Canadian Petition That Games Must Remain Functional At EOL

Zitchas writes: The practice of having games require a connection to a publisher’s server — whether it is to check for a license or to access plug-ins and DLC — is an increasingly common thing in computer software; and many people are concerned that at some point in the future the publisher will shut down their server, and effectively render the person who paid for the game left with something that no longer functions. This has already happened to some games and software Concerned citizens in Canada are taking the issue to their Parliament in order to push for a law that will mandate that when the server-side support for software is discontinued, companies must leave it in a functional state and remove mandatory connections to servers — services that no longer exist. Perhaps even more importantly, the petition also asks government to pass a law prohibiting EULA’s from forcing users to agree to waiving their right to this. Unfortunately, the petition is only open to citizens of Canada, so the rest of us are out of luck. Considering the potential benefits to the rest of the world if they enact legislation that does this, though, it might be worth suggesting to any of your Canadian friends to go sign the petition. Read more of this story at Slashdot.