Valve has announced new changes to Steam to cut down on phishing, spam and bot accounts set-up with the intent to scam users or install malware onto their system.

The new 'Limited Access' feature makes sure all account with under $5 spent aren't allowed to use certain features. That feature list is detailed by Valve in the announcement:

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• Sending friend invites
  

• Opening group chat
  

• Voting on Greenlight, Steam Reviews and Workshop items
  

• Participating in the Steam Market
  

• Posting frequently in the Steam Discussions
  

• Gaining Steam Profile Levels (Locked to level 0) and Trading Cards
  

• Submitting content on the Steam Workshop
  

• Posting in an item's Steam Workshop Discussions
  

• Accessing the Steam Web API
  

• Using browser and mobile chat
  

Users will be able to remove Limited Access from their account by adding $5 in almost any way. Steam Wallet, Steam Wallet card, and Steam gifts all count towards the payment.

Activating games through Steam, playing demos or free betas, activating free weekend titles and adding promotional CD keys from manufacturers will also not count towards the $5 account removal features.

Steam is the largest PC platform in the world with 65 million active users, making it a prime target for scammers. Even though Valve has been upping its security and spam detectors, it did nothing to fight against the scamming methods for a long time.

Thankfully the rising issues have forced Valve to step in. Adding this Limited Access feature and making monetary payment the way to pass through is a smart way to remove all bots, unless the bot creator plans on spending hundreds to keep them active on the off chance one user falls for its tricks.

Although Steam spam is more of an annoyance than a serious threat, it's still something Valve needed to fix. Other platforms like Origin, uPlay and GOG have not yet implemented a similar service although they have different barriers to entry, making it harder for bot accounts and scammers to be active and relevant on the service.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg claims it's impossible to offer free internet access at the current time due to the cost of potentially running rich services like Netflix, YouTube and Spotify, all rely on more data being sent and received, leading to an additional cost.

Facebook has big plans for its internet service, working on low-orbit solar drones that will provide internet to the cities below. Facebook believes 1,000 of these drones should cover the world in internet, although we still suspect Facebook will stick to its mantra of a few services even when it gets its drone network up and running.

The end goal is to get more customers onto the social network, viewing ads amongst other things. Internet.org currently offers ad free services, although ads on the mobile app or website stay on the device, allowing some revenue to be gained by Facebook.

TagsValve, steam, phishing, online scams, spamming, video game theft