We're not going to agree on this as I'm not going to change my mind and my definition of monopoly is accurate.
You may think Valve/Steam isn't a monopoly but give it time.
To me, Steam is a growing monopoly and I believe its going to keep growing, which could be good news for people who have a lot of money invested through buying all their games through it. Then again, some not very nice surprises may be not to far ahead.
The big shock that may come is if/when Valve start charging a monthly subscription for using their software/service, something every Steam user agreed to accept if it was ever implemented as it is provisioned for in the SSA / Steam Subscriber Agreement. Don't scoff at that and say it will never happen, they made provision for it for a reason.
If it did happen it would be stinker as it would mean cough up or you don't get to play your games, hope it never happens for you guys but its one to bear in mind if you've bought a lot of games through Steam.
As I said, we're not going to agree so we may as well put this one to bed, lets see what another year brings.
Regards, KF
Just so you know, Cyber Cafe owners are also subject to that SSA, and they do get charged a recurring fee. So yes, it is there for a reason, just not the reason your paranoid self thinks it is. Also, it would be considered to be bait and switch for them to start charging us to play our games that we have already bought, download them as many times as we want, and download patches. IF Valve ever did that they would be in a world of hurt with legal issues and more then likely put themselves out of business.
If they ever wanted to start charging a monthly fee to access the games one has bought, download them, and download patches, they would have to do it for future games where those terms are spelled out before buying those games. We have a better chance of winning the lottery while getting hit with lighting 2 times before Valve would do a boneheaded thing like that.
