The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission sent out a release today announcing that the High Court of Australia has dismissed a special leave application from Valve, which we all know it the company behind Steam. The application was a dispute against a fine issued by an Australian Federal Court, due to a breach against Australian consumer law to the tune of $3 million AUD.
This case has been going through the Australian court systems since 2014, when the ACCC originally brought the case against Valve. This would go to Federal Court in 2016, in which it was originally ruled that based on Australian consumer law, Valve “had engaged in misleading or deceptive conduct and made false or misleading representations.” Valve appealed and the case went to Full Federal Court in 2017, and after another appeal went to Australian High Court.
Valve now must pay the fine, which is about $2.4 million USD. Since the case went to Australian High Court, the matter is bound to that court system, despite being internationally based. Over 2.2 million Australian users are in the Steam userbase, so this sets quite a large precedent for companies doing business in different countries.
Source: ACCC