High Court throws out Valve bid to appeal $3m judgment
Valve's latest appeal over an Australian regulator's order for the company to pay $3 million on claims that it misled or deceived gamers in matters related to Steam's refund policy has been dismissed.
Valve, one of the world's largest online game retailers, runs the Steam platform, offering games such as Half-Life, Counter-Strike, Portal, Day of Defeat, Team Fortress, and Left 4 Dead.
In several instances where its hotels had issues, such as broken lifts or a lack of hot water, the court found that Meriton had steered the emails away from a majority of its guests. Introduced in 2015, the policy has helped Steam grow to its current gargantuan level - but prior to that Valve had language specifically refusing the right of refund in place, which has now bitten it squarely on the rump.
"As with most software products", read the policy, "unless required by local law, we do not offer refunds or exchanges on games, DLC or in-game items purchased on our website or through the Steam Client".
Valve's response to the lawsuit was interesting.
When the case was eventually heard in 2016, Valve argued that it wasn't selling products in Australia, and therefore the local laws didn't apply to it.
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In that ruling, Justice Edelman said that Valve had formed a view "that it was not subject to Australian law", calling the company's approach to the case "disturbing".
In short: Valve does business in Australia and everyone knows it.
The Full Federal Court ruled in December previous year that Valve, which operates a game distribution platform known as Steam, had violated consumer law when sales were made to Australian users. Last year, Valve attempted to appeal the decision but was denied. It looks like the High Court of Australia ultimately agreed, meaning Valve will have to pay the fine.
This is the final decision on the matter, according to the courts.
"This important precedent confirms the ACCC's view that overseas-based companies selling to Australian consumers must abide by our laws", she said. "If customers buy a product online that is faulty, they are entitled to the same right to a fix, replacement or refund as if they'd walked into a store", ACCC Commissioner Sarah Court said in today's release.
Valve did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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