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Steam's Beefed-Up VPN Ban is Anti-Competitive & Could Even Encourage PiracyAndy Maxwell, 31 Jul 06:50 PM Steam is the world's most popular gaming pl

Steam's Beefed-Up VPN Ban is Anti-Competitive & Could Even Encourage Piracy Andy Maxwell, 31 Jul 06:50 PM Steam is the world's most popular gaming platform for good reason. It does its best to provide users with the best possible experience coupled with broadly reasonable pricing. However, in common with many online services, it is possible to buy content from Steam for less than the locally advertised prices. All users need is a VPN that makes it appear they're in a country where the prices are set lower and they can save money. How many people exploit this method is unclear but this week Steam Database reported that Steam has taken new measures to outlaw the practice. Valve has recently made changing your store country more strict, which requires completing a purchase using a payment method from that country. This should hinder the ability of using VPNs to buy games cheaper. pic.twitter.com/IozwoO6gsi — Steam Database (@SteamDB) July 29, 2020 To be clear, Steam has had a VPN ban in place for years, with its terms of service requiring users to agree that they "will not use IP proxying or other methods to disguise the place of your residence, whether to circumvent geographical restrictions on game content, to purchase at pricing not applicable to your geography, or for any other purpose." Nevertheless, some users have obviously been ignoring the rules so Steam has decided to take additional measures to close the loophole. It's Steam's business and Steam's decision but from a customer perspective in a global digital trading environment, it feels somewhat anti-consumer. Any big business involved in international trade could explain in precise detail why it's entirely reasonable to charge people in different countries more or less for exactly the same product. Sadly for them, most customers simply do not care and may even feel insulted when they learn that they're a victim of geo-discrimination. Imagine being in a regular shop where products have multiple price tags that get progressively more expensive depending on where you live and how much you potentially earn. In common with Steam's restrictions, people would look to circumvent that system. And why not, doesn't everyone enjoy getting a bargain and saving money? The interesting thing here is that the average person probably doesn't know about the VPN 'trick', so it's much more likely to be exploited by tech-savvy users. Indeed, it's not uncommon to hear these kinds of tips being shared on piracy sites, where people can easily get games for free but are actually prepared to buy them when the 'VPN discount' is applied. The big question is how many of these people could turn to piracy when they are forced to pay full price for their games again. It's impossible to say with any accuracy but price is a major issue for many people, as Steam itself recognizes when it gives lower prices and offers to residents of countries where it believes it can't charge more. Interestingly, there is another trick to get cheap games from Steam and elsewhere which, according to game developers themselves, is actually worse than piracy. So-called 'key resellers' are widely hated by devs, with some saying they'd prefer it if people pirated their content instead. Given a choice between a 'VPN discount' and a key reseller, many price-sensitive users would choose the former. Following Steam's new measures, there's much less choice. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more. APK Download Site Must Pay $150,000 For Offering Pirate Streaming Apps Ernesto Van der Sar, 31 Jul 11:31 AM Last year, a group of movie companies filed a lawsuit against the operators of various websites that promoted and distributed so-called pirate apps. These apps, including 'Showbox' and 'Popcorn Time,' enable users to stream pirated movies via torrents and direct sources. Movie Companies Sue Pirate App Distributers The movie companies, including those behind "The Hitman's Bodyguard," "London Has Fallen," and "Hunter Killer" filed a complaint at a U.S. District Court in Hawaii accusing these sites of facilitating massive piracy. "The Defendants misleadingly promote the Show Box app as a legitimate means for viewing content to the public, who eagerly install the Show Box app to watch copyright protected content, thereby leading to profit for the Defendants," the 58-page complaint read. In the months that followed the movie companies signed several consent judgments with the defendants. While none of these were the original app developers, they indeed distributed the software and took the blame for their actions. Not all defendants replied, however. Vietnamese man Nghi Phan Nhat, who allegedly operated the APK download portal 'apkmirrordownload.com,' was served but never responded in court. The pirate apps had disappeared from the site but the movie companies wanted more. Last September, they requested $150,000 in statutory damages. In addition, they asked for an injunction ordering third-party services such as hosting companies and domain registrars to stop doing business with the site. Magistrate Judge Argues That Court Doesn't Have Jurisdiction Initially, this request wasn't well received. Hawaii's Magistrate Judge Kenneth Mansfield advised the court to deny it. There wasn't sufficient evidence that the defendant purposefully directed activities at the US, he argued, which is a requirement for the court to have jurisdiction. The movie companies' attorney, Kerry Culpepper, opposed this recommendation, with success. The district court rejected the findings and recommendations, concluding that the court has personal jurisdiction over the Vietnamese man. The operator used the services of US companies such as Namesilo and CloudFlare, for example, and also had a DMCA policy page, which specifically refers to US law. "The display of this policy on the APK Site shows that Nhat was aware of, and attempted to invoke the protections of, potentially applicable United States law," the Hawaii District Court wrote (pdf). $150,000 Piracy Damages is Appropriate After All Earlier this month the Court ruled that a default judgment is appropriate (pdf), awarding the requested $150,000 in statutory damages. That represents $30,000 per movie title. In addition, it granted over $10,000 in attorneys' fees and costs. The movie companies didn't get everything they asked for, however. The district court denied an injunction that would prevent Cloudflare and Namesilo from offering services to the site. "The Court finds that the request for Namesilo and CloudFlare to stop 'facilitating access' to Defendant Nhat's domain and websites that 'engaged in the distribution and promotion of the Show Box app' is overly broad," the court wrote in its earlier order. The last request would have been futile anyway as apkmirrordownload.com is no longer online. Whether the movie companies will indeed get their damages from the operator is also uncertain. This case is important in respect of future cases against foreign site operators. As the lawsuit against the YouTube rippers Flvto.biz and 2conv.com has also shown, courts have been divided over when and under what circumstances foreign sites can be held liable in the US. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more. ©2020 TorrentFreak | Office 21338 PO Box 4336 Manchester, North West M61 0BW United Kingdom Web Version   Preferences   Forward   Unsubscribe     Powered by Mad Mimi®A GoDaddy® company