The Cowboy
Member
Major Edit.
Turns out this isn't just for the UK, but for all 28 EU member states.
http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-14-655_en.htm?locale=en
http://www.theguardian.com/money/2014/jun/13/consumer-rights-shakeup-online-shoppers-protection
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I hope this is OK to post (i think it should be).
Just thought i would post about this as i can't seem to find any place posting about it, as some may or may not no most places don't actually have proper sales laws covering digital content purchases (online game downloads, disk based games etc), this changed for all 28 EU member states today. Despite what some may have thought, previous legislation for most places in the EU didn't cover non tangible goods (digital goods) and as such sales laws on things purchased online weren't covered - today this changed with the new Consumer Rights Legislations coming into effect,
Please read below for information on digital contents laws that are now in effect.
http://discuss.bis.gov.uk/consumerr...r-the-draft-bill-when-buying-digital-content/
http://www.twobirds.com/en/news/articles/2014/uk/upcoming-changes-to-consumer-rights-legislation
http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/regulation/consumer-contracts-regulations
So EU people, we are now covered...
Turns out this isn't just for the UK, but for all 28 EU member states.
http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-14-655_en.htm?locale=en
http://www.theguardian.com/money/2014/jun/13/consumer-rights-shakeup-online-shoppers-protection
---
I hope this is OK to post (i think it should be).
Just thought i would post about this as i can't seem to find any place posting about it, as some may or may not no most places don't actually have proper sales laws covering digital content purchases (online game downloads, disk based games etc), this changed for all 28 EU member states today. Despite what some may have thought, previous legislation for most places in the EU didn't cover non tangible goods (digital goods) and as such sales laws on things purchased online weren't covered - today this changed with the new Consumer Rights Legislations coming into effect,
Please read below for information on digital contents laws that are now in effect.
http://discuss.bis.gov.uk/consumerr...r-the-draft-bill-when-buying-digital-content/
http://www.twobirds.com/en/news/articles/2014/uk/upcoming-changes-to-consumer-rights-legislation
http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/regulation/consumer-contracts-regulations
The main part to read in regards to services such as Steam/Origin or any other digital download provider is bolded, as it explains with a buggy/faulty game you aren't immediately eligible for a refund but you are covered in other ways and things do move onto refunds over time (if things aren't fixed in the end).Rights and remedies digital content.
Under the current law there is potentially a wide discrepancy in the treatment of digital content, depending on whether it is downloaded or provided in tangible form. The Bill differentiates digital content from goods and services, and sets out a separate regime of rights and remedies. These will apply both to paid-for content (including where paid for with 'virtual' currencies) and content that is provided free with paid for goods, services or other digital content.
The Bill proposes that certain terms should be implied in any contract with a consumer for the supply of digital content, including:
it is of satisfactory quality
it is fit for a particular purpose notified in advance by the consumer
it meets any given description
the trader has the right to supply the content.
If digital content does not satisfy these requirements, a consumer will not have the right to reject it but instead will have:
the right to repair or replacement of the content (although, as with the rules for goods, this right is subject to proportionality qualifications to take into account the value and significance of the digital content compared to the costs to repair or replace it). Unlike with the rules on goods, the trader is not limited to one attempt to repair or replace the content, provided it can do so within a reasonable time and without causing significant inconvenience to the consumer;
the right to a price reduction of an appropriate amount up to the full price paid if repair or replacement is not possible, or the trader has failed to repair or replace the content within a reasonable time and without significant inconvenience; or
the right of a refund, but only in cases where the trader is in breach of the statutory warranty that it has the right to provide the content.
The Bill also contains an additional compensation mechanism where digital content causes damage to a device or other digital content owned by a consumer (e.g. through a virus). If that damage would not have occurred had reasonable care and skill been exercised by the trader in the provision of the digital content, the trader must either repair the damage (within a reasonable time and without significant inconvenience) or failing that pay compensation - this payment would be required to cover the cost of replacing the device and/or any digital content that is damaged.
So EU people, we are now covered...