A Gripe about gift cards

When did gift cards become an obligation to spend the alotted money at the venue of issuance? There was a time that a gift card/certificate was as good as cash. Then the rules stated that you needed to at least purchase something then you could get the remainder back as cash back.

Now if someone gives you a gift card, you have the spend the whole amount at the store. No cash back, what gives?

What's even worse is that some gift cards actually expire! How is it that you can buy the right to buy something issued in the form of a gift card, and without actually buying something, they can tell you the card/certificate expired?

Personally I feel the act of expiring a gift card is criminal.

I found an article on this subject that is interesting. In some form or another, we may actually be protected from shops pulling the rug out from under us by state and maybe even federal law.