Steam just eliminated its forced arbitration policy, opening the door to lawsuits against its parent company, Valve. In an update on thursdaysays steam your subscriber agreement “now states that any dispute must be brought to court rather than arbitration.”
Many companies include a forced arbitration clause in their user agreement, waiving a person's right to a trial in court. Arbitration involves resolving a dispute outside of a legal system before an impartial third party. This method is usually faster, but may not get the best results for consumers, as referees no need to consider the law when issuing a decision.
Previously, Steam User Agreement said that “you and Valve agree to resolve all disputes and claims between us in individual binding arbitration” for all disputes related to Steam, your account, hardware, or the company's content and services. The new agreement eliminates any mention of a binding arbitration policy.
Steam does not say why it decided to suddenly remove the forced arbitration clause. As pointed out 404 MediaA group of plaintiffs recently challenged Valve's forced arbitration policy and were able to file a class-action lawsuit over Steam dominance.
