Steam clamping down on CSGO Betting Sites

[Flex]

So it seems that steam is finally starting to clamp down on CSGO betting sites.
This all triggered by streamers being exposed as owners or partners of betting sites.
They would promote these sites, saying a friend showed it to them, and they have won X amount of $. So that all the viewers can go check it out.

The big problem is not that they did this, but they did it without proper disclosure.

This in turn caused Steam to delve a bit deeper into these sites. They saw that there is no way of verifying that people under the age of 18 are not betting, other than a "tick if you are 18 or older".

Here is a short article explaining it all.

I am sure there are still many more stories that are going to arise

[Flex]

And so it starts. The first Lawsuit filed against CSGO Creators Valve by a mother of a minor who was betting on one of these sites.
Is Valve held responsible though? Or should it not be the owners of the site?

HERE is the article on Telkom Gaming.

[DieGrootHammer]

On Steam's involvement in this whole debacle:

I feel that Steam is not directly at fault for the proliferation of these gambling sites, but it did build the mechanisms and the system upon which this gambling business was built on. The fact that it allowed these sites to link directly to users Steam accounts makes it guilty by association. Valve and Steam has made it possible just enough so that they do not have direct influence or control over these sites, yet never did anything to stop it. It kept everything at arms lenght, an old tactic of Valve.

Every day Valve and Steam is becoming a more and more unethical mess of a company. Personally, people hate other companies like Ubisoft and EA for much less. Valve in my opinion is worse than both of those companies put together in terms of moral, ethical and consumer business practices.

[Flex]

On Steam's involvement in this whole debacle:

I feel that Steam is not directly at fault for the proliferation of these gambling sites, but it did build the mechanisms and the system upon which this gambling business was built on. The fact that it allowed these sites to link directly to users Steam accounts makes it guilty by association. Valve and Steam has made it possible just enough so that they do not have direct influence or control over these sites, yet never did anything to stop it. It kept everything at arms lenght, an old tactic of Valve.

Every day Valve and Steam is becoming a more and more unethical mess of a company. Personally, people hate other companies like Ubisoft and EA for much less. Valve in my opinion is worse than both of those companies put together in terms of moral, ethical and consumer business practices.

Very True. But for example. Should companies that manufacture money be held liable for gambling lawsuits? Because they are creating the thing on which gambling is based

[DieGrootHammer]

Very True. But for example. Should companies that manufacture money be held liable for gambling lawsuits? Because they are creating the thing on which gambling is based

Money in your example is the instrument of gambling, not the system. I can gamble on anything of value, does not mean that money making is at fault for gambling. But, creating the process and systems that fosters gambling, like Steam creating an environment where gambling can occur, that is why I'm saying they are wrong. Your example isn't accurate to what Steam has created. The fact that you can link Steam accounts to other sites, these sites get access to information about tangible valuable items, creates an environment where people can gamble on it. Thus Steam is indirectly liable.

[Flex]

Money in your example is the instrument of gambling, not the system. I can gamble on anything of value, does not mean that money making is at fault for gambling. But, creating the process and systems that fosters gambling, like Steam creating an environment where gambling can occur, that is why I'm saying they are wrong. Your example isn't accurate to what Steam has created. The fact that you can link Steam accounts to other sites, these sites get access to information about tangible valuable items, creates an environment where people can gamble on it. Thus Steam is indirectly liable.

Okay that makes sense yes. my example might have been a bit off. But Valve did not create any of these websites used for gambling. All they did was create the skins. A kind of in game currency you can say. Same as many other games. Dota, LoL, Warcraft, Over Watch and many many many others. These people (Owners of the sites) just used the competitive nature of CSGO and the people that play it imo. Not Steam or Valves fault at all

[DieGrootHammer]

Okay that makes sense yes. my example might have been a bit off. But Valve did not create any of these websites used for gambling. All they did was create the skins. A kind of in game currency you can say. Same as many other games. Dota, LoL, Warcraft, Over Watch and many many many others. These people (Owners of the sites) just used the competitive nature of CSGO and the people that play it imo. Not Steam or Valves fault at all

Again I am going to disagree with you. There are many games that has the same mechanics of using real world money to buy a skin or an in-game item. This is a very traditional product based business model; I give you money in exchange for a product. Now, this product has a monetary value, because I am capable of buying it, and thus, if the game allows, I am able to trade it for something of equal value. This is more of a barter economy. Now, if I create an economy like this, the onus lies with me to ensure that there are the necessary control and monitoring processes in place to ensure people don't take advantage of my economy. In the real world, money producers include a whole host of security measures to ensure that the money they produce cannot easily be manipulated within the economy it is produced for. The same onus lies with Steam. They have created this economy where skins have a huge monetary value. This is not just a simple "buy a product" business model, this is more leaning towards the model of an economy. And as the creators and managers of this economy, the onus lies with them to ensure proper control of the economy to not allow exploitation. Steam has not done this. They made it possible for external sites to access these barter items. They didn't properly control their own created economy. Other games have done the exact same system as CS:GO, yet they do not let outside influences gain access to their created system and potentially defraud it. I guarantee you that there is a proper black market for CS:GO skins, which is something Steam could have easily prevented by just preventing access to that API, yet they didn't, and thus they are guilty

[Jagtiger]

I've just read one of documents for a class lawsuit.

There is more than to 'providing API'.

It sums up as follows:

1) Steam knowingly provided support for these websites - it means they are part of this.
2) Steam 'encouraged' to gamble (via their forums).
3) Steam intended this to turn into casino-like by design.
4) Operation without appropriate permits.

[Flex]

An update on this

Valve will be taking action on these sites