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Is the Half-Life 2 EULA Illegal?

Posted by Zonk on from the deep-thoughts dept.

Ant writes "Many people are having problems connecting to the Steam servers to play Half-Life 2, and now the legal agreements that surround a purchase of Half-Life 2 have been examined. The German Consumer Association has found that the packaging on Half-Life 2 is misleading. In a report made following complaints from the public, they said that the mere listing of an internet connection under the 'other' category in system requirements did not accurately describe the true extent of the internet tie-in with the game, and ordered Vivendi to amend the packaging and untie Steam from HL2 or face a hefty fine."

1 of 164 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Internet Connection by Nos. · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to disagree with you. So, your internet connection disconnected, and thus broadband is actually the requirement. I can sympathize with you, but I can't agree. You pretty much stated that with a 26.4K connection, you could have downloaded the patches and activated the software, thus be able to play the game. If a "reliable and fast" internet connection is deemed to be the necessary wording, then I think we need to reexamine all wording requirements, etc. The requirements are exactly that, requirements. Its required that you have an Internet connection to be able to play. You have one, and with some patience and some luck, you would have been able to play. Its not required that you have broadband.

    For example, what if I had a CPU that met the requirements, but I underclocked it. What if I have disk space available, but its on a USB drive which I can't have connected when I play because then I can connect my uber-leet gaming mouse.