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[deadhorse32]

Facts and information about the accounts that were disabled

Yesterday, Valve disabled approximately 20,000 Steam accounts which had been used to try to access Half-Life 2 without purchasing it. The method used was extremely easy for Valve to trace and confirm, and so there is no question that the accounts disabled were used to try and illegally obtain Half-Life 2.

Accounts also may be closed due to fraudulent activity in an attempt to obtain additional products for your Steam Account. This includes Credit Card fraud, theft of accounts you do not own and using cracked versions of Valve games.

If you violate the Steam Subscriber agreement your account can be permanently disabled and you will lose any products registered to those accounts.

If you believe this is in error, visit this support document for instructions.


Also, a few myths floating around out there that need to be cleared up.

First, Valve did not put out any kind of fake key or fake warez or hack instructions to trap people. The hack came from the "community" as do they all.

Second, the number of people who actually had bought HL2 and used the CD key cheat was VERY small. VERY small. Most people just tried to rip off the game and not bother buying it.


If your account was used by your brother, your cousin, your friend or even your mom and they attempted the hack and now your account is now disabled, you should discuss this with them. If you wish to contact Valve about this issue, visit this support document for instructions.

more info http://www.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=185474

 

[tedtropy]

Jesus people, just buy the damn game. Even if you only buy a handful a year, this is one of those titles you should be ashamed to not have sitting on your shelf.

 

[Doth Togo]

Wait until Blizzard does this with virtual auctions.

You want to sell 100gold on eBay or Yahoo? Your WoW account is now banned.

:lolwned.

 

[Fatghost]

If you violate the Steam Subscriber agreement your account can be permanently disabled and you will lose any products registered to those accounts.

This bothers me. If person A buys one product and pirates a second product, he shouldn't lose access to the product he legitimately purchased.

 

[Gek54]

This bothers me. If person A buys one product and pirates a second product, he shouldn't lose access to the product he legitimately purchased.

And if a person steals a car in New York he should be able to vote in New Jersey.

 

[GONZO]

So what are the gonna do about the people playin it with no steam account?

 

[aku:jiki]

Second, the number of people who actually had bought HL2 and used the CD key cheat was VERY small. VERY small. Most people just tried to rip off the game and not bother buying it.

How the hell would they know this?

 

[IJoel]

The only thing that sort of bothers me is if people that were unable to authenticate the game resorted to the pirate version in order to play it, and now got banned.

Now, I didn't do this, since I got it the Steam way and had no problems, just in case you're wondering.

I also have to wonder if this move will encourage people to actually pirate it just to spite Valve's take on this.

 

[PhatSaqs]

Jesus people, just buy the damn game. Even if you only buy a handful a year, this is one of those titles you should be ashamed to not have sitting on your shelf.

Agreed.

 

[tedtropy]

The only thing that sort of bothers me is if people that were unable to authenticate the game resorted to the pirate version in order to play it, and now got banned.

Now, I didn't do this, since I got it the Steam way and had no problems, just in case you're wondering.

I also have to wonder if this move will encourage people to actually pirate it just to spite Valve's take on this.

As much as Steam upset me while initially installing Half Life 2 via my dial-suck connection, I can appreciate where Valve is going with it. However, I think they should offer a free dial-up number or some alternative means of verification for those that do not have Internet connections.

 

[open_mouth_]

Wait, can't these pirates just continue to play Half-life 2 offline without steam, despite the ban?

 

[Nerevar]

How the hell would they know this?

I'd imagine they looked at steam account history. Does Steam prevent somone from playing the game concurrently on two machines?

 

[The Faceless Master]

Wait, can't these pirates just continue to play Half-life 2 offline without steam, despite the ban?

dude, don't suck the wind out of their sales in their moment of triumph...

 

[Uncle Dukey]

Why would a pirate have a steam account in the first place?