美国国会议员提出保护数字游戏所有权的法案

There are no shortage of digital game platforms that would love it if people were A-OK with not actually owning the things they buy, and while that appears to be the status quo for some of gaming’s most gargantuan platforms, at least one U.S. Congressman is trying to stop that from happening.

Congressman Ritchie Torres (D-NY) is attempting to introduce the Power to the Players Act, a bill that would direct the Federal Trade Commission to create regulations aimed at protecting ownership rights for video games, require companies to do more than grant a license that can be expired at any time, and make online games have some form of offline mode that can still work even if servers are shut down.

“I think there should be a simple rule: if you pay for it, you own it,” Torres is quoted as saying. “A game that can be taken away the moment a company pulls the plug is not a purchase. It is a rental disguised as a sale. Families in the Bronx and across the country save up to buy these games, and they deserve better than a license that can vanish at any time.”

It’s not presumptive to say that Torres has a monumental uphill battle. The bill currently doesn’t have any co-signers from either Democratic or Republican sides of Congress, and it’s been proven that games lobbies will fight tooth and claw to ensure legislation never sees the light of day, to say nothing of the fact that faith in government is at a low point. Even so, we have to admit that it’s better to shoot the shot than to never try, and as fans of games preservation, we’ll at least hope. A little bit.

source: Kotaku, thanks to Thilly for the tip!