"In fact, the existing legal structure largely protects Valve’s ability to engage in this sort of digital market manipulation. Players and investors were simply out of luck."
Whew, as it should be. This is a game, and I'm happy that some cohort trying to make money off of it can't bully the creators into changing it.
IMO if you make something, and the terms are clear up-front when people pay for it, and they aren't forced to use it, you should retain full control over your work without some kind of legal regulation. This seems so obvious to me that I was surprised when Tim Sweeney prevailed against Apple and I'm not sure how I feel about that case (great respect to Tim Sweeney as an individual, but I am not sure I buy his arguments).
What the holy fuck are you talking about with "retain full control" without "legal regulation" as a divergent concept? Are you huffing paint? I'm seriously at a loss how you can possibly hold these two notions concurrently without being certifiably insane or a sociopath.
RIP CHARLIE NEO MAXIMUS BABSON
I got a used manual transmission easy to repair vehicle with no internet, no cell phone, I only use cash IRL, and the only device I travel with is a QubesOS laptop.
If the CIA wants to track me, they are going to have to work for it. I hope to waste as much of their time as possible.
To put it another way, I'm on a legal-to-harass-list probably for the rest of my life and likely can't do a damn thing about it...beyond the obvious, which I've chosen, which is to enjoy a low-key, crime free, introspective creative sabbatical as much as possible on the fringes of society. Last thing I'm interested in is...whatever they accused me of this time...