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| [Jul 31, 2012, 9:33 pm ET] - Share - Viewing Comments |
Valve announces an updated Steam Subscriber Agreement, becoming the latest company to attempt to avoid potential class action lawsuits by prohibiting them as a term of service. Here is their explanation of this: We’re also introducing a new dispute resolution process that will benefit you and Valve. Recently, a number of companies have created similar provisions which have generated lots of discussion from customers and communities, and we’ve been following these discussions closely. On Steam, whenever a customer is unhappy with any transaction, our first goal is to resolve things as quickly as possible through the normal customer support process. However in those instances in which we can't resolve a dispute, we've outlined a new required process whereby we agree to use arbitration or small claims court to resolve the dispute. In the arbitration process, Valve will reimburse your costs of the arbitration for claims under a certain amount. Reimbursement by Valve is provided regardless of the arbitrator’s decision, provided that the arbitrator does not determine the claim to be frivolous or the costs unreasonable.
Most significant to the new dispute resolution terms is that customers may now only bring individual claims, not class action claims. We considered this change very carefully. It’s clear to us that in some situations, class actions have real benefits to customers. In far too many cases however, class actions don’t provide any real benefit to users and instead impose unnecessary expense and delay, and are often designed to benefit the class action lawyers who craft and litigate these claims. Class actions like these do not benefit us or our communities. We think this new dispute resolution process is faster and better for you and Valve while avoiding unnecessary costs, and that it will therefore benefit the community as a whole.
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Re: Steam Precludes Class Action Lawsuits |
Aug 1, 2012, 10:59 |
Phasenoise |
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Verno wrote on Aug 1, 2012, 10:09: It wasn't until public pressure started to mount and several campaigns started to collect parties for a class action that they suddenly had a change of heart. For right or wrong, the public tends to use class actions to hold companies accountable for their actions when they are otherwise unreachable. Except that in this case, they *were* reachable, and they *were* replacing 360s en masse. There aren't clear grounds for a class action at all. Sure, the PR flacks implied it could be ventilation issues and all sorts of things outside the console. But on the support end they were just replacing them no questions asked.
I personally had three (3!) replaced. Manufacturing problems? Oh yeah. But also easily remedied. You call them, they send a box and you send it back. Shortly after, you get a new one.
They are already quite punished by the cost of replacing all these units. This is a HUGE incentive to fix their manufacturing. A class action suit doesn't add a thing. But this is a specific case of course and I don't want to lead the discussion to MS instead of valve.
In general, I think class actions do need to be there. But in isolated cases binding arbitration makes more sense. Game sales strike me as such a situation, so I honestly don't have an issue with Steam having this clause. I don't want in a class action suit for which i would never receive any actual remedy. That only benefits parties other than me. I'm much more likely to receive a remedy in arbitration. It would be limited to the cost of the game and not a windfall which is why some are opposed to it (lawyers, notably). But realistically to me, this is a realistic solution. |
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eunichron |
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Sepharo |
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Aug 1, 00:09 |
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eunichron |
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Aug 1, 00:43 |
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Sepharo |
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Jul 31, 21:45 |
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RailWizard |
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Jul 31, 21:52 |
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Tom |
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Jul 31, 21:52 |
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Jul 31, 21:55 |
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Overon |
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Jul 31, 22:01 |
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Jul 31, 22:04 |
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jamiedj99 |
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Jul 31, 22:05 |
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theyarecomingforyou |
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Jul 31, 22:14 |
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Jul 31, 22:24 |
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Jul 31, 22:33 |
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StingingVelvet |
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Jul 31, 22:52 |
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Dades |
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Jul 31, 23:08 |
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StingingVelvet |
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Jul 31, 23:11 |
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Mad Max RW |
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Jul 31, 23:18 |
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nin |
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NKD |
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Jul 31, 23:21 |
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Jul 31, 23:29 |
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NKD |
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Jul 31, 23:33 |
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Jul 31, 23:37 |
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NKD |
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Jul 31, 23:40 |
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Crustacean Soup |
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Jul 31, 23:44 |
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NKD |
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Jul 31, 23:53 |
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Jul 31, 23:48 |
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Cutter |
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Jul 31, 23:55 |
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Dades |
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eRe4s3r |
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Dev |
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eRe4s3r |
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Jul 31, 23:24 |
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Asmo |
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Beamer |
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Jul 31, 23:48 |
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Jul 31, 22:53 |
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007Bistromath |
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Jul 31, 23:23 |
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Prez |
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Jul 31, 23:34 |
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StingingVelvet |
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Sepharo |
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StingingVelvet |
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StingingVelvet |
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Verno |
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Verno |
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Verno |
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JohnnyRotten |
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Prez |
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Aug 1, 00:13 |
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theyarecomingforyou |
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Aug 1, 00:23 |
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eunichron |
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theyarecomingforyou |
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eunichron |
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theyarecomingforyou |
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Wowbagger_TIP |
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deqer |
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ASeven |
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Warskull |
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Mashiki Amiketo |
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netnerd85 |
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007Bistromath |
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Sepharo |
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Closed Betas |
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Jul 31, 23:18 |
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btallas |
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Sepharo |
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deqer |
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nin |
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deqer |
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nin |
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Dev |
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Aug 1, 11:09 |
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deqer |
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Beamer |
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Dev |
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Mr. Tact |
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Dev |
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NegaDeath |
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jimnms |
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Veterator |
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Mashiki Amiketo |
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Jul 31, 23:49 |
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Closed Betas |
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StingingVelvet |
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Re: Steam Precludes Class Action Lawsuits |
Mashiki Amiketo |
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59. |
Aug 1, 00:01 |
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ledhead1969 |
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^Drag0n^ |
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PropheT |
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entr0py |
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Anonymous |
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Dev |
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Dev |
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Beamer |
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Omni |
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Aug 1, 08:54 |
sick of counting sheep |
space captain |
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90. |
Aug 1, 09:04 |
Re: Steam Precludes Class Action Lawsuits |
Verno |
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LurkerLito |
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Prez |
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Aug 1, 10:02 |
Re: Steam Precludes Class Action Lawsuits |
Phasenoise |
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95. |
Aug 1, 10:09 |
Re: Steam Precludes Class Action Lawsuits |
Verno |
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Aug 1, 10:59 |
Re: Steam Precludes Class Action Lawsuits |
Phasenoise |
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Re: Steam Precludes Class Action Lawsuits |
Verno |
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avianflu |
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Creston |
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Dev |
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Beamer |
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HorrorScope |
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El Pit |
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Verno |
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eunichron |
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NKD |
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Re: Steam Precludes Class Action Lawsuits |
Verno |
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NKD |
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Creston |
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LurkerLito |
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Prez |
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Verno |
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Prez |
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Aug 1, 16:29 |
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deqer |
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Re: Steam Precludes Class Action Lawsuits |
Mashiki Amiketo |
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127. |
Aug 1, 14:24 |
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JohnnyRotten |
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Re: Steam Precludes Class Action Lawsuits |
Verno |
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Dev |
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Re: Steam Precludes Class Action Lawsuits |
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Beamer |
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Aug 3, 12:29 |
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JohnnyRotten |
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Dev |
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