EA Inserts Class Action Clause in Origin EULA

Post by kettels @ 08:14am 24/09/11 | 27 Comments

From Gamersmint - in a move unlikely to shock many EA have followed Sony and have inserted a class action clause into their EULA for their digital distribution service Origin. With the addition of this, gamers are unable to sue or have a jury trial against EA and their Origin service. Although this has never been tested in a court of law.

Just like Sony's clause, you can opt out by submitting a written application - yes written - to EA. This will likely affect all games using Origin as well as the service itself. promoted forum item

ea origin

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Tollaz0r!
Posted 08:30am 24/9/11

Rofl, so any company that can only be truly damaged by a class action just has to say, 'nahh you can't do that because we don't want you to, sign here please'..

I can't see that working imo, the Judge will be, 'whatever, continue'. Looking forward to seeing it tested in court one day, with Sony no doubt it will heheh

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Seven
Posted 09:18am 24/9/11

Especially considering the biased part where you have to write in to opt out. They obviously don't want you to. Should be a check box if they were all about customer options.

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Pinky
Posted 09:22am 24/9/11

Just because it's in an EULA doesn't mean it is legally binding.

Pretty disgusting action though and they continue to treat their customer base with contempt.

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Eorl
Posted 09:45am 24/9/11

They've already had it happen, and the courts agreed upon it. That is where this all started from. Apparently it was a AT&T court case.

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Sc00bs
Posted 09:46am 24/9/11

pretty sure that you cant sell something and make ppl sign something that they must not sue you in order to use that product, sounds illegal as f*** to me

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Eorl
Posted 10:10am 24/9/11

You can have a look here, http://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/kk36d/lawyers_thoughts_on_sony_eula/, for a very long and interesting thought on the current situation with these EULA changes.

And, it's perfectly legal, just the courts decide whether to uphold the EULA or not. You can put "Anyone agreeing to this is a giant douche, and shall provide 3 donkeys each year" into your EULA, does it make it legal? Courts decide.

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ravn0s
Posted 11:25am 24/9/11

in australia it's illegal that's why sony never changed the EULA here in aus.

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AnarchyAngel
Posted 12:02pm 24/9/11

EULA are them just saying s*** so you with think twice about actually doing it "OMG its in the EULA we cant sue them now". Just them rocking with their c*** out.

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Mordecai
Posted 12:47pm 24/9/11

ravn0s has it correct. They can not do it here so won't try it.

The title should be

EA Inserts Class Action Clause in Origin EULA in the USA

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SnotOne
Posted 01:38pm 24/9/11

Might relate to a change in US laws.

Youve signed so now if we do something irresponsible or not in good faith... you cant sue . Might not work in Australia at present but it shows me whats been happening for some time now and thats companies moving more and more above the law whilst they and thier politicians call it reform or progress. Hell thats what they called it when they changed some laws to let "i know nothing" Murdoch own more and more of our media and now most pollies in Australia fear his influence in our affairs. So yeah theyll boil the frog until they get that clause working here too.

Regardless of where its legal i wont be adding any private info about myself or any card details to EA, Origin or Sony and if they insist itll be a deal breaker for me... take a spiraling smoking twisting plunge to the hard deck

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kettels
Posted 01:58pm 24/9/11

Never knew it wasn't legally binding in Australia.

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Sc00bs
Posted 02:03pm 24/9/11

but it shows me whats been happening for some time now and thats companies moving more and more above the law whilst they and thier politicians call it reform or progress.

the law isnt written to protect ppl, its written to protect big companies from being sued and safe measures put in place so its impossible to do so.

Why do you think there are so many lobbyist working in america for massive companies?

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Mordecai
Posted 02:25pm 24/9/11

BTW .. from Steam-

INDEMNIFICATION

You agree to defend, indemnify and hold harmless Valve, its licensors and their affiliates from all liabilities, claims and expenses, including attorneys' fees, that arise from or in connection with breach of this Agreement, use of Steam or any Subscription or any related content, or any User Generated Information, including, but not limited to, the creation, distribution, promotion and use of any Mods, by you or any person(s) using your Account. Valve reserves the right, at its own expense, to assume the exclusive defense and control of any matter otherwise subject to indemnification by you. In that event, you shall have no further obligation to provide indemnification to Valve in that matter. This Section regarding Indemnification shall survive termination of this Agreement.

A. EXCLUSIVE REMEDY -- STEAM AND THE SOFTWARE.

YOU ACKNOWLEDGE AND AGREE THAT YOUR SOLE AND EXCLUSIVE REMEDY FOR ANY DISPUTE WITH VALVE WITH REGARD TO STEAM OR THE SOFTWARE IS TO DISCONTINUE USE OF STEAM AND CANCEL YOUR ACCOUNT. BECAUSE SOME STATES OR JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR THE LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR CONSEQUENTIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, IN SUCH STATES OR JURISDICTIONS, VALVE, ITS LICENSORS, AND THEIR AFFILIATES LIABILITY SHALL BE LIMITED TO THE FULL EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.

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HurricaneJim
Posted 02:53pm 24/9/11

The US is subject to the AAFTA and any US company is subject to it.

Hence the reason why Queensland Fair Trading regulations override any US EULA.

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Eorl
Posted 03:05pm 24/9/11

Mord, you a redditor to?

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53n53l355
Posted 08:13pm 24/9/11

None of the statements in the EULA would hold up in court. It is merely a tactic used to intimidate those who don't understand the strengths of law we, as citizens, are entitled to.

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qmass
Posted 09:22pm 24/9/11

on the one hand, consumer rights blah blah blah - but really, this s*** is getting out of hand. games are games ffs, people that put unreal levels of value on entertainment to the point that it becomes as important as real life obligations are asking for pain. The courts should not be used to remedy s*** like getting pissy about being banned and losing inches off your epeen.

Its also kind of ironic because the people that get most but hurt over EULA relating to online interactions are the same kind of people that find facebook vandalism and trolling hilarious and don't believe that it should be dealt with by the law because it isn't real and is there for not like assault in real life.

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Stalfax
Posted 10:23pm 24/9/11

That's true qmass, but when you spend like $1000 on games on a digital distribution service, you start to care.

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Tepid
Posted 11:46pm 24/9/11

what a noob

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Mordecai
Posted 11:49am 25/9/11

Mord, you a redditor to?

Yeah, I think a few of us here are.

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HERMITech
Posted 02:13pm 25/9/11

53n53l355

What the f*** is that even supposed to mean?

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qmass
Posted 02:54pm 25/9/11

That's true qmass, but when you spend like $1000 on games on a digital distribution service, you start to care.

The only people that lose 1000 bux worth of games are the people that troll forums on the account with all the games which is utterly stupid and deserving of great loss. The same people use smartsteam to pirate a game but use their legit steam account with a bunch of games they bought - you have no right to complain about loss of property and have to suck it up.

If you can give a legit situation in which a large amount of money is lost by way of an unfair ban I would be surprised.

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Eorl
Posted 03:14pm 25/9/11

Stupid people do stupid things, then claim it's someone else's fault. But that's not the point. The point is a company is giving no rights to consumers, and basically saying "if we do anything wrong, you can't do crap".

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ravn0s
Posted 03:20pm 25/9/11

What the f*** is that even supposed to mean?

senseless

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Phandaal
Posted 02:07am 26/9/11

"If you can give a legit situation in which a large amount of money is lost by way of an unfair ban I would be surprised."

You realize this whole thing started because PSN got hacked. 200k assorted account logins, credit card details, and personal details were stolen?

We're not even talking about loss of access to the PSN or Steam, crooks could do a lot of damage to you online with information like that, even old information. By damage I mean, get you in s***loads of debt that is then going to take you months if not years to clear up, not to mention legal fees some of which are going to be out of pocket.

For a company such as Sony or EA to try and deny people the right to make a legal case as a group of plaintiffs in such a situation is basically just a way for them to shirk all responsibility for their networks being breached, because no normal person has the money or time to take them on 1 on 1.

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deadlyf
Posted 08:00am 26/9/11

If you can give a legit situation in which a large amount of money is lost by way of an unfair ban I would be surprised.

You mean like if they misused your credit card information? What if EA use their service to discontinue single player games that you have paid for like they do currently with multiplayer games?

I really don't think anyone here cares about being banned for piracy to be honest but weren't people banned for speaking out about issues on the Steam forums in the past (I remember there were people banned by Bioware or EA over some issue)?

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Sc00bs
Posted 11:31pm 26/9/11

Concern was raised by Escapist forum user Dirty Hipsters, claiming that the EULA for Origin would allow EA to "monitor your PC", see "whether you have any illegally downloaded material" installed, see what websites you use and "share or sell this information to third parties."

here

anyone else heard about this? sounds f***ed up to me....

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