Bye Bye to Buy or Purchase
Regarding Internet consumer law, California is right up there with the European Union in terms of groundbreaking (or meddling) laws – depending on your point of view.
The latest from California means that companies selling digital products or downloads will need to change the wording on or next to “Buy” or “Purchase” buttons to make it clear that consumers are only buying a license.
The new law, “AB2426: Consumer protection: false advertising: digital goods”, will come into effect in 2025.
The law targets the increasingly common problem of disappearing digital goods, such as computer games, movies, music, and ebooks. For example, if you have purchased Kindle versions of books from Amazon if you subsequently close your Amazon account, those items disappear. In fairness to Amazon, they do warn consumers beforehand.
Websites will be able to use “Buy” or “Purchase” buttons if they specifically inform customers that they are purchasing a license to use the product – and not the product. Also, the license comes with listed restrictions, and it can be revoked in the future. Companies that fail to inform customers could be sued and fined for false advertising. There are exceptions, for example, where a company provides a download that can be run or used permanently offline – though we are trying to think of examples.
The new law is partly in response to Ubisoft deleting The Crew game from customers’ accounts. The Crew is (was) an online-only racing game that customers “bought” with real money. Ubisoft turned off the game servers without warning or notice. However, any recent purchasers were offered refunds. However, the original game was ten years old, so the refund policy did not cover the majority of purchases.
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