Mexico could become another country where lawmakers are trying to strengthen the rights of digital game buyers. Senator and Chairman of the Digital Rights Commission Luis Donaldo Colosio Riojas, together with Deputy Irais Reyes, presented an initiative that proposes to change the rules for selling digital goods and establish additional guarantees for consumers. The bill was published in the parliamentary system on September 2 and is currently under consideration by the relevant Senate committees.
One of the main ideas of the initiative is to force sellers to explain in advance and as clearly as possible exactly what the buyer receives. Before payment, the company must specify the legal category of the digital acquisition, state whether it is full digital ownership or a license to use, and explain the conditions for possible termination or revocation of access. In addition, the buyer must be warned whether a constant internet connection is required for the product to work and what will happen after the final cessation of technical support.
For digital products sold under a perpetual license and requiring connection to servers, the bill proposes to introduce a so-called “right to functional preservation”. If the company permanently shuts down the necessary servers, it must, to the extent technically possible and permitted by third-party rights, provide tools or patches that allow the product to continue running locally.
If the initiative is adopted, simply shutting down servers would not be enough if, after that, the buyer completely loses access to an already purchased game.
The authors of the bill also provide for exceptions: the obligation should not apply where preservation is technically impossible or would violate the intellectual property rights of third parties.
The initiative also affects the responsibility of digital stores to Mexican consumers. According to Mexican media, the authors propose to oblige foreign digital platforms selling goods in the country to have a Mexican address or a legal representative through whom local authorities can make claims in case of consumer rights violations.
The terms of use and license agreements for digital goods are proposed to be considered adhesion contracts, and the mass and unilateral revocation of access to purchased digital goods without preservation mechanisms, compensation, or refunds is considered a serious violation.
For Colosio Riojas and Reyes, this is not the first step in the dispute surrounding the gaming industry's transition to a digital model. In August, they filed a complaint with the Mexican antitrust authority against Sony Interactive Entertainment regarding the company's plans to stop producing physical games for PlayStation from 2028. According to lawmakers, such a transition could reduce the purchasing options available to consumers and increase dependence on Sony's digital store.