Alright, created an account just to be able to tell the following to Ross:
1. Ross, there is a Youtube lawyer with specialized knowledge and interest in corporate and gaming law: Richard Hoeg of Hoeg Law (https://www.youtube.com/@HoegLaw).
His bread and butter are contract situations and legal disputes in the gaming world, such as Epic vs Apple, the Microsoft-Activison merger, AI and copyright situations, and digital ownership. If there is one person I know that not only can give you a sound perspective in terms of US contract law, but is in it for their love of video games, it would be him. I would love to see a hangout stream with you and him (and maybe some others).
2. Regardless of how this entire planned Class Action pans out: I think people who value digital ownership should be the change they want to see. I have bought nary a game on Steam for years now, and do 95% of my shopping in terms of games on GOG. It is shocking (shocking!) how little air time and mention that store gets, and how few people even know about it.
Maybe creators should make a concerted effort to raise awareness that an alternative does exist where you can own your games in at least so far as they can't be taken from you once you bought them (and downloaded their installer).
4. In the EU, there is case law that already started on the process of "you do own your digital product": Oracle versus UsedSoft. Oracle tried to get UsedSoft to stop selling used licenses because they felt UsedSoft had no right to. The court found that purchase even of a license comes implicitly with ownership of a working copy (which UsedSoft was within their rights to sell on). This, to my interpretation, could be important case law for other decisions in the EU at least, even if the subject matter is not the exact same (the case was about software in the wider sense, not games specifically).
Best regards, The Corvair
