Sony, Ubisoft scandals lead to California ban on deceptive digital goods sales
California's new law AB 2426 protects consumers from deceptive sales of digital goods by requiring clear disclosure of licensing terms, enhancing transparency and consumer rights in digital transactions.
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California has enacted a new law, AB 2426, aimed at protecting consumers from deceptive sales practices related to digital goods, such as video games, movies, and books. Signed by Governor Gavin Newsom, the law prohibits sellers from advertising digital goods in a way that implies consumers are purchasing ownership when they are actually receiving a temporary license. Sellers must now clearly indicate when a digital good is only available through a license and disclose that access may be revoked if the seller loses licensing rights. This law was prompted by incidents involving companies like Ubisoft and Sony, which faced backlash for revoking access to purchased content. The legislation emphasizes the need for transparency in digital transactions, ensuring that consumers are aware of the nature of their purchases. Exceptions exist for goods that are clearly labeled as licenses and for free or subscription-based services. The law is seen as a significant step toward enhancing consumer rights in the digital marketplace, addressing concerns that have been recognized since at least 2016.
- California is the first state to ban deceptive sales of digital goods.
- The law requires clear disclosure of licensing terms for digital purchases.
- Incidents involving Ubisoft and Sony highlighted the need for consumer protection.
- Exceptions are made for clearly labeled licenses and free goods.
- The law aims to enhance consumer confidence in digital transactions.
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15 commentsThe law may say differently, but you cannot convince me that I don’t own something I bought through a “buy” button. I’ve never seen a book or movie or game or album where the button says “License” instead of “Buy”.
In fact, it'd be even nicer if the legislation explicitly required rental terminology to be used for anything DRM-encumbered, but well, even as-is, this is an extremely welcome development and I hope legislators worldwide are taking note and plan to follow suit as soon as possible. This kind of victory for digital consumer rights has been long overdue!
They are not proposing to force media companies to make sure you have access to your media forever. Or force them to give you a downloadable copy when they remove media from store. They’ll just replace „Buy” button with „Get Access” or whatever and add some lawyer mumbo-jumbo above it.
Looks like a smokescreen to me.
(b)(2)(A) seems to say that all an entity needs to do to comply with the law is to add a checkbox associated with some text that links to the EULA for the software, and also says "By checking this box, you acknowledge that you have read the EULA and know that access to the software will be revoked if you no longer hold a right to the software".
Most folks are never going to read the EULA, and no reasonable person would expect that a button that says "BUY" would seal a deal that permits the "seller" to unilaterally revoke the customer's right to the "sold" software.
Also kindle.
"Additionally, it's OK to advertise a digital good if access isn't ever revoked, such as when users purchase a permanent download that can be accessed offline, regardless of a seller's rights to license the content."
I've played steam games offline, only to have something expire at some point, preventing the games from launching.
No such issue with GOG.
This might even differentiate individual games.
For kindle, some books (tor?) have a paragraph "this bookis distributed without digital rights management"
Could a download of this book differentiate buy vs license?
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