Hey guys I need some input on a train of thought that just happened to spring my mind.

The topic at hand is the right to return defect products. I don't know exactly how it is regulated in other country's laws, but here in Germany you are guaranteed the right to return a product, which is not working as intended or which does not posess the advertised attributes, to its seller within 2 years after the date of purchase. Excluding sales on non-bussiness level / between private persons and as long as you have not caused the defect yourself. And the seller has to repair the product or you can demand your money back/an adequate replacement.

...That is for physical goods (or at least any product you can actually return).

Now from time to time I see some people demanding equivalent treatment for purchases of software - especially with the increasing shift to digital distribution. And I understand the notion, because it is difficult to gauge the technical or functional quality of a title before purchase (or even preorder). You can not actually examine the sold product beforehand. An issue that digital distribution has in common with all online shops. But for every other product distance selling regulations come into effect. Allowing you to return such products after assessing them on arrival.

One usual argument against aplying the same for digital distributed games is that these are not returnable at all, because the seller can not effectively determine if you deleted the content. And that is the point that causes me some confusion. I mean what has your copy of the game to do with anything at all?

Since years the industry has told us that we are not actually buying the software itself, but a license - effectively the right to use the software. - We are just issued with a copy to utilize said license. But a license - this right for usage - can be revoked anytime, no problem. And as far as the EU court ruled it can even be sold to a third party.

Returning the license and the possibility to continue using said software without the license - or should I say the sellers inability to ensure that such misconduct is not carried out - are actually two seperate issues. Or am I wrong?

What do you guys think of this matter? Is the inability to determine if the buyer deleted his copy a viable argument for refusing the return of digitally distributed software?

You're talking about "Gewährleistung" (warranty), don't you? That's... complicated. It doesn't exactly work the way you wrote. You can't just "give back" the product. It all depends on what kind of good we're talking about.

A little disclaimer: I left Germany 8 years ago, so I don't know what changed in the meantime. But knowing Germany and Angela "#Neuland" Merkel... Shouldn't be that different today.

To return a product, YOU have to prove that it was broken before you purchased it. This doesn't apply to "bewegliche Güter" (moveable goods). For moveable goods the "Beweislast" (burden of proof) is reverted for the first half year after purchase, to reinforce customer protection. Is software a moveable good? In German tax laws, it isn't. Another question that's quite important: Is software a "Sache" ("Sache" is the German word for "thing", which legally means a physical product)? It has to be a Sache, otherwise it can't have a "Sachmangel" (defect).

I think Gewährleistung doesn't apply to software. The law is written for non-digital goods. The whole legal terminology isn't prepared for software. And even if you ignore those shortcomings of legal terminology, it's still difficult. Just think about this one: How could your copy of software be broken, if it works for the vast majority of other users? It is 100% identical for every single user. It can't be in perfect condition AND broken at the same time. Doesn't work on your system although your PC meets the minimum requirements? Yeah, could be broken for you. But what if it works for another user with the same hardware (but other drivers, software, etc.)? It is pretty hard (impossible?) to prove that the software is broken. And I think you're the one who has to proof the defect, since software is equal for everyone and not a moveable good.

Gewährleistung and software don't go together very well. And how can a license have a Sachmangel? ;)

They're trying to sell licenses to restrict customer rights. I said "trying", because what they think they do, isn't what german courts say what they are doing. They ignore the licensing bs. They have a look at the characteristics of the contract (buying a game at a store is a contract) and do their best to apply the relevant laws. And that's where we come back to Gewährleistung and its problems.

DRM could be one of the reasons to battle that - if you don't have some kind of pre-determined obstacle that needs to be dealt with before you can play your game there is no way to proof that... like CD keys for example. But as we see such obstacles fail miserably to this day and only work against the legitimate customer. At some cases it's even the reason the product won't work, depending on the obstacle. The only thing that seems to "work" for this method is online-only, witch is DRM again and probably the worst kind of them all. Sadly it's probably where it all is headed to.

In general, I have to agree with real.geizterfahr. However, as far as GOG.com is concerned, you are able to "return" the software under specific circumstances, even if they can't make sure, that you actually deleted the game-installer. 30 Day Money Back Guarantee