I think you are missing the difference between a license and a sale. The end-user isn't purchasing the games, they are licensing the games, meaning they don't have ownership. They just are acquiring the rights to use the software and therefore they don't have the right to resell the game.

The reason is the licensee is agreeing that they are acquiring a non-transferable license. The licensing agreement defines the rights of both parties. One of those rights not included in the right to transfer the license. The licensee can't change the terms of that contract because they think they should be able to. So basically the reason you can't is because you agree that you can't.

I'd rather digital distribution services don't offer resale options. They'll have to compensate by raising their prices, because on some sales they will only be getting 5 percent, rather than the full purchase price that the new buyer would have to pay.

Also, I don't want to read thousands of internet users complaining about how Steam knocked 75 percent off the retail price right after UsedGameGuy69 put his copy of Duke Nukem Forever 2 up for bid.

It's an interesting point and I can see why the companies involved would like to avoid this if possible. Perhaps the best option would be to allow you to sell back a game for a percentage of the current price/purchase price (whichever is the lower).

Basically you'd sell back your copy of the game to the company and be given credit towards something else. It avoids the problem of someone else getting a copy of the game while they only get 5% of the sale but gives users the opportunity to sell back something they no longer want.

I still see issues with this but it seems a bit more workable.

Wouldn't you just rather buy the game cheaper? You're paying for that extra credit up front.

Again, you're just providing loophole scenarios, not evidence that it isn't legally enforceable.

I just don't ever see the re-selling of your license as a smart move for any digital distribution service. It gets way to complicated way to fast, especially when you start throwing the huge discounts that you get from services like Steam into the mix. Lets say I pick up a huge bundle on say Company of Heroes for $30 bucks. I grab the original game and several expansions for a great price. Retail this would have cost me roughly $20 a game for each license so lest say $60 total for the original and 2 expansions. Now, I play the games, love them, but want to sell them back because I'm done with them. The games are not on sale any longer and are at $20 a piece. What does Steam do in order to make sure that I don't make money on the deal? Think about the big christmas sale last year and how much you got when it was discounted. How does Steam manage all those different price points and be able to resell the license? The re-sale market for PC games has been going the way of the DoDo for quite a while and I don't see it ever being a viable option. When I buy a game on Steam, or even go to the store and pick up a boxed copy of a PC game, I'm not expecting to resell it. PC to me means Permanent Copy. I'm never getting rid of that sucker.

Somewhere along the way, and maybe it has always been this way, software has turned into a "license" instead of an "item" that I own. Is there a fair trade here, or does it only have upside for the software companies? Does this mean if I destroy the media and I download a copy from the web that is OK because I still own the license? If I destroy the media do I lose the license?

Okay, so I've read pretty much every single post and I think some people don't actually get what I'm proposing.

A lot of people seem to be implying that it would be a nightmare for companies to transfer licenses.

1) I'm sorry, but if Microsoft is able to transfer your licenses from one Xbox to another, they certainly can transfer it from one XBox Live account to another.
2) A few of you said that it would be complicated to track because of sales and what not? So what? If you are reselling one week later at a higher price, more power to you. That's a legal business and is done all the time in the real world. Ever heard of stocks or Wall Street? If Valve wants to prevent people buying bulk licenses, simply limit your account to have one license of a game at a time.
3) Don't forget that a lot of people buy new sales (EDIT: I mean games, should have proofed read this first ) and sell them back in exchange for credit on new games. Hell, I'm selling my 360 games I'm done with in preparation of the PS3 price drop that's probably coming up later this year. I already have 150$ worth of games resold. Stuff that would have just stayed in my library and accumulate dust. Now I can use that to finance other purchases. By going all the way digital and not allowing resell would force a lot of people to buy less stuff.

The key thing you are missing is that the ability to transfer games (whether physical copies or digital licenses) results in higher prices on new games. Companies can make up for the lack of ability to resell with lower prices on new games. If they add the ability to resell, thereby limiting their profit potential on some of the copies that they sell, they have to charge more for the new game to make up the difference. I'd rather just pay the lower prices up front, and not have the ability to resell, than pay higher prices and be essentially forced to resell my games if I want the lower prices.

Direct to Drive is a very good service. Downloads always available once you buy the game.

dire