VALVe disables 20,000 steam accounts (haha)

It wasn't because they were running pirated copies, none of them were.

It was because they tried to use the cd-key 5J52E-FVKXV-882FQ-YJXRQ-DOD98 which is someone's ATi key (posted on various forums to help people get HL2 free). So they disabled all those accounts for TRYING to get the game free, but they all failed because the key was already registered to someone else.

I tried to use it simply because I couldn't wait till Christmas to play the game.

After I scrounged the money to buy it, and I was going to play it they disable my account and now im out the money. I can't play the game I paid for! Along with all my other keys that are registered for steam for MP of older games, those are locked up too.
 
L0s7 4 Lyf3 said:
It wasn't because they were running pirated copies, none of them were.

It was because they tried to use the cd-key 5J52E-FVKXV-882FQ-YJXRQ-DOD98 which is someone's ATi key (posted on various forums to help people get HL2 free). So they disabled all those accounts for TRYING to get the game free, but they all failed because the key was already registered to someone else.

I tried to use it simply because I couldn't wait till Christmas to play the game.

After I scrounged the money to buy it, and I was going to play it they disable my account and now im out the money. I can't play the game I paid for! Along with all my other keys that are registered for steam for MP of older games, those are locked up too.
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That sucks. Can't you make a new account?
 
TomL said:
So who named Valve the police, judge and jury? If you are using an illegal copy of HL2 they have the right to stop you from authenticating with it, but they can't, in retribution, decide that they also want to take this and that from you.
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Would you rather be prosecuted to the full extent of the law? Its like shoplifting. If they catch you, they probably arent gonna file charges, but just ban you from the store. People were caught stealing from the steam servers, thus they are banned from steam.
 
Dijonase said:
They detected pirated versions of the game and banned the users. That seems pretty well justified to me.
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I agree, 100%. They did what they should have done. Fuck the pirates. I paid for my game, why should some dickhead get it for free and be able to play it...
 
Jonsey said:
That sucks. Can't you make a new account?
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yeah i agree, that does suck about the banning of your account part after you paid for the game.
hope you get some luck.
 
I think it would be great if Valve could accurately identify pirated games and shut them all down, unfortunately that doesn't seem to be the case... AFAIK there is a pirate version that doesn't require steam to be installed at all. All the people with the non-steam pirate version are playing the game, and the people who bought the game and tried to play it early or used the pirate cd-key to disable the cd check are screwed... It seems a little heavy handed to me
 
theNoid said:
So yes, they got rid of people who download warez. What I find funny is .. how many of you people have NEVER downloaded a single .mp3 ??? eh ???
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HaHa. the most classic statement which stems from inadequacy because of a threat to the pirates' moral fiber. people on the internet are funny. but ok fine, ill admit it...you're a pirate!
 
Bumrush said:
What about MS product activiation, lets assume I have legitimate software from Adobe, the Office Suite and other programs. Why should Microsoft have the right to lock me out of my computer if I fail to authenticate XP? Would your analogy apply in that instance as well?
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That's a bad analogy. MS does have the right to lock out out of XP if you fail to authenticate it. It is an OPERATING SYSTEM. They are not locking you out of Adobe and Office Suite, they are prohibiting the operating system calls that those applications need. If you can find some other way to emulate those OS calls, say with WINE or installing Windows 98, you can still use Adobe.

The analogy to HL2 here (with your example) would be mods, if HL2 is blocked then yes, you'd lose the ability to run mods. However, if you can find a way to emulate the HL2 engine (without violating any copyrights--basically you'd have to code it all yourself from scratch) you still can legally run your mods. Not practical, but possible.

Valve does not have the right to block other games that were purchased prior to HL2 for which you already paid for and have a contract for them to provide service on.
 
I think they are going to piss some people off and Hopefully none of 20k people that they banned are Hacker/Crackers that will go out of their way to create Virii or Trojans or do DDOS attacks against steam so that more innoscent buys get screwed or so no one can play. I can smell a DDOS attack as retribution by some of the people effected.
 
theNoid said:
What if the music industry tracked worldwide who's ever downloaded .mp3's then perminately banned you from EVER buying music again. I'd think you'd be upset.
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They aren't banning you from ever buying another product. You should be able to create another steam account and register your software to that one. I haven't heard of anything stopping you from doing this.

James
 
But Tom, valve can not block HL1 and the mods via Steam if you don't have Steam installed. HL1 and CS do not require Steam to work, so I would imagine that most people with Hl1/CS/DOD have a copy of the game on CD and can activate if in fact they have a valid CD key.
 
Valve does not have the right to block other games that were purchased prior to HL2 for which you already paid for and have a contract for them to provide service on.
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That's what I was getting at earlier...

The license agreements of those earlier games had absolutely nothing to do with Steam, so I don't see how they can take those titles away from you if you'd paid for them seperately.
 
Please people. If you were denied your right to play valve's other games because you pirated HL2. BY ALL MEANS take vavle to court over it.... :rolleyes:

If you were one of the unlucky ones just be happy valve isnt excercising their right to prosecuting to the full extent of the law.
 
Jason711 said:
analogies aside, if anyone in this thread has downloaded any media, illegally, and they are supporting valve then they are infact hypocrites..
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I disagree. It just means that they are rational enough to realize that if they didn't pay for it valve has the right to stop them from playing it.
 
matoch said:
I disagree. It just means that they are rational enough to realize that if they didn't pay for it valve has the right to stop them from playing it.
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If you read the post above by "L0s7 4 Lyf3" you would see that even if you just TRIED to use this key, then if you bought the game then when you registered your new key they kill your account with all your old paid for games on it. Thus it is not cut and dry like, They won't let play the illegal copy, its more like, if you try even once to circumvent any of thier policies they will cry revenge and destroy your account and lock you out of all of your games.
 
One valve account can support multiple people on a lan if you buy the game via steam, but if you buy it locally, then it requires a cd for any computer running. I find it crazy that steam would give advantages to those who buy it through them online instead from a store.
 
Well....My roommate tried to use a cd key hack just to try out HL-2. He was unsuccessful in getting the game to authenicate so he broke down and bought HL-2. Will Valve ban his account because he tried to use a illegal cd-key? He just bought the game and that would be $50 down the tube. BTW: he used the same account.

EDIT: Looks like they are locking people who just tried to use the CD-KEY and then bought the game. Well his account isn't banned yet. Crosses Finger I hope it never gets banned.
 
TomL said:
So who named Valve the police, judge and jury? If you are using an illegal copy of HL2 they have the right to stop you from authenticating with it, but they can't, in retribution, decide that they also want to take this and that from you.
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The EULA that you agreed to when you bought or installed the game.
 
Am I the only one that is surprised it is only 20,000 users? I thought about this and it is a lot. Let me put this in terms of Valve's bottom line:

20,000 x $50 = $1,000,000

Pretty easy to see that piracy hurts game developers.

Well done Valve, I hope you can recover some lost sales.
 
zoobaby said:
Am I the only one that is surprised it is only 20,000 users? I thought about this and it is a lot. Let me put this in terms of Valve's bottom line:

20,000 x $50 = $1,000,000

Pretty easy to see that piracy hurts game developers.

Well done Valve, I hope you can recover some lost sales.
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Come on, everyone knows that pirated copies != lost sales. Most people who pirate are too cheap to buy the game. They are opportunists.
 
Anyone have any idea what percentage this 20,000 represents in comparison to the total amount of people who pirated the game? I'm thinking it's a fairly small number, but at least it's a start.

But on another note, does Valve have the right to hold people against the EULA who haven't agreed to it yet? Don't you have to purchase and install the game before the EULA applies? People who tried to use the no-CD crack or whatever before they bought the game, it seems weird to me that the EULA applies to them before they bought it. Not that I'm defending what they did, I'm just trying to look at it from all perspectives.
 
as stated before, the people should just be happy valve doesnt take their asses to court and own them, although i bet a couple thousand court cases would go farther than banning 20000 accounts
 
People who tried to use the no-CD crack or whatever before they bought the game, it seems weird to me that the EULA applies to them before they bought it.
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Explain where Valve went wrong then? Using a no-CD hack before they bought the game implies they have a copy. Since they didn't buy it is it pirated?

retardedchicken said:
as stated before, the people should just be happy valve doesnt take their asses to court and own them, although i bet a couple thousand court cases would go farther than banning 20000 accounts
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Unfortunately I disagree. Look at the RIAA, people are still dl'ing music. People should be thankful that Valve didn't sue them RIAA style.

Either way, I am glad Valve took action.
 
It's amazing how many people say "Screw the thieves", etc. I guarantee you that every single person on this board has downloaded at least ONE illegal file in their lifetime. This makes you no better than those who downloaded HL2.
 
Blue Knight said:
How do you lose customers who never paid in the first place? Do you call someone who only steals from your store a "customer"? (there are few exceptions to this rule, but this is the general concept)
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He just needs to learn to love the Gord
 
Valve kitty versus the Morpheous HL2 cR4x0rz...
Neo30.gif


...pwned​
 
dariob said:
If you read the post above by "L0s7 4 Lyf3" you would see that even if you just TRIED to use this key, then if you bought the game then when you registered your new key they kill your account with all your old paid for games on it. Thus it is not cut and dry like, They won't let play the illegal copy, its more like, if you try even once to circumvent any of thier policies they will cry revenge and destroy your account and lock you out of all of your games.
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"I stole the TV because I wanted to try it in my house. As long as it looked good I was going to come back and pay honest..."

That wouldn't hold up in court why would it hold up here.

If he contacts Valve they might enable his legit key we won't know until this starts happening. We probably won't hear it though because thos people aren't going to speak up.

James
 
matoch said:
I disagree. It just means that they are rational enough to realize that if they didn't pay for it valve has the right to stop them from playing it.
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...my thoughts exactly ..if your going to play with fire ..then dont cry about gettn' burned.
 
Met-AL said:
The EULA that you agreed to when you bought or installed the game.
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But they didn't buy HL2, that's the whole point. Does the EULA for their older games, like HS or HL1 that have been upgraded to STEAM, include anything like this? Essentialy saying "if you even ever try to falsely register or hack any of our products in the future, even if you don't own them or agree to their EULA, we own j00?".
 
Ludic said:
Anyone have any idea what percentage this 20,000 represents in comparison to the total amount of people who pirated the game? I'm thinking it's a fairly small number, but at least it's a start.

But on another note, does Valve have the right to hold people against the EULA who haven't agreed to it yet? Don't you have to purchase and install the game before the EULA applies? People who tried to use the no-CD crack or whatever before they bought the game, it seems weird to me that the EULA applies to them before they bought it. Not that I'm defending what they did, I'm just trying to look at it from all perspectives.
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In all probablity 95% of the 20,000 will just pirate the no steam required version. The trick they used to steal the game is more complicated than d/l from the warez sites. Anyone who did the steam trick didn't want to even wait to download a pirate copy. I know when I ordered steam bronze it only took about 2 hours to download. I doubt the pirate networks can support that much bandwidth. They are somewhat technically saavy. It's not like they got a pirate copy and then got busted registering with the leaked serial. They exploited a flaw in steam's operation that valve fixed shortly afterwards. I bet there is AT LEAST 100,000 ppl that are illegally playing this game. But let's be real here. The number of pirated copies in no way is an accurate representation of lost revenues to the company. I would guess maybe 10% would pay for the game if they couldn't get it for free. The other 90% would just move on to another game. You have to understand where they are coming from and it's what someone already mentioned... they are cheapskates, a lot are probably kids and teenagers without disposable income and a lot are in Eastern European countries and other foreign locales where 50 dollars is the month's grocery bill and there is no way they would ever spend that much for entertainment. Not trying to defend their actions at all. It is wrong. But that's the real deal.
 
STEAM what a joke Valve is wasting money pirates will find a way around it just like everything else
 
rcf1987 said:
STEAM what a joke Valve is wasting money pirates will find a way around it just like everything else. they gotta! or gaming as i know it will be no more and ill have to get a job!
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hmmm
 
^^ real constructive pal.. :rolleyes:

i just hope all the banning will greatly reduce the cheating.
 
I did not buy the game as I do not like the Idea of steam for a single player game. But It's wonderfull to see all the non sinners/law brakers here who are able to point fingers and bad mouth others so easy. As I am sure you all have never broke the law. Like speeding in a car, and I am also sure you all come to COMPLETE stop at every stop sign and never cross the road while it says not to..
 
theNoid said:
Let me make one point clear. I did not download this at all... but I'm sure out of those 20,000 accounts they banned, thousands of those people had bought legit copies of HL1, and play CS, or DoD, or NS etc.. etc...

So yes, they got rid of people who download warez. What I find funny is .. how many of you people have NEVER downloaded a single .mp3 ??? eh ???

What if the music industry tracked worldwide who's ever downloaded .mp3's then perminately banned you from EVER buying music again. I'd think you'd be upset.

What we have here are a bunch of hypocrites, but I to am one of them. The only difference between me and most of you is .. I admit it. So many people here (of course by the rules) are anti warez, yet I'd be willing to bet that over 98% have illegal copies of music sitting on your hard drive as you read this.
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whoa.......... getting banned from ONE copy of a game is totally different that getting banned from ever buying another copy of the game or buying another music cd.

REALLLY BAD example... cuz they arent banning u from EVER buying a game again ... u simply go buy another copy if u got caught.... i dont see how this relates at all to being banned from EVER buying music again. im in complete :confused:
 
cuemasterfl said:
It's amazing how many people say "Screw the thieves", etc. I guarantee you that every single person on this board has downloaded at least ONE illegal file in their lifetime. This makes you no better than those who downloaded HL2.
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it makes some better than them...... if u were stupid enough to think that you could use a pirated cd key on steam , you deserve to be banned.

its like sitcking a fork in the electric socket.


iether way , KUDOS to valve for finally creating an easy way to catch pirates.
 
No, I didn't think I could use a pirated cd key on steam. I know for a fact that it's pretty simple to stop pirates from playing online with warez versions of games. However, I have never had steam on my computer, so I don't see how I can get banned. Nonetheless, I will be buying the game tomorrow night after work. I'll post screenshots of the CDs if you like, with "Hi Catch22sk8r!!!" as a caption.



Catch22sk8r said:
it makes some better than them...... if u were stupid enough to think that you could use a pirated cd key on steam , you deserve to be banned.

its like sitcking a fork in the electric socket.


iether way , KUDOS to valve for finally creating an easy way to catch pirates.
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