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Steam and 5 publishers fined for geoblocking (lemmy.dbzer0.com)
submitted 2 years ago by to c/steam@lemmy.ml
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Good, fuck geoblocking. Bandai 340k Capcom 396k Focus 2.8m Koch 1m Zenimax 1.6m Valve 1.6m

https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/IP_21_170

Judgement from the EU court of justice: https://curia.europa.eu/jcms/upload/docs/application/pdf/2023-09/cp230147en.pdf

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[–] 16 points 2 years ago (3 children)

The listed countries look like countries that often get regional pricing. Was the geo blocking to allow for regional pricing in those areas?

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  • [–] [S] 30 points 2 years ago (3 children)

    I guess. But that doesn't matter, it's against a prime EU principle - free trade inside the EU. They can offer their products cheaper in those countries but they can't tell other EU members not to buy there.

    I actually got in contact with zenimax about that issue 10 years ago and after some back and forth they just forwarded me to their legal team. And I sure made a complaint with the EU about it. I'm sure there were lots of complaints about that issue but I feel somewhat validated right now.

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  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    I understand the principle, but in practice, the result of this will be negative.

    So to comply, companies will now charge people in the poorer countries more money. epic w

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  • [–] [S] -1 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    Yes, it is a w. As I mentioned, they are free to sell their products at a lower price in certain countries but they can't tell someone from Italy that they can't buy their product in Hungary. I honestly can't understand someone who defends this practice.

    So someone from California can't buy products in Mississippi, that's just fair - or it's ok just because it's via the internet?

    Fuck geoblocking.

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  • [–] 8 points 2 years ago

    I think the point he's making is now poorer countries will not get the benefit of regional pricing, they'll have to pay full price, because there's no way to prevent Italians from purchasing at Hungary's reduced regional price.

    Long and short, everybody will get the same high price from here on out.

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  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    So someone from California can't buy products in Mississippi, that's just fair - or it's ok just because it's via the internet?

    this is not the same thing.

    regional pricing does not block people from buying the game.

    regional pricing allows people in poorer countries to afford games.

    I do not see a problem with companies offering discounts to people who would not otherwise be able to afford their product.

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  • [–] [S] -1 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    No that's exactly the same thing. They can offer the game for a discounted price in some EU countries, nobody said they can't. What they don't can is tell other EU citizens that they are not able to buy the product in those EU countries. I don't know why you can't understand this simple fact.

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  • [–] 0 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    No that's exactly the same thing.

    No it's not. Telling someone from California that they can't buy products in Mississippi is WAY different than telling them they are offered a different price in the two states. They are not told that they can't buy it. Your analogy does not translate to the situation.

    What they don't can [can't do] is tell other EU citizens that they are not able to buy the product in those EU countries.

    That's not what they're told though. They are told "yes, you can buy our product."

    I don't know why you can't understand this simple fact.

    What you're saying doesn't make sense. You're telling me you don't have a problem with regional pricing (within the EU) on digital goods, but you're stating that companies must offer that same 'regional' pricing to everyone (within the EU).. that's no longer regional pricing, it's all just one price then. These two lines of thought completely contradict each other. How can you have regional pricing if you want everyone from every region to be offered the same price?

    Do you really think that companies who offer discounts on digital goods to buyers in poorer regions are being nefarious? If the companies are not able to regionally price the games, then they cannot offer a discount to the poorer regions, and all that happens is everyone in the poorer regions ends up paying more.

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  • [–] [S] -1 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    At this point I just lost hope to make you understand. One last chance: Italian man wants to buy Skyrim in Hungary and he is told he can't. That, under EU law is not allowed. That is geoblocking. That is against free trade in the EU. This is exactly the same as if you would tell Californian man he can't buy Skyrim in Mississippi.

    You don't want to understand, am I right? I don't get you.

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  • [–] 0 points 2 years ago*

    You don't want to understand, am I right? I don't get you.

    No, I understand. You are fine with regional pricing as long as there's absolutely no way to enforce regional pricing. Which, when talking about a purely digital storefront, means there will be no more regional pricing.

    This has already started happening in some regard. Recently, many games on Steam have already had their regional pricing removed, to the ire of gamers in poorer regions.

    Truly a massive W

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  • [–] 9 points 2 years ago

    I haven't read full document but I'm Polish and remember that back in the day when buying some games off Steam you've got some kind of eastern European version that was separate from global one.

    Other than DLC being incompatible, the biggest pain in the ass was that the language selection was very limited, commonly just Polish, Lithuanian and Russian (which nobody speaks here). If you weren't fan of localization or wanted to play game in the English or original language you were out of luck.

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