Huge potential legal case could impact the right and legality to sell used games.
Quote:
The Dallas Morning News reports that the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decided that a software publisher can stop buyers from reselling software to others. This differs from previous rulings in which software programs could be resold under "first sale" doctrine due to the rationale that licensing agreements that prohibit resell take precedence.
According to the University of California at Irvine's R. Anthony Reese, "The first sale doctrine has been a major bulwark in providing public access by facilitating the existence of used book and record stores, video rental stores, and, perhaps most significantly, public libraries."
Pundits believe that if this recent decision is upheld by by other courts, it could impact second-half retailers like Half Price Books, eBay and, yes, GameStop.
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Two things to take from the ruling is this ruling came from California and it won't take affect any time soon since its expected to be appealed to Supreme Court eventually.
Also this only covers software publishers and not all industries that have used sales.
http://kotaku.com/5663625/new-court-...-game-business
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This news comes around the same time Valve is considering introducing a digital trade-in program to help customers sell old digital PC games and PSN removing a racing game due to loosing licensing rights. Bioware also including more one-time items in Dragon Age II as a way to prevent used sales.