this post was submitted on 02 Jul 2026
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[–] PeriodicallyPedantic@lemmy.ca 1 points 12 hours ago* (last edited 12 hours ago)

The first link you sent, that I keep talking about, said in the first paragraph that it is 100 yo and superceded 50 years ago:

Regarding 17 U.S.C. § 109(a) which is what superceded it, the 2010 version does mention computer programs but does not mention games except for coin operated games. It doesn't grant you the right to copy (which digit transfer does) and more importantly 109(d) explicit says the right doesn't extend to people who possess the software by means of rental/lease/loan/otherwise without acquiring ownership of it, which is exactly the exemption about selling licenses instead of copies, that these digital stores use to deprive you of ownership. It clearly exempts steam's whole model.
Checking the most recent version (2024) leaves this pretty much unchanged.

I agree with you that this is bad, but that doesn't make it illegal.
However we need to be careful that this doesn't fuck FOSS software, which relies heavily on license enforcement.