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[doublenagger]

I should be allowed to sell my "license" to someone else. The quality of the product doesn't matter. I can buy something new, never open or use it, and resell it as new. This is no different.

apart from the fact that digital goods can be produced an infinite amount of time, just like cd keys

 

[Oersted]

apart from the fact that digital goods can be produced an infinite amount of time, just like cd keys

So....?

 

[Danny Dudekisser]

apart from the fact that digital goods can be produced an infinite amount of time, just like cd keys

Scarcity is irrelevant.



Anyway, I already said it in some other thread on this stuff, but the people who are saying the laws need to change are probably right. The biggest hurdle is establishing that software, though somewhere between a good and a service, falls more on the side of being a good. If that's the case, then it's governed by UCC Article 2, and then you've pretty much won your battle. The problem is that in the most recent, valuable case over this stuff, Capitol v. ReDigi, the court acknowledged the problem of being able to sell digitally purchased stuff, but basically said that they won't consider software a good for UCC purposes until Congress pulls their heads out of their asses and says something first.

 

[Clockwork5]

It doesnt work because first sale doctrine only extends to distribution right and does not extend to reproduction right.

You could sell your hard drive which contains the digital good because you are not making a copy. Just do that.

I should be allowed to sell my "license" to someone else. The quality of the product doesn't matter. I can buy something new, never open or use it, and resell it as new. This is no different.

what are you going to actually sell them? a COPY of the good which you purchased. That is illegal.

The only way I see this working is if the distributor offers a used digital media marketplace with an authentication transfer mechanism. There may be some small media outlets that provide this service; I am not aware of any. It will be interesting to see where this goes.

 

[Htown]

I kind of feel like part of Valve's intent with the trading card system is to examine how a digital market would react to used game sales. Think about it: each user gets a limited, capped number of cards based on which games you own, which you can keep, trade or sell. In theory there is a large but finite amount of cards out there at any given time, but new ones are created whenever someone buys a game that gives cards.

 

[Deku Tree]

I'd rather have cheaper digital than resale of digital.

 

[CyclopsRock]

It's a different thing altogether. Selling a disc you bought is something you do. Selling an item on an account is something the provider had to do. I don't think anyone else should be obligated to provide the infrastructure for you to sell digital games if that's how you've chosen to buy them.


Obviously I'm a paid shill, though.

 

[Oersted]

I'd rather have cheaper digital than resale of digital.

whynotboth.gif

 

[FStop7]

It's going to take legislation that encompasses all digital media.

 

[walking fiend]

We patiently wait for the European governments to force their way.

 

[Senor Kami]

“Digital used products” make sense to EU courts apparently.

You could also give advantages to players purchasing brand new digital games, that wouldn't carry over if they sell their digital copy to someone else, thus simulating “used physical game” value deprecation. But I can already see it being abused by publishers to prevent people from buying digital copies…

They did that this gen and people raged.

 

[RiccochetJ]

It's a different thing altogether. Selling a disc you bought is something you do. Selling an item on an account is something the provider had to do. I don't think anyone else should be obligated to provide the infrastructure for you to sell digital games if that's how you've chosen to buy them.


Obviously I'm a paid shill, though.

I imagine if governments force their hands to let consumers sell their licenses, we're going to see a whole lot of "extra" fees start to pop up Ticketmaster style.

 

[iNvid02]

probably never,, the corporations will get around any legal threats by only offering you a license to play the games.

if you don't own them you can't resell them.

 

[Buddha Beam]

You don't because it doesn't make sense. There's no such thing as a "used" digital game.

If the new product and used product are literally exactly the same what incentive could steam, origin, XBL, PSN, etc EVER have to allow you to purchase used copies at a lower price? The publishers on the service lose money. The service itself loses money. There's no reason for them to do it.

This is my take on the matter, too. You also have to consider that if you start letting consumers sell used digital games, it turns things into an even faster race to the bottom than we're already running. And a race to the bottom means less people making less money, save maybe the platform holder. You see a similar thing occurring in the online advertising industry right now. I'm ok with the idea of like a trade-in system, but I don't really see what the publisher or platform holder would get out of the ordeal.

 

[Starwolf_UK]

If I'm not mistaken the EU rulings prevent manufacturers from prohibiting trade-ins. At the same time manufacturers do not have to provide means to make it possible.

I personally wonder what this means regarding the classic terms of service about not being to sell-on or transfer your account as you could argue that prohibits it. Then again I guess because used car analogies always come into play, when you sell a car on, if you don't do the paperwork right it looks like you still own and have legal responsibility for that car* and currently digital account don't have the sort of paperwork to transfer an account.

*-I've had friends of parents who have had the police knocking on their door and house searched because their car (which they recently sold) was used for crime.

 

[Neo C.]

Coincidentically, I also thought about this topic very recently. We need to wait for the platform owners to adopt this thinking though. Once someone start it, I can see others following. With resale rights, people who are hesitant before will start to give DD a chance.

 

[KnightSlyder]

Nintendo takes a bunch of gruff for their lack of an all inclusive account system. However, their policy at least allows for the resale of digital VC games. Of course, you need to sell the console with the games, but it's better than most companies offer.

 

[mangochutney]

The courts recently ruled that re-selling MP3s is illegal - so good luck.

The ultimate reason why was because when re-selling digital content you are making an additional copy of the original content.

Unlike when you hand a physical object to someone else when you sell it, you cannot physically move the bits off your hard drive onto someone else's.

Under this scenario selling your PC with the content on is OK as you're not re-producing the original content. I believe there was a separate case relating to an eBay item which was given the all-clear.