http://gtm.you1.cn/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=379105516

This is just a short listings of some of BOTH policies of STEAM and Paypal when it comes to money.

I dont want to seem like the Devils advocate here but it has come to my attention that there are those that donot understand how these two entities stand on the issue-

First off- STEAMS USER agreement-
STEAM™ ONLINE CONDUCT

As a Steam subscriber you agree to abide by the following conduct rules.

You will not:
Upload, or otherwise make available, files that contain images, photographs, software or other material protected by intellectual property laws, including, by way of example, and not as limitation, copyright or trademark laws (or by rights of privacy or publicity) unless you own or control the rights thereto or have received all necessary consents to do the same.
Use any material or information, including images or photographs, via Steam in any manner that infringes any copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret, or other proprietary right of any party.
Upload files that contain viruses, trojan horses, worms, or any other similar software or programs that may damage the operation of another's computer or property of another.
Institute attacks upon a Steam server or otherwise disrupt Steam.
Use Steam in connection with surveys, contests, pyramid schemes, chain letters, junk email, spamming or any duplicative or unsolicited messages (commercial or otherwise).
Defame, abuse, harass, stalk, threaten or otherwise violate the legal rights (such as rights of privacy and publicity) of others.
Restrict or inhibit any other user from using and enjoying Steam services, software or other content.
Harvest or otherwise collect information about others, including e-mail addresses.
Create a false identity for the purpose of misleading others.
Violate any applicable laws or regulations.

STEAM® SUBSCRIBER AGREEMENT
(skipping to relevant parts)

1. REGISTRATION AS A SUBSCRIBER; APPLICATION OF TERMS TO YOU; YOUR ACCOUNT

1C. Your Account
When you complete Steam’s registration process, you create a Steam account ("Account"). Your Account may also include billing information you provide to Valve for the purchase of Subscriptions, Content and Services and any physical merchandise offered for purchase through Steam (“Hardware”). You may not reveal, share or otherwise allow others to use your password or Account except as otherwise specifically authorized by Valve. You are responsible for the confidentiality of your login and password and for the security of your computer system. Valve is not responsible for the use of your password and Account or for all of the communication and activity on Steam that results from use of your login name and password by you, by any person to whom you may have intentionally or by negligence disclosed your login and/or password in violation of this confidentiality provision, or by any other person who fraudulently used your login and password without your permission. If you believe that the confidentiality of your login and/or password may have been compromised, you must notify Valve via the support form (https://support.steampowered.com/newticket.php) without any delay.
Your Account, including any information pertaining to it (e.g.: contact information, billing information, Account history and Subscriptions, etc.), is strictly personal. You may therefore not sell or charge others for the right to use your Account, or otherwise transfer your Account, nor may you sell, charge others for the right to use, or transfer any Subscriptions other than if and as expressly permitted by this Agreement (including any Subscription Terms or Rules of Use) or as otherwise specifically permitted by Valve.

2. LICENSES

2F Ownership of Content and Services
All title, ownership rights and intellectual property rights in and to the Content and Services and any and all copies thereof, are owned by Valve and/or its or its affiliates’ licensors. All rights are reserved, except as expressly stated herein. The Content and Services is protected by copyright laws, international copyright treaties and conventions and other laws. The Content and Services contains certain licensed materials and Valve’s and its affiliates’ licensors may protect their rights in the event of any violation of this Agreement.

2G. Restrictions on Use of Content and Services
You may not use the Content and Services for any purpose other than the permitted access to Steam and your Subscriptions, and to make personal, non-commercial use of your Subscriptions, except as otherwise permitted by this Agreement or applicable Subscription Terms. Except as otherwise permitted under this Agreement (including any Subscription Terms or Rules of Use), or under applicable law notwithstanding these restrictions, you may not, in whole or in part, copy, photocopy, reproduce, publish, distribute, translate, reverse engineer, derive source code from, modify, disassemble, decompile, create derivative works based on, or remove any proprietary notices or labels from the Content and Services or any software accessed via Steam without the prior consent, in writing, of Valve.
You are entitled to use the Content and Services for your own personal use, but you are not entitled to: (i) sell, grant a security interest in or transfer reproductions of the Content and Services to other parties in any way, nor to rent, lease or license the Content and Services to others without the prior written consent of Valve, except to the extent expressly permitted elsewhere in this Agreement (including any Subscription Terms or Rules of Use); (ii) host or provide matchmaking services for the Content and Services or emulate or redirect the communication protocols used by Valve in any network feature of the Content and Services, through protocol emulation, tunneling, modifying or adding components to the Content and Services, use of a utility program or any other techniques now known or hereafter developed, for any purpose including, but not limited to network play over the Internet, network play utilizing commercial or non-commercial gaming networks or as part of content aggregation networks, websites or services, without the prior written consent of Valve; or (iii) exploit the Content and Services or any of its parts for any commercial purpose, except as expressly permitted elsewhere in this Agreement (including any Subscription Terms or Rules of Use).

3. BILLING, PAYMENT AND OTHER SUBSCRIPTIONS

3C. Steam Wallet
Steam may make available an account balance associated with your Account (the “Steam Wallet”). The Steam Wallet is neither a bank account nor any kind of payment instrument. It functions as a prepaid balance to purchase Content and Services. You may place funds in your Steam Wallet up to a maximum amount determined by Valve, by credit card, prepaid card, promotional code, or any other payment method accepted by Steam. Within any twenty-four (24) hour period, the total amount stored in your Steam Wallet plus the total amount spent out of your Steam Wallet, in the aggregate, may not exceed US$2,000 or its equivalent in your applicable local currency -- attempted deposits into your Steam Wallet that exceed this threshold may not be credited to your Steam Wallet until your activity falls below this threshold. Valve may change or impose different Steam Wallet balance and usage limits from time to time.
You will be notified by e-mail of any change to the Steam Wallet balance and usage limits within sixty (60) days before the entry into force of the said change. Your continued use of your Steam Account more than thirty (30) days after the entry into force of the changes, will constitute your acceptance of the changes. If you don’t agree to the changes, your only remedy is to terminate your Steam Account or to cease use of your Steam Wallet. Valve shall not have any obligation to refund any credits remaining on your Steam Wallet in this case.
You may use Steam Wallet funds to purchase Subscriptions, including by making in-game purchases where Steam Wallet transactions are enabled, and Hardware. Funds added to the Steam Wallet are non-refundable and non-transferable. Steam Wallet funds do not constitute a personal property right, have no value outside Steam and can only be used to purchase Subscriptions and related content via Steam (including but not limited to games and other applications offered through the Steam Store, or in a Steam Subscription Marketplace) and Hardware. Steam Wallet funds have no cash value and are not exchangeable for cash. Steam Wallet funds that are deemed unclaimed property may be turned over to the applicable authority.

3D. Trading and Sales of Subscriptions Between Subscribers
(skipping to relevant part)
You also understand and acknowledge that Subscriptions traded, sold or purchased in any Subscription Marketplace are license rights, that you have no ownership interest in such Subscriptions, and that Valve does not recognize any transfers of Subscriptions (including transfers by operation of law) that are made outside of Steam.

4. ONLINE CONDUCT, CHEATING AND ILLEGAL BEHAVIOR

Your online conduct and interaction with other Subscribers should be guided by common sense and basic etiquette. Specific requirements may also be found in the Steam Online Conduct rules at http://steampowered.com/index.php?area=online_conduct, other Rules of Use, the Subscription Terms, or in terms of use imposed by third parties who host particular games or other services.
Steam and the Content and Services may include functionality designed to identify software or hardware processes or functionality that may give a player an unfair competitive advantage when playing multiplayer versions of any Content and Services or modifications of Content and Services (“Cheats”). You agree that you will not create Cheats or assist third parties in any way to create or use Cheats. You agree that you will not directly or indirectly disable, circumvent, or otherwise interfere with the operation of software designed to prevent or report the use of Cheats. You acknowledge and agree that either Valve or any online multiplayer host may refuse to allow you to participate in certain online multiplayer games if you use Cheats in connection with Steam or the Content and Services. Further, you acknowledge and agree that an online multiplayer host may report your use of Cheats to Valve, and Valve may communicate your history of use of Cheats to other online multiplayer hosts. Valve may terminate your Account or a particular Subscription for any conduct or activity that Valve believes is illegal, constitutes a Cheat, or otherwise negatively affects the enjoyment of Steam by other Subscribers. You acknowledge that Valve is not required to provide you notice before terminating your Subscriptions(s) and/or Account, but it may choose to do so.
You may not use Cheats, automation software (bots), mods, hacks, or any other unauthorized third-party software, to modify or automate any Subscription Marketplace process.

9. TERM AND TERMINATION

A. Term
The term of this Agreement (the "Term") commences on the date you first indicate your acceptance of these terms, and will continue in effect until otherwise terminated in accordance with this Agreement

C. Termination by Valve
Valve may cancel your Account or any particular Subscription(s) at any time in the event that (a) Valve ceases providing such Subscriptions to similarly situated Subscribers generally, or (b) you breach any terms of this Agreement (including any Subscription Terms or Rules of Use). In the event that your Account or a particular Subscription is terminated or cancelled by Valve for a violation of this Agreement or improper or illegal activity, no refund, including of any Subscription fees or of any unused funds in your Steam Wallet, will be granted.

12. MISCELLANEOUS
(just an interesting note)
You agree to comply with all applicable import/export laws and regulations. You agree not to export the Content and Services or Hardware or allow use of your Account by individuals of any terrorist supporting countries to which encryption exports are at the time of exportation restricted by the U.S. Bureau of Export Administration. You represent and warrant that you are not located in, under the control of, or a national or resident of any such prohibited country.

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The following is copy/pasted from Steams Q&A area

Can I withdraw or transfer funds from my Community Market sales/transactions?

No. All Community Market sales and purchases are completed using the Steam Wallet. The funds cannot be withdrawn or transferred to another Steam account or to a bank/3rd party account. You may use the funds to purchase Steam gifts to send to other users.

Revoked Gifts

-------------------Where is my gift, and why was it removed?

When a gift is refunded due to fraud or a payment dispute, the gift is removed from Steam. The account which redeemed the gift receives a notification that the game is no longer available to play in his or her Steam library.

-----------------What happens to my account when a gift is revoked?

Your account will not be restricted; however, the gift you received will be removed. If you would like to play the game again in the future, you will need to purchase it from the Steam Store or redeem another gift copy of the title.

----------------I traded items for my gift. Can I have these items restored?

If you performed a trade to receive this game, Steam Support will not restore any items that were exchanged for the removed gift.

----------------I bought this game from a third party. Will I get a refund?

If you or someone you know purchased this gift subscription through a third party website, we suggest contacting the seller to request a refund. We do not support the sale of Steam gifts outside of Steam.


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Recommended Trading Practices

As in the real world, users will attempt to deceive or cheat you out of items that you have earned. We encourage Steam users to review the trading recommendations below in order to enjoy a safe and fun trading experience.

What is a Scam?

A scam is when a Steam user convinces another user to make a deal (trade, gift or market transaction) under false pretenses. Scams usually involve deception in order to convince a user that they are getting a good or fair deal when in fact they are not.
Please view our Steam Item Restoration Policy for more information.

Trades to Never Accept
 
Trades involving money
The Steam trading interface does not support the transfer of money in any form. This includes Wallet credits, PayPal, gift cards or any other type of currency.
 
Trades involving CD Keys
Trading for CD Keys is not supported in the Steam Trading interface. CD Keys that are offered are often for a different game, fake, used or region restricted.
 
Trading items/gifts for nothing in return

You should complete any trades in a single trade. The trading interface supports an unlimited amount of items to be included with each trade so there is no reason to perform multiple trades. If you choose to trade an item without receiving anything in return, you will receive a confirmation dialog prior to completing the trade which lets you know the item you are sending is considered a gift.
 
Trades offering Steam Wallet credit

Steam Wallet credit cannot be traded, moved, gifted or automatically added to accounts by other users. Never accept trades that offer Steam Wallet funds.
 
Do not lend or allow others to borrow items

If you give a user an item, there is nothing to stop them from keeping it. In most cases, if a user wishes to borrow an item they will not return it. Do not lend items to other users.

Things to Watch Out For
 
Ensure that you are trading with the correct user:

Scammers often try to impersonate friends and trusted traders. Make sure to review the information in the trade window to ensure you’re trading with the correct person. It is your responsibility to verify who you are trading with.
Steam provides plenty of information within the trade window, including how long you’ve been friends, Steam level, how old the account is, and what groups they are moderators of:
 
Trades involving purchasing an item in order to trade the item to another user

A scammer may attempt to convince you that they will trade you an item if you purchase and trade them something that is for sale on the Steam Market. The scammer will have an excuse as to why they cannot buy it themselves, and they will often have a reason for not being able to trade for it directly (the seller of the item will not communicate with them). After the item is purchased, the scammer will unfriend you and even ban you from communicating with them. The person selling the item is working with the scammer and they just sold a cheap item for a significant amount of money.
 
Do not trade items outside of the trade window

If another user requests that you do, they will likely scam you. Always insist to trade within the trade window in Steam. Wallet credit and money cannot be traded or added to the trade window.
 
Avoid using middlemen

Middlemen should not be needed if you are trading within the system. A middleman can scam you by impersonating another trader, working with a scammer or keeping any item that you give to them.
 

Trading Tips

Below are a couple tips to take advantage of when trading:
 
Take your time

What’s the rush? Take your time when completing a trade. Scammers often try to rush a trade to avoid you seeing the switching of items before it is completed. Double check the items in the trade window by mousing over them to ensure they are the ones you agreed to receive. Information about the item/gift will be stated here including the quality, name, description, expiration date and any effects.
 
Utilize the chat window

All changes, additions, removals and actions will be recorded in the chat window. Here you’ll be able to easily see if the user has changed items in the trade. You may also use it to communicate with the trader.
 
Steam Item Restoration Policy

Steam will not return any items or gifts that you feel have been traded unfairly. There are no exceptions to this policy. All trades are final. Please use the above recommendations to avoid getting scammed.

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What do I do if I was scammed?

If you are scammed, please use the Report feature built into Steam:
Go to the profile of the offending user
Click the 'More' drop-down located at the top right of the page
Choose "Report Violation"
Select the violation (example, "Attempted Trade Scam") and hit "Submit Report".
 
Why will Steam not return items that were scammed?

Our community assigns an item a value that is at least partially determined by that item's scarcity. If more copies of the item are added to the economy through inventory rollbacks, the value of every other instance of that item would be reduced.
We sympathize with people who fall victim to scams, but we provide enough information on our website and within our trading system to help users make good trading decisions. All trade scams can be avoided.
 
What is a trade ban?

A trade ban prevents a Steam account from using the Steam Community, including trading and using the Steam Market. A trade ban can only be applied by a Steam employee. Trade bans are mainly associated with accounts that commit scams.
 
What is trade probation?

Upon receiving a trade ban the offending account gets placed into probation as well. Probationary status allows other users to determine if a user has committed scams in the past so they can make better decisions about whether or not they want to trade with previous scammers. Probationary status does not prevent users from trading.
 
Why won’t Steam Support provide information on why they trade ban or locked an account?

By limiting the provided data, Steam Support prevents malicious users from learning how to avoid getting caught in the future. Steam Support relies on several data points to arrive at a decision to ban or lock an account. Users intent on committing malicious activity, most often done to other users, are constantly trying to gain this data to use in future scams, fraud and hijackings.

selling skins for real money.


yo, I've won some skins which I want to sell and buy a new monitor but is there actually a way to sell my skins and not get scammed? I've heard that its easy to get scammed through paypal by refunding the money or smth like that. help
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---i would go for opskins, maybe you get a little less but its safer then just some random people.
---Trade everything for keys then setup your own CashREP page and sell small amount of keys [5-20k] to people on reddit.com/r/globaloffensivetrade who have at least some amount of reputation. I did that and everything went smooth, no chargebacks whatsoever.

-Trade skins for keys, sell keys, instead.
I've encountered exactly one scammer that was trying to do a key deal. That's opposed to hundreds trying to scam skins through buys.
Keys are harder to move around and harder to hide because of just how many there are for larger buys. It's easier to scam a couple of expensive skins and only have to click a handful of times to move them out of a scam account vs. clicking hundreds of times. Plus the scammer would have to negotiate key prices and count the keys and everything.

---A guy named samalex is trusted in doing such trades, my friend traded with him a couple of times, but he is lowballing a lot :)
---mlg market
---steamtrades.com and steamrep.com If the users has a lot of positive rep there, he's no scammer.
---thanks for advice guys, it definitely helps :)
---Never trust anyone, 99,99% people that buys skins for money are scammers. Never sell items by paypal ( they can charge back )
Steamrep.com = scammers
steamtrades.com = scammers
Scammers everywhere.
Keep this words in your mind.
---I'll add that you should not sell items but trade them for keys and then sell the instead.
---How do I sell them skins then? :( :D
---You don't, unless you want to get scammed
---Easy if you go down with price like many people said
---Ebay, let them transfer the money to your bank account.
From bank account they can't charge back the money.
I'm just trying to tell you that 99% of all skin buyers are scammers.
---so selling through ebay is much more safer yh?
---But don't sell by paypal unless you are 100% sure that the buyer is 1000% legit.
---ok, thanks man
---Isn't selling on ebay with Paypal safe?
---Depends, If he scams you , you get proofs and you can sue the guy who scammed you.
---is it viable to do 1k ( or like 5k) at the time? Or can they still charge back all the transaction after you're done?
---Steamrep is a very usfull site, definitely not scam.
---I am intressted in buying , through paypal for the right price , if u set it as a GIFT u cant refund google it , whats ur steam btw?
---u can chargeback as a gift too ;)
---Don't believe these guys lol, of course you can sell skins for real money without getting scammed. I have sold skins a lot. I have a trusted buyer that i sell to.
He has tons of vouches and will not scam you. But he buys skins for 50% of market, you should sell him keys, you'll get more money.
---Don't believe? pff man 99% of people buying skins for real money are scammers.
---Then the guy i linked is in the 1% :)
---Maybe maybe not.
---There is no " maybe, maybe not ", you fool.
I didn't get scammed and all the guys that vouched for him didn't.
---I can also vouch for vegeta. He is legit!
---ffs, I've been really lucky on recent bets and I thought I could sell them and buy a new monitor cuz I'm a student and cant afford a new monitor with my mcdonalds pay lol. Idk I guess I'll do some more research
---I just wrote how rofl
---Sell skins for keys, then sell the keys.
http://www.reddit.com/r/GlobalOffensiveTrade/ can give you a list of reputable buyers
---And whats the point? keys can't be scammed? xD
---Always a risk of getting scammed. Keys are easier to move around though.
---i have a guy that i sold 1k keys, reputable reddit csgo trade moderator and csgorep administrator , really trustable if you're intrested i can give u his steam
---yh U can give me his steam but that doesnt mean I believe you
---i sent u an message on hltv
---the most secured site is opskins, you get points when you sell your skins and then you can transform the points in real money. You get the money 1 week after in your bank account so it's the safest site even if you sell the skins 5-10-15-20 dollars cheaper ( depends on skins ) and stop trusting everyone, paypal is really risky there is almost no one trustable in paypal because they can take back the money, a lot of my friends got scammed so don't cry if u get scammed on paypal valve won't help you.
The best, the safest site you can find to get real money from skins
---yes, do business with the romanian guy. good idea.
---Use only Skrill.com, you can't chargeback there. Paypal is really risky.
---you seem very ignorant alot of people are telling you how to do it , if u make the buying send the money as an GIFT on paypal and write'' i have recieved goods etc'' theres no way he cant return the money....
---it's because I know people who have been scammed and I've heard that paypal just dont give a ♥♥♥♥ and its easy to refund the money.
---nu nu
---You could just sell them on opskins.com :D
--- skinxchange
---HI there,
The answer to your question is, "Yes!".
y name is Rebecca and I'm the owner of SkinXchange.com :)
If you're looking for a safe & secure place to sell, SkinXchange.com is definitely the place to go! (We just relaunched our website, btw.) To date, we are the only marketplace that offers automatic cash-outs, bulk selling & sellers can even hold their item in their inventory until it sells. We also understand the uniqueness to your skins so that means your fades and patterns are ALWAYS traded to the correct buyer, unlike other third-party marketplaces out there.

One of the biggest perks is that we don't force our users to trade their item to our bot right away (we only do so after someone tries to buy your item). So you may continue using your item in game until it sells (which our users love!) Another benefit is that if Steam trade/bot bans - all of our sellers items are safely in their own inventory and not stuck on our bot. We've seen it happen countless times on third party websites and this is the only way to guarantee the safety of your skins. Otherwise, you could be one of those unlucky people who have their items stuck on a bot for up to a month. Not cool! Which is why we changed our functionality to work this way.
Rebecca
---The problem with sites like OPSkins and SkinXchange is they take forever to send your money. They make you wait for the items to sell first. That's why I sell CSGO Skins for money on r2pleasent.com

They pay you instantly with Paypal, BTC, etc.
---Hmmm...that's very exaggerated. Anyone using Stripe for cashouts on SkinXchange gets their money instantly in their Stripe account. :)
---OPskins
---Just go on opskins.com
---Opskins
--- Thanks for the skins
---opskins is the way to go if you wanna be safe
---my recommendation is also opskins
---send them to me and i send u money
---Opskins
---I believe OPskins is good way to do that but i guess lowest price items cannot find customers there right? I mean do you advice like "sell 10 usd worth or higher priced items there"
---Nice 8 months late reply
---OPSKINS ?!
---Dont trust people with many "+rep", most of them doing ♥♥♥♥♥ giveaway on steam group like "biceps team". They have mmany rep because this giveaway is like " write on my profil + rep and i will choce someone "
---and?
---opskins or {LINK REMOVED}www.csgoshop.com
---opskins.com my brotha
---trusted guy, bought ak vulcan mw from him. +rep
---Do you even advice "sell 0.04 worth items on opskins"? Is there customers for that low priced items?

Steam user violates subscriber agreement, loses $1,800 in games
After attempting to sell his or her account, one Steam user was permanently …
Andrew Webster - 3/14/2011, 12:28 PM
What happens if you violate Steam's Subscriber Agreement and you have a library of games worth nearly $2,000? As one user learned, you'll lose access to all of those games.
The user in question, who has a total of $1,794.52 worth of games on his or her Steam account, decided to ask how much another person might pay for such an account. "Obviously I don't want someone to pay $1,800 for my account," the gamer wrote on Reddit. "I'm looking at money of course, not full price considering I bought most of them on sale, but maybe we can come to some sort of deal...Of course if someone actually takes me up I'll be removing my credit card information from the account, along with my friends list."
That was a month ago. A little more than a week ago the user was unable to connect with Steam, and was later informed that the account had been disabled for violating the Steam Subscriber Agreement, which explicitly states "you may not sell or charge others for the right to use your account, or otherwise transfer your account." And according to this e-mail chain, the ban is permanent.
In a later Reddit post, the user claims he or she was simply "asking how much someone would pay for a profile like that" and that the account was never actually sold or traded. However, the intention to sell was clearly there, as another post reads "I WAS 'trying' to sell my Steam account on r/gameswap, but that was over a month ago, you can't even access the post now. What pisses me off is that they waited an entire month, up to last night, before disabling my account. They didn't even send me an email [explaining] why it was disabled, I was just logged off of Steam with no warning."
Ars has contacted Valve for comment and will update the story if we hear back.
Update: Valve has since posted on its forum that the account has been re-activated.

are you allowed to sell CS GO skins for real money?
Does anyone know if this is against the steam EULA? I see people trying to sell skins on ebay and was wondering if they get penalized for doing so. Please give me your feedback, thank you!
No, and it WILL get you trade banned.
It's discouraged but I don't think you get trade banned for it... Valve would have no interaction between ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ if it was, for they have ways to make trading skins for paypal safer.
Thanks Mellow.
Originally posted by Mellow:
It's discouraged but I don't think you get trade banned for it... Valve would have no interaction between ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ if it was, for they have ways to make trading skins for paypal safer.
Yes, you can. Go read the Steam forums. Steam support will flat tell you that paypal is not a supported trading method.
Then how come golounge lets you do it?
Originally posted by dchaNt:
Then how come golounge lets you do it?
you can do it, but when thinks go south don't complain on this forum saying you were scammed and begging steam support for your items back because they won't do it, imo its to risky but you can choose to

First prosecutions made in relation to videogame betting in the UK
PC Gamer
Earlier this year, Valve s Counter-Strike: Global Offensive made the headlines on several occasions after the unlawful practices of skin gambling and betting sites were revealed. Evan penned this handy overview of how skin gambling works and investigated the legalities (or lack thereof) of the industry, before Valve itself slapped a number of operators with cease and desist orders. Although it's unclear at this stage which game they were leveraging, two British men have now been charged with offences under the UK Gambling Act.

As reported by the BBC, both Dylan Rigby and Craig Douglas have been charged with promoting lottery and advertising unlawful gambling, while Douglas has also been charged with inviting children to gamble. These prosecutions are thought to be the first involving betting on videogames.

The UK s Gambling Commission has been looking into the rise of video game gambling over the past few months, writes the BBC, with the regulatory body now issuing warning to parents of potential underage victims. Both men accused appeared in Birmingham Magistrates Court earlier today, however the case has been adjourned to October 14.

It has been estimated that the global market in betting on video games is worth as much as 4 billion, reads the report. A more comprehensive overview of skin gambling as it applies to CS:GO can be found via that there link.

More than 11,000 CS:GO and Dota 2 cheaters ate the banhammer today [Updated]
PC Gamer
Update: The report originally indicated that all 11,000 bans were handed out to CS:GO cheaters. However, vac-ban.com indicates that fewer than 4000 CS:GO players were banned that day, while the balance, according to this thread, went to Dota 2 players. SteamDB doesn't break down VAC ban numbers by game so it's impossible to verify without confirmation from Valve, which I would guess will not be forthcoming. Even so, it seems very likely that this was a bad day for CS:GO and Dota 2 cheaters.

Original story:

Today was not a good day to be a cheater. According to a story by Kotaku, more than 11,000 people have been banned by the Valve Anti-Cheat system for breaking the rules, one of the largest spikes of VAC activity this year.

Valve Anti-Cheat is continually banning players, but in this case it appears that the system has become able to detect previously untouchable cheats. The Kotaku report includes an image of banned ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ sobbing into the empty space where their knife collections once rested (that quote is just too good not to use). The Steam inventories of banned players are essentially frozen: they cannot trade or sell items from their inventory for that game.

There's also an indirect acknowledgment from a large cheat provider in this CSGO subreddit thread that his software isn't currently performing as it should. The thread also contains messages about people with previously good cheats ie, which VAC could not detect who have suddenly found themselves locked out.

The tricky bit about this sort of thing is that these ban waves very rarely come with explainers that break down how and why a particular round of bans was implemented (although I guess the 'why' part of it is fairly self-evident), or even to confirm that something out of the ordinary has happened at all. But the war against cheating in online games is an ongoing one, and so it only makes sense that, as systems improve, there will be these sudden upticks in activity as Valve 'cracks a code' somewhere and trips people up. Of course, the opposite holds true, too: players determined to cheat will come up with new ways to do so, and around and around it goes.

I've emailed Valve for more information about the sudden uptick in bans, and I'll update this post if and when I receive a reply.