California has introduced a law that forces digital stores to tell customers that they’re just licensing content—not buying it—and with that comes the news that Steam is now complying with the legislation, with the digital distribution service and storefront now warning players that they’re only buying a license to a game at checkout. The bill, which California Governor Gavin Newsom signed on September 24, prohibits sellers from using wording that would imply unrestricted ownership of games or other types of digital goods. A summary of the bill, as well as a screenshot with Steam’s new licensing warning, can be found below.
Existing law makes it unlawful for any person doing business in California and advertising to consumers in California to make any false or misleading advertising claim. Existing law makes a person who violates specified false advertising provisions liable for a civil penalty, as specified, and provides that a person who violates those false advertising provisions is guilty of a misdemeanor.
This bill would, subject to specified exceptions, additionally prohibit a seller of a digital good from advertising or offering for sale a digital good, as defined, to a purchaser with the terms buy, purchase, or any other term which a reasonable person would understand to confer an unrestricted ownership interest in the digital good, or alongside an option for a time-limited rental, unless the seller receives at the time of each transaction an affirmative acknowledgment from the purchaser, or the seller provides to the consumer before executing each transaction a clear and conspicuous statement, as specified. By expanding the scope of a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.