Are you closing your Facebook? Say goodbye to your Oculus...

And this is also valid for the first buyers.

Photo Credit: Facebook

Facebook had promised that it was not going to change anything at Oculus, but the promises are binding only on those who believe in them. The new Facebook rules should come into effect in 2023, and one of them spotted by the UploadVR site may displease users.

From 1^is January 2023, Facebook will no longer recognize Oculus accounts. Their users will have to link their Oculus Rift to Facebook. Even better, if after this date a user decides to delete his Facebook account, this action will have the effect of preventing the launch of any application, while the credits in his account will be lost.

Photo Credit: UploadVR.com

With this action, Facebook is surfing the limits of the law. Tied selling is not framed in the same way everywhere, and by being free, Facebook is surely thinking of breaking out of this framework. If we look at Canadian law, according to the Unionconsommateurs.ca report:

Under the Competition Act, the Tribunal, in order to make a tied selling order, must first find the presence of the following four elements: (1) the existence of two separate products; (2) the existence of a practice of linking two products; (3) the use of this practice by an important supplier (“major supplier”) or widespread throughout the market and (4) proof of significant anticompetitive effects, that is to say the substantial reduction, real or probable, of competition. Reading section 77, therefore, we see that tied selling itself is not in itself an offense against the Act in all the circumstances. Rather, it will be the effect produced by the practice of tied selling, for example, the fact of reducing competition, which constitutes an infringement of section 77 and will justify intervention by the Tribunal.

Facebook’s practice could therefore be condemned, provided that a complaint is filed in court and that this leads to a trial. The fact that Facebook is free would therefore not change much since in terms of the law, Facebook is one of the major suppliers and extended throughout the market.

By offering quality VR headsets at a lower price than the competition, Facebook is attracting a significant number of buyers. By linking the Oculus to his account, it is then to ensure that buyers will stay with Oculus so as not to lose their applications and their virtual credits.