselling system Bertline, in order to support independent retailers. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-05-27 04:47:23 UTC ]
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High streaming figures for Hay Festival Digital first weekend

Hay Festival Digital events were streamed over 210,000 times in the virtual festival's opening weekend (Saturday 23rd May to Bank Holiday Monday, 25th May), with people from more than 63 countries tuning in.   Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-05-26 11:37:30 UTC ]
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Team Whistle buys OTT marketing firm Tiny Horse for $30 million

Digital media company Team Whistle has acquired Tiny Horse, a marketing services firm focused on over-the-top streamers, TV networks, producers and advertisers. The companies didn’t disclose terms of the deal, however, sources told Variety the acquisition was mostly in the form of a stock swap... Continue reading at Silicon Valley Business Journal

[ Silicon Valley Business Journal | 2020-05-22 09:54:48 UTC ]
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Hodder & Stoughton buys book on embracing the average by Eleanor Ross

Hodder & Stoughton will publish Good Enough: The Myth of Success and How to Celebrate the Joy in Average by journalist Eleanor Ross.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-05-21 11:30:07 UTC ]
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The Australian Book Industry Awards’ Digital Show: Undaunted by COVID-19

The transfer of the 2020 Australian Book Industry Awards arrives as a slickly edited, expertly produced video evocation of the usual onstage event, full of personality and comedy. The post The Australian Book Industry Awards’ Digital Show: Undaunted by COVID-19 appeared first on Publishing... Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2020-05-20 16:56:37 UTC ]
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11 Great Book Puzzles You Can Buy Right Now

Amid a shortage of puzzles, here are a number of book puzzles you can buy right now. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2020-05-20 10:34:22 UTC ]
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Bloomsbury Hoping Digital Gains Will Soften Covid-19 Impacts

Bloomsbury Publishing reported a 10% profit increase in the fiscal year ended February 29, 2020, over fiscal 2019. The publisher said its business in the current fiscal year has suffered "significant disruption" because of the coronavirus pandemic, but said it is "well placed to benefit from... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-05-20 04:00:00 UTC ]
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The Flying Pig Games (shelftalker)

Promoting the fourth book in the Hunger Games series during COVID-19 invited a little video intervention. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-05-19 10:49:35 UTC ]
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How 6AM City Is Rethinking Digital Media at a Local Level

From Greenville, S.C., to Lakeland, Fla., media company 6AM City is engaging audiences in communities across the southeastern U.S. with email newsletters in the spirit of The Skimm – but on a hyper-local level. In this episode, Co-Founder & COO Ryan Heafy discusses 6AM's business model,... Continue reading at Publishing Executive

[ Publishing Executive | 2020-05-18 12:31:36 UTC ]
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Scholastic builds anticipation online for Hunger Games prequel

Scholastic has been building anticipation online for Suzanne Collins' eagerly awaited prequel to the Hunger Games series, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-05-17 18:28:18 UTC ]
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Digital Bestseller Lists: Normal People leads the way

For the week ending 9th May, Sally Rooney’s Normal People punted into the Bookstat e-book number one, climbing one place to leapfrog Andrew Mayne’s The Girl Beneath the Sea. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-05-16 12:06:19 UTC ]
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Time for Nerd Jeopardy! (A Literary Trivia Game Show)

Ryan Chapman hosts Nerd Jeopardy, the online literary game show. Tonight Ryan is joined by Kristen Arnett, author of Mostly Dead Things, and Katie Whittemore, translator of Sara Mesa’s Four by Four. This week’s indie bookstore spotlight is on Magers & Quinn. Sign up for next week, May 20,... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-05-15 15:43:54 UTC ]
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The Economist Group Cuts 90 Employees, Takes 1843 Mag Digital-Only

The Economist Group is laying off 90 employees, about 7% of its 1,300 total staffers, the company said Friday, citing the business impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The cuts primarily affected employees in events and client solutions roles, as well as TVC, the London-based content marketing... Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2020-05-15 15:03:09 UTC ]
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PRH Continues Digital Consumer Outreach with #BooksConnectUs Campaign

Penguin Random House's efforts to to pivot to a new, digital normal are some of the broadest in the publishing business thus far, and its #BooksConnectUs initiative, which will turn two months old on May 20, is its connective tissue. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-05-14 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Print Unit Sales Post Another Double Digit Gain

Last week, unit sales of print books had their second consecutive week of double-digit growth over the previous week at outlets that report to NPD BookScan. For the week ended May 9, 2020, print units were up 10.5% over the prior week. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-05-14 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Scott Turow is a master of the legal thriller. ‘The Last Trial’ proves he’s still at the top of his game.

The novel revisits Sandy Stern, a character Turow first introduced in his debut, 1987’s “Presumed Innocent.” Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2020-05-12 15:18:02 UTC ]
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Square Enix's 54-game charity bundle includes Eidos and Ion Storm classics

Need an incentive to stay at home during the pandemic? How about a months-long game backlog that includes some classics? Square Enix is happy to oblige. The publisher has released a Square Enix Eidos Anthology on Steam that bundles 54 Eidos games for... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2020-05-11 13:20:20 UTC ]
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TLC launches digital platform for writers

The Literary Consultancy (TLC) has launched a digital platform to support writers and "safeguard their creativity". Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-05-11 01:42:35 UTC ]
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