Never said that States are blocking Steam specifically. Seems like a misunderstanding on your part.

Posts in question:

My guess is that they are testing out region-blocking Steam on a Piece Meal basis. So if the UK requires age verification for things like "social media," then Steam will be ready to block all social features on Steam for that one region, while still leaving the ability to purchase games intact.

Many states are also passing similar laws.

...so let's keep it real, yeah?

Originally posted by D. Flame:

Never said that States are blocking Steam specifically. Seems like a misunderstanding on your part.

Post in question:

My guess is that they are testing out region-blocking Steam on a Piece Meal basis. So if the UK requires age verification for things like "social media," then Steam will be ready to block all social features on Steam for that one region, while still leaving the ability to purchase games intact.

...so let's keep it real, yeah?

Can you elaborate further? Is it just age verification for M and AO games or is it the service itself?

NM, i see what you are getting at.

And yeah, i saw that coming.

I expect states like FL and TX to lead the way...

Originally posted by D. Flame:

Never said that States are blocking Steam specifically. Seems like a misunderstanding on your part.

Post in question:

My guess is that they are testing out region-blocking Steam on a Piece Meal basis. So if the UK requires age verification for things like "social media," then Steam will be ready to block all social features on Steam for that one region, while still leaving the ability to purchase games intact.

...so let's keep it real, yeah?

Steam isn't considered social media by their own legislation. Otherwise they would've complimented the region blocking with the verification requirement.

Originally posted by Mr. Smiles:

Originally posted by D. Flame:

Never said that States are blocking Steam specifically. Seems like a misunderstanding on your part.

Post in question:


...so let's keep it real, yeah?

Can you elaborate further? Is it just age verification for M and AO games or is it the service itself?

Well, as long as it was simply a mistake on your part and not an intentional attempt to mislead.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_media_age_verification_laws_in_the_United_States

Originally posted by D. Flame:

Originally posted by Mr. Smiles:

Can you elaborate further? Is it just age verification for M and AO games or is it the service itself?

Well, as long as it was simply a mistake on your part and not an intentional attempt to mislead.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_media_age_verification_laws_in_the_United_States

Steam isn't considered social media by the standard of those laws.

TBH, i expected legislation that affected more than pr0n and social media (ie games) to work its way into state legislation for a while now, i belive I was even quoted as saying something like "by the end of the decade the civilized world will have age verification".

Boblin, i get that it doesn't affect steam YET but i can almost guarantee its coming... unfortunately.

Originally posted by Mr. Smiles:

TBH, i expected legislation that affected more than pr0n and social media (ie games) to work its way into state legislation for a while now, i belive I was even quoted as saying something like "by the end of the decade the civilized world will have age verification".

Boblin, i get that it doesn't affect steam YET but i can almost guarantee its coming... unfortunately.

Forums have never been considered social media. With how knowledgeable the people trying to make the legislation are, it's more probable that it never will.

If the error was due to actual region locking, it would show up as an error for one US account but not for another.

Originally posted by Boblin the Goblin:

Originally posted by D. Flame:

Well, as long as it was simply a mistake on your part and not an intentional attempt to mislead.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_media_age_verification_laws_in_the_United_States

Steam isn't considered social media by the standard of those laws.

Steam as a whole isn't, which is why I suggested that Steam is likely testing region locking only specific aspects of Steam.

In other words, Steam is not considered a social media overall, because it is primarily seen as a store front for PC games. However, the forums and community hubs in general could be considered social media.

As such, Steam could be testing out region blocking those social aspects while leaving the Store front untouched.

Originally posted by Boblin the Goblin:

Originally posted by Mr. Smiles:

TBH, i expected legislation that affected more than pr0n and social media (ie games) to work its way into state legislation for a while now, i belive I was even quoted as saying something like "by the end of the decade the civilized world will have age verification".

Boblin, i get that it doesn't affect steam YET but i can almost guarantee its coming... unfortunately.

Forums have never been considered social media. With how knowledgeable the people trying to make the legislation are, it's more probable that it never will.

If the error was due to actual region locking, it would show up as an error for one US account but not for another.

I don't think the error was due to region locking, i know its just a snafu from steam doing some sort of update or something, but I was genuinely interested in legislation of the nature being stated.

I also don't expect lawmakers to target game stores specifically, but likely an umbrella approach.

Whether steam skirts that is anyone's guess, its likely they will, at first.

Originally posted by D. Flame:

Originally posted by Boblin the Goblin:

Steam isn't considered social media by the standard of those laws.

Steam as a whole isn't, which is why I suggested that Steam is likely testing region locking only specific aspects of Steam.

In other words, Steam is not considered a social media overall, because it is primarily seen as a store front for PC games. However, the forums and community hubs in general could be considered social media.

As such, Steam could be testing out region blocking those social aspects while leaving the Store front untouched.

The hubs are not considered social media since they are literally part of the Steam store.

Originally posted by Mr. Smiles:

Originally posted by Boblin the Goblin:

Forums have never been considered social media. With how knowledgeable the people trying to make the legislation are, it's more probable that it never will.

If the error was due to actual region locking, it would show up as an error for one US account but not for another.

I don't think the error was due to region locking, i know its just a snafu from steam doing some sort of update or something, but I was genuinely interested in legislation of the nature being stated.

I also don't expect lawmakers to target game stores specifically, but likely an umbrella approach.

Whether steam skirts that is anyone's guess, its likely they will, at first.

Unless they remove the specifics of what they define as social media to mean anything with a social aspect, it won't be covered.

Otherwise they would have to include all forums. Even things like Microsoft forums are Amazon reviews.

They probably botched something up but the region thing might be for something, They're just not letting us know what that will be yet.

Originally posted by Boblin the Goblin:

Originally posted by Mr. Smiles:

I don't think the error was due to region locking, i know its just a snafu from steam doing some sort of update or something, but I was genuinely interested in legislation of the nature being stated.

I also don't expect lawmakers to target game stores specifically, but likely an umbrella approach.

Whether steam skirts that is anyone's guess, its likely they will, at first.

Unless they remove the specifics of what they define as social media to mean anything with a social aspect, it won't be covered.

Otherwise they would have to include all forums. Even things like Microsoft forums are Amazon reviews.

The definition of social media is:

forms of electronic communication (such as websites for social networking and microblogging) through which users create online communities to share information, ideas, personal messages, and other content (such as videos)

The community hubs and forums are social media. We can discuss and share information and ideas in the forums. The artwork and screenshot sections allow us to share images. There is even a section for uploading videos.

Even the URLs are different:

Store:
https://store.steampowered.com

Community:
https://gtm.steamproxy.vip

Originally posted by D. Flame:

Originally posted by Boblin the Goblin:

Unless they remove the specifics of what they define as social media to mean anything with a social aspect, it won't be covered.

Otherwise they would have to include all forums. Even things like Microsoft forums are Amazon reviews.

The definition of social media is:

forms of electronic communication (such as websites for social networking and microblogging) through which users create online communities to share information, ideas, personal messages, and other content (such as videos)

The community hubs and forums are social media. We can discuss and share information and ideas in the forums. The artwork and screenshot sections allow us to share images. There is even a section for uploading videos.

Even the URLs are different:

Store:
https://store.steampowered.com

Community:
https://gtm.steamproxy.vip

By the legislation standards, the forums are not considered social media.

Originally posted by Boblin the Goblin:

Originally posted by D. Flame:

The definition of social media is:

forms of electronic communication (such as websites for social networking and microblogging) through which users create online communities to share information, ideas, personal messages, and other content (such as videos)

The community hubs and forums are social media. We can discuss and share information and ideas in the forums. The artwork and screenshot sections allow us to share images. There is even a section for uploading videos.

Even the URLs are different:

Store:
https://store.steampowered.com

Community:
https://gtm.steamproxy.vip

By the legislation standards, the forums are not considered social media.

That can easily be changed, and considering the current Supreme Court in the USA...