Half-Life 2 activation fails because of duplicate CD key

[Evan]

Folks,

Bought the DVD retail version of HL2 from Amazon.co.uk (in United
Kingdom obviously). The game came sealed in a brown box, but the jewel
case itself wasn't plastic shrink-wrapped.

I'm told by the Steam network upon my activation attempts that the CD
key I'm using is a duplicate, already in use with another account.

I have no desire to post my jewel case to the USA and wait a month to
get it back to prove ownership. I've read on these groups that
historically, some users have had luck in contacting Steam/Valve via
email and providing a scan. Can anyone tell me if they've had recent
success doing this?

Thanks in advance.

Evan

[Evan]

I know there are some people out there you've had this problem. Any
suggestions?

[MasterClown]

Post to the steampowered.com forums, you'll likely find more info on
how to correct your situation.

[Evan]

Managed to get some love from Steam after posting my query to
MasterClown's suggested forum. Had to provide digital photos on my CD
key.

Seems a very flaky system of copyright control.