'up to 5 jears? Jears? As in 5 jail-years but in shorthand?
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There are many reasons one can break a contract (failure to deliver the product, for example). Simply breaking a contract is not fraud by itself. Fraud is the intentional misrepresentation of a fact, done with knowledge of its falsity. It is also omission or purposeful failure to state material facts.
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not as much illegal as just a violation of the content owner's rules
But - since the eula is a legal contract/agreement, breaking those rules can be considered illegal at some point. It's a stretch to call it illegal in my opinion (I doubt you can find yourself in jail for giving/selling your account unless you do it in the course of something that is itself illegal) but that account can and probably will be vaporized, which is going to result in the person you gave it to looking for you to return whatever they gave you for it.
Overall just not worth messing around with - if you're done with Steam, just uninstall it, unless they go completely bust, the games you paid for will still be there if you ever decide to install it again, I don't think your account ever "expires" for non-use so really shouldn't be a big deal.
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While it's not illegal, it's a violation on the contract you had to sign if you wanted to use Steam. By breaking that agreement they have the right to shut down your account, that is if they catch you sharing it. You won't be able to take them to court if they do catch you.
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"By pressing I agree, I hereby agree to be bound by the Agreement. I also acknowledge and agree that this Agreement (including the Subscription Terms, Steam Online Conduct rules and other Rules of Use, and Privacy Policy) is the complete and exclusive statement of the agreement between Valve and me, and that the Agreement supersedes any prior or contemporaneous agreement, or other communications, whether oral or written, between Valve and myself."
That's a form of signing a contract, while not strictly personal like an actual signature. By pressing the "I agree" button you "sign" an agreement required for their service. The correct would be "you had to accept their terms before using [..]" and by accepting you're signing an agreement.
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so if you sell it they would shut down the account after it is no longer yours, you get money. the buyer gets a dead steam account. i hate to say it but... PROFITTTT
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Your country's law can't do anything unless it specifically state you can't revoke a certain right. This is important; many stores in the US for example make you sign a waiver - if you have an accident, you can't sue. But you totally can, because you can't revoke that right.
Anyway, ToS and EULAs are different from a law, there's a set of rule and a clear set of "punishments" if you fail a rule.
I went through the Steam EULA and here's what I found:
If you give someone your password, then you are sharing it and allowing them to see it. If you make them guess it (such as: "my password is the first five letters of the alphabet"), then they're hacking - even if you say you don't mind.
So basically, it's against the EULA and will result in either account termination or games' removal (they get to choose).
If you still want to go to court, there's another bit at the end of the EULA that binds you to the State of Washington's laws.
And, of course, I'm not a lawyer (I should have mentioned that earlier, right?).
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And EULA saying "you can't sell your account" isn't "somewhat-similar" thing to "you can't sue us" waiver? That's what I wonder - are those lines legal, or they are just to scare people, but in the Court they would be called as illegal, ergo without any power.
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Depends on the country... there's a lot of "these may not apply to you if you live in the European Union" in the EULA.
There's only five things they can do to your account, as per their EULA: freeze online services (that means no more playing CS, CS:S, TF2, etc. online), freeze the shop, freeze your trading rights, freeze/delete one game or more, and freeze/delete your account.
Based on experience and common sense, I'd say all these are legal pretty much everywhere. BUT, there's something else... the EULA says in case of troubles, the law from the State of Washington will be used. You can try to read it, but even this can create some problems with several countries... they simply need to say "nope, Valve comes here and we prosecute them with our courts". And the US will reply "no way man, I ain't sending them over there". And this can go on for so long, all the games you had on your account are now worth 1$ each.
The game of international politics is a very complicated one, it's not ruled by laws or decrees, they change as the heads of states go along... my advice is: do what you want, but tell all concerned people you're gonna do it.
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I believe they've updated their terms so you only get the account frozen. You can still connect and play some games but can't do anything else.
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They can do anything they want to your account from the following list: freezing online service, freezing the shop, freezing one game or more, freezing your account, deleting your account.
They also have the possibility to give you a standalone version of your games if they delete your account, but most likely they're not too pushy on that so if anything happens just ask them politely.
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Thanks, been wondering about this for a while, I sometimes let a friend log onto my account to see if they like something before they buy it if I have it already...wish more games had demos nowadays, some do, its nice when they do.
Nice to know its safe... :-D
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2 Message by Support Tech Derrick on Wed, 2nd May 2012 4:03 pm
Hello,
Thank you for contacting Steam Support.
You cannot share your account as this can result in it being permanently locked.
If you have any further questions, please let us know - we will be happy to assist you.
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"Though it really depends on who you're sharing it with and how (exchanging for cash is a no-no), I believe." I was asking about my girlfriend (though claimed she was a fiancée in the ticket so it sounded more permanent than just "girlfriend" as it is).
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I'm asking again, because frankly, if an account gets banned while their support staff are giving out false information, I think someone might have grounds to make some form of huge complaint.
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If you give your friend account to play like few days (like i usualy do when im riding somewhere) and then when you come back and see some dissable account info just send them message when you was @ some lan tournament and this is reason why there is more then 1 ip connected with your account and they will give your account back at least i did that on 2009 year i think and after that i dont get any warnings/suspends or something else if someone is using my account
ps. maybe i didn't understand the topic cuz im high and sorry for my bad english :3
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It is not 'illegal' in the criminal sense as most people would interpret that.
However, it is against the ELUA or ToS. Ergo if you voilate those terms they are within their rights to exercise any terms within the agreement. Since the SSA allows for unilateral termination, they can terminate your Steam account and it is perfectly 'legal' for them to do so. The SSA forbids transfer of the account, sharing passwords, etc. These CAN be used to suspend your Steam account permanently.
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You never know. We just know there's a country out there that made it illegal to share stuff.
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Depending on where you live, the legal enforceability of EULAs/Subscriber Agreements/ToS are a grey area. This only relates to the US, and I know it's Wikipedia, but check the sources. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_license_agreement#Enforceability_of_EULAs_in_the_United_States
I am not a lawyer, but the point is, although the subscription is free, Steam says it is a subscription service, similar to Netflix. It's one reason they can legally say "you cannot sell or transfer your account." Otherwise, in the US at least, the doctrine of first sale comes into play.
As others have said, Valve can suspend your account for doing something like this, and the fact that you posted about it on a public forum using your Steam ID shows the intent to at least consider the option. In most places, breach of contract is a civil matter, and cannot end up with you in jail. I highly doubt they would sue you, as they outline what happens when you break the SSA (your subscription to the games may be terminated).
In any case, to my knowledge, none of us are lawyers and cannot give you proper legal advice. If you wish to explore this further, I strongly advise you to consult an attorney specializing in contract law. Some lawyers offer free consultations. Things may be different in your country.
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Everyone writes "EULA disallows it". But if EULA had "you become our slave" everyone would know this point is rubbish and against laws. And that's what I'm asking about - if there's a law that is saying "company can order you what to do with things that you buy/lend"? Or does this point exist because nobody had time, money nor desire to go to court to fight against it?
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If you're looking for some abstract reasoning on why the rule exists, I can't help you. Bottom line, though, is that if you give or sell your account to someone else, and valve finds out, it will be banned. Not sure why you would need to know anything else on the subject.
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Yes, it's illegal in the sense that you have no recourse if Valve disables your account and refuses to refund any of the games you purchased. You won't go to prison or be fined by the government however...
Normally, if Valve randomly disabled your account, you could take them to small claims court (in the US, or its equivalent in any developed society) and get a legal order for Valve to either refund you or re-enable it.
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It's been a while since I read the SSA, but usually large companies have language in their terms of service that essentially state they can do whatever they want with your account. According to Valve, you aren't purchasing the games on Steam, after all. You're just subscribing to them (in exchange for a one-time payment). The language in these terms of service are not necessarily legally enforceable, though it doesn't stop companies from putting whatever they think they can get away with in their terms. In the US, the legality of all these is a huge grey area. Some companies even try to get away with disallowing you from participating in a class-action lawsuit, saying instead if you've got a problem you're forced to participate in binding arbitration. Crazy.
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Honestly?
No, no one would ever find out that it took place unless you shouted it out on steam. Any proof found on other sites, are worthless because it may not of been you.
It's not illegal if you don't get caught.
Truly?
Yes, you will lose your games.
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Because again I read that giving/selling/not-using-alone accounts is illegal I wanted to ask, "Is it?". I know they write long essays about that in EULAs, but they are worth nothing if law/country doesn't confirm it. So, does anyone know laws and codex to tell there is something that makes it illegal, or is this one of those rules that exist until someone goes to Court with them?
Edit: You write about EULA or ToS - which I know have those lines about "don't do that". But aren't those worthless if country law doesn't reflect/approve of them - that's what I'm (at least trying to) asking about.
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