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Question for GAF - When does it become piracy?

FLEABttn

Banned
Stumpokapow said:
If he had a receipt or a photo of him holding the cartridge from when he was 10, would that change the morality of it? If so, why? We're not talking about the legality (or at least most of us aren't), we're talking about the morality--and given that no one is standing in our houses over our shoulders casting judgment, really we're talking about how we morally view our own actions. Does he have to look at his own receipt to remind himself that he bought something that he clearly knows he bought?

Oh, morally. Whoops. I'd have no problem with that. Legally would prove to be the issue, as he'd know he used to have it, but can't prove that.
 

usea

Member
Steve Youngblood said:
There's a lot of ambiguity here. What I'm suggesting is this: the fact that I have, say, my Chrono Trigger SNES cartridge sitting somewhere in my house does not give me a free pass to download the DS rom and stick it on my flash card so that I can play it on my next trip and not have to "buy it again since I already own Chrono Trigger."
Well, that's up to you. But from what I understand CT DS has a new dungeon, new battle UI, etc? Not really just a port. For me personally I feel like it's a different game. I think it'd be wrong to play it without buying.

DaBuddaDa said:
When it comes to legality, that isn't a decision you're free to make. Even if you already own the game on another platform, if you download the same game for a different platform you don't own that license and you are pirating. You might think it's morally OK to pirate the game but legally you're wrong. In the almost impossible chance that you were busted doing this and went to court, do you really think the judge would agree with your argument?
What?
 

DaBuddaDa

Member
usea said:
Do you answer everything you can't understand with "What?" Why don't you try to specify what you don't understand instead of continually responding like a child.

It's pretty simple: if you buy Chrono Trigger for SNES, you don't have the right to own every version of Chrono Trigger released in the future. If you own it for the SNES and download it for the DS, you're pirating the DS game. That is how the law of the US works. Understand?

I'm not even going to bother arguing with you about this anymore because you clearly have no clue about the law and are probably a pirate. Let me just quote some of the stupid shit you've said already:

usea said:
What do I feel is right?

Acceptable:

Playing a port of a game I bought on an old system. For example, say Day of the Tentacle comes out on steam. I wouldn't buy it; I already bought that game a long time ago. I would probably just download a copy if I wanted to play it. Probably the steam version if it was more convenient for some reason.
usea said:
Who cares about what is legal? Leave that up to lawyers to argue about. The law doesn't define what's right and wrong.
usea said:
When I decide to play a game I own, and I see that it has been re-released since I last played it, I don't feel compelled to buy the game a second time. It's the same game, regardless of whatever happened behind the scenes for the company to try and profit from their property. I own it already. Nobody is gaining or losing anything based on what hardware I choose to play it on.
People with insane entitlement complexes like you are the reason why we have horrible DRM and the industry up in arms over piracy.
 

dark10x

Digital Foundry pixel pusher
No CD cracks definitely seem like shaky ground as a result of their origins, but they are certainly useful. Having to insert a disc in your PC every time you want to play can become a huge hassle in some cases. A lot of modern games rectify this with online activation, which I'm cool with, but requiring a CD at this point is simply irritating.
 
DaBuddaDa said:
Do you answer everything you can't understand with "What?" Why don't you try to specify what you don't understand instead of continually responding like a child.

It's pretty simple: if you buy Chrono Trigger for SNES, you don't have the right to own every version of Chrono Trigger released in the future. If you own it for the SNES and download it for the DS, you're pirating the DS game. That is how the law of the US works. Understand?
I'm just gonna chime in and say that we aren't talking about what is or isn't legal, we're talking about what people think is morally ok.

Also he should have purchased 5 copies of Chrono Trigger DS.
 

jvm

Gamasutra.
You guys are too funny. :lol

DaBuddaDa said:
Do you answer everything you can't understand with "What?"

"Say 'what' again. Say 'what' again, I dare you, I double dare you ...!"

2ijhf7d.jpg
 

DaBuddaDa

Member
jvm said:
"Say 'what' again. Say 'what' again, I dare you, I double dare you motherf-----, say what one more G------ time!"

2ijhf7d.jpg
:lol:lol

Freyjadour said:
I'm just gonna chime in and say that we aren't talking about what is or isn't legal, we're talking about what people think is morally ok.
Mama Robotnik said:
This thread is to talk about how we define piracy as a concept.
 

usea

Member
DaBuddaDa said:
Do you answer everything you can't understand with "What?" Why don't you try to specify what you don't understand instead of continually responding like a child.
I'm responding in kind. It's like you're not making any attempt to comprehend what others are saying. Shouting into a void.

Legality is irrelevant. It does not define what is right and wrong. It does not have any bearing at all on this discussion or the realities of choosing to pirate a game or not. It's up to an individual's morals. I made it clear what I was talking about, and you tried to 'counter' my beliefs with your interpretation of the law. So: "What?"
 

kamspy

Member
I'd say it becomes piracy when you've shipped your first crate of pirated DS games.

Lesson: If you own a DS cartridge fabrication line, don't pirate games on third shift and sell them in bulk.
 

DaBuddaDa

Member
usea said:
Legality is irrelevant. It does not define what is right and wrong. It does not have any bearing at all on this discussion or the realities of choosing to pirate a game or not. It's up to an individual's morals. I made it clear what I was talking about, and you tried to 'counter' my beliefs with your interpretation of the law. So: "What?"
What irks me is you publicly stating support for a practice that is illegal in the US, is immoral through the eyes of anyone who doesn't have an entitlement complex, and is detrimental to the industry we all love and want to see thrive.
 

kpeezy

Banned
DaBuddaDa said:
What irks me is you publicly stating support for a practice that is illegal in the US, is immoral through the eyes of anyone who doesn't have an entitlement complex, and is detrimental to the industry we all love and want to see thrive.

I don't think you're reading the thread closely enough.

usea said:
Well, that's up to you. But from what I understand CT DS has a new dungeon, new battle UI, etc? Not really just a port. For me personally I feel like it's a different game. I think it'd be wrong to play it without buying.

Stumpokapow said:
...We're not talking about the legality (or at least most of us aren't), we're talking about the morality--and given that no one is standing in our houses over our shoulders casting judgment, really we're talking about how we morally view our own actions. Does he have to look at his own receipt to remind himself that he bought something that he clearly knows he bought?
 
Slightly related. There are those game collections for PC being sold with maybe 100 Amiga or C64 games, through legit channels. Usually in bargain bins. I'm assuming there's some kind of emulation going on, and it's quite possible that the games are simply ROM files stuck on the CD with a proprietary loader.

If I bought a collection like this and put it in my shelf, would it still be piracy if I went and got the same games online and played them in a better emulator? Is there a difference between that and just copying the ROM files off the CD into whatever emulator you have? It's the same idea as dumping ROMs off cartridges but it's something everyone can do. Few people have the gear to dump their own games.

I too would like a way to buy officially licensed ROMs, but currently there's way too many obstacles and competing services. I can buy these games off Virtual Console, these games off Steam, these games off PSN etc, but I can only play them on a single piece of hardware. It's the same problem that plagued music downloads with proprietary formats that weren't compatible with everything. Now, of course, many places sell pure MP3s with no strings attached, which is how I want it.

The perfect solution would be to have a multi-format emulator that can be bought for all applicable hardware, that plays all the games you throw at it. Like, you go and buy Sunset Riders and Warzard for $5 each and put on your Game Collector account and play on a $20 emulator you bought for PC. And then when you feel like playing on your TV, the same emulator setup is available on Xbox 360.

Of course, just making a legal (WinUAE style) emulator for all kinds of hardware is basically impossible to begin with since Nintendo would never license their hardware, etc.
 

usea

Member
DaBuddaDa said:
What irks me is you publicly stating support for a practice that is illegal in the US, is immoral through the eyes of anyone who doesn't have an entitlement complex, and is detrimental to the industry we all love and want to see thrive.
...what?

Seriously. What are you talking about?

I'd like to know where you're coming from. Do you feel like you fall in a particular place here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kohlberg's_stages_of_moral_development
 

Drkirby

Corporate Apologist
SiegfriedFM said:
Slightly related. There are those game collections for PC being sold with maybe 100 Amiga or C64 games, through legit channels. Usually in bargain bins. I'm assuming there's some kind of emulation going on, and it's quite possible that the games are simply ROM files stuck on the CD with a proprietary loader.

If I bought a collection like this and put it in my shelf, would it still be piracy if I went and got the same games online and played them in a better emulator? Is there a difference between that and just copying the ROM files off the CD into whatever emulator you have? It's the same idea as dumping ROMs off cartridges but it's something everyone can do. Few people have the gear to dump their own games.

I too would like a way to buy officially licensed ROMs, but currently there's way too many obstacles and competing services. I can buy these games off Virtual Console, these games off Steam, these games off PSN etc, but I can only play them on a single piece of hardware. It's the same problem that plagued music downloads with proprietary formats that weren't compatible with everything. Now, of course, many places sell pure MP3s with no strings attached, which is how I want it.

The perfect solution would be to have a multi-format emulator that can be bought for all applicable hardware, that plays all the games you throw at it. Like, you go and buy Sunset Riders and Warzard for $5 each and put on your Game Collector account and play on a $20 emulator you bought for PC. And then when you feel like playing on your TV, the same emulator setup is available on Xbox 360.

Of course, just making a legal (WinUAE style) emulator for all kinds of hardware is basically impossible to begin with since Nintendo would never license their hardware, etc.
There is the moral aspect, and the legal aspect. IMO, its not moral wrong to download and emulate that NES cart you have, due to having no way to dump it. But legally, in the US, you aren't supposed to do it, you are supposed to dump the rom your self.

But with that CD, you most likely can just extract the roms right from it without a problem.

Also, you can legally make a NES Emulator without a word from Nintendo. The main problem is anything from the 5th gen and on, since a lot of later systems have BIOS, which are protected under copyright laws, which are good till we are dead, instead of Patent Law which only last 20 years.
 

jvm

Gamasutra.
SiegfriedFM said:
Slightly related. There are those game collections for PC being sold with maybe 100 Amiga or C64 games, through legit channels. Usually in bargain bins. I'm assuming there's some kind of emulation going on, and it's quite possible that the games are simply ROM files stuck on the CD with a proprietary loader.
The first commercial Atari 2600 emulator was like this. The programmer showed up on rec.games.video.classic (USENET for you young'n's) and lauded people for hacking the emu to play other games.
 

DaBuddaDa

Member
usea said:
...what?

Seriously. What are you talking about?
usea said:
What do I feel is right?

Acceptable:

Playing a port of a game I bought on an old system. For example, say Day of the Tentacle comes out on steam. I wouldn't buy it; I already bought that game a long time ago. I would probably just download a copy if I wanted to play it. Probably the steam version if it was more convenient for some reason.
This. This is illegal, highly immoral, detrimental to the industry and indicates that you feel entitled to a product because you bought a similar one years ago. I think you're unequivocally wrong on this matter, with the law on my side, not yours. I don't think I need to crap up this thread any more with this back-and-forth that won't lead anywhere.
 

usea

Member
DaBuddaDa said:
This. This is illegal, highly immoral, detrimental to the industry and indicates that you feel entitled to a product because you bought a similar one years ago. I think you're unequivocally wrong on this matter, with the law on my side, not yours. I don't think I need to crap up this thread any more with this back-and-forth that won't lead anywhere.
illegal: irrelevant
immoral: I disagree
detrimental to the industry: wrong
entitled because bought similar: not similar; same
law on your side: irrelevant
crap up this thread: wrong. Discussion is the whole point of the thread. If you want to treat this as a "this is the Truth. I'm Right" high-horse dumping ground, then you've already proclaimed your Facts and you can leave. Otherwise let's get to the heart of the matter.

Related question: Do you think it's immoral to break the law?
 

jvm

Gamasutra.
usea said:
entitled because bought similar: not similar; same
I could be wrong, but I was under the impression that some older games released on services such as Steam and GoG were modified to ensure they work properly on modern systems. If that's the case then ... no, you did not buy the same game.
 

CorwinB

Member
I would say any port with new features (no matter how trivial or useless) should be off-limit from a moral standpoint, as it's not the same game anymore.
 

kpeezy

Banned
Speevy said:
usea, name a scenario in which you would feel bad about downloading a game.

He's already done that. Go reread the thread.

People need to chill out. He's clearly stating that he would download whichever version of the game is more easily available to him (hence the word convenient) given the fact that both games are the same with no upgrades or modifications.

Almost any game will work on a modern PC so I'm not sure if jvc's post is all that relevant. I suppose in some cases it would be but that's no reason say that usea is morally wrong in all cases.

edit: jvm actually has something to that effect in his post already so it's all good.
 

DaBuddaDa

Member
illegal: irrelevant
Irrelevant until you get caught. Then you'll think it's very relevant.

immoral: I disagree
Agree to disagree here.

detrimental to the industry: wrong
You use the same argument as any pirate: "I wasn't going to buy it anyway so its not hurting anyone." This argument is too simplified because you don't know for sure you weren't going to buy it just as well as you'd be sure you would buy it. On many occasions I didn't think I'd buy a game and changed my mind later after a change of heart or a price drop or a good demo. If I had pirated those purchases originally none of those sales would have ever been made.

entitled because bought similar: not similar; same
It's not the same, the new version doesn't come on PC CDROM, it comes through Steam and all of the benefits and services that come with it, and is probably published by a new publisher who spent their own money in order to provide you the opportunity to play game again and deserve your support for providing you with that.

law on your side: irrelevant
See 1st response.

Related question: Do you think it's immoral to break the law?
Not even gonna open that bag of worms right now. Generally, yes, it is immoral. The law is highly based upon what society agrees is right and wrong. 99% of the time the law gets it right.
 

kpeezy

Banned
DaBuddaDa said:
entitled because bought similar: not similar; same
It's not the same, the new version doesn't come on PC CDROM, it comes through Steam and all of the benefits and services that come with it, and is probably published by a new publisher who spent their own money in order to provide you the opportunity to play game again.

Is this true at all? I assumed that if you download a steam version of a game you would only be able to run an executable and that's the end of it. Can you actually integrated pirated games into steam?

Related question: Do you think it's immoral to break the law?
Not even gonna open that bag of worms right now. Generally, yes, it is immoral. The law is highly based upon what society agrees is right and wrong. 99% of the time the law gets it right.

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiight.

edit: and in regards to the first response in DaBuddaDa's post about legality, it's obvious usea means that it is irrelevant to this discussion.
 

kpeezy

Banned
DaBuddaDa said:
"Gets it right" was poor phrasing. I mean 99% of laws on the books the great majority of people would agree on morally and practically.

I would still disagree but I don't think it's really relevant here as the original question is so obtuse.
 

usea

Member
Speevy said:
usea, name a scenario in which you would feel bad about downloading a game.
Like I said before -- pretty clearly I think -- a game which I feel I have no right to play. For example, a game I didn't buy. Although I would feel okay playing games on somebody else's steam account (only one person can play at a time).


DaBuddaDa said:
You use the same argument as any pirate: "I wasn't going to buy it anyway so its not hurting anyone." This argument is too simplified because you don't know for sure you weren't going to buy it just as well as you'd be sure you would buy it. On many occasions I didn't think I'd buy a game and changed my mind later after a change of heart or a price drop or a good demo. If I had pirated those purchases originally none of those sales would have ever been made.
I don't know where you're getting this from. I said I would have no qualms downloading a game I already own. I feel that a re-release of the same game is the same game. Despite what Disney would have you think.

DaBuddaDa said:
a new publisher who spent their own money in order to provide you the opportunity to play game again and deserve your support for providing you with that.
You and I don't see the exchange of goods and services the same way. You're willing to pay twice for something just because they ask you to. I'm not.


DaBuddaDa said:
Not even gonna open that bag of worms right now. Generally, yes, it is immoral. The law is highly based upon what society agrees is right and wrong. 99% of the time the law gets it right.
Sure, the law is sort of based on what we agree to be right and wrong. In a way. But for non-criminal matters it's more based on what the people who have the most money want. And it's also sort of a feedback loop. What people believe is right and wrong is immensely influenced by the law they grow up with. If we grew up in a society where charging money for food was punished harshly, many of us would feel differently about many topics.
 
D

Deleted member 1235

Unconfirmed Member
[1] Purchasing a game NEW, then using a No CD crack because DRM/driver/compatability issues are causing you difficulties running from the disk?
no

[2] Purchasing a game NEW, then using a NO CD crack because you don't want to keep inserting and removing the disk?
no


[3] Purchasing a game NEW, then making a backup and playing from this to preserve your original purchase.
no

[4] Purchasing a game NEW, then letting a friend borrow this original?
no

[4a] Purchasing a game USED, then letting a friend borrow this original?
no

[4b] Purchasing a game NEW, making a backup, and letting your friend borrow your backup? (the original is still preserved and never used)
no

[4c] Purchasing a game USED, making a backup, and letting your friend borrow your backup? (the used original is still preserved and never used)
no

[5] Purchasing a game NEW, your original is destroyed in an accident and playing from your backup?
no

[6] Purchasing a game NEW, your original is destroyed in an accident and you make a copy of a friend's disk to continue playing?
no

[7] Purchasing a game NEW, your original is destroyed in an accident, and you download an ISO from a torrent site to continue playing?
no

[7a] Purchasing a game USED, your original is destroyed in an accident, and you download an ISO from a torrent site to replace it?
no


[8] Dumping a ROM from a cartridge you purchased a decade ago, then using various emulators and hardware to play this ROM?
no

[8a] Downloading a ROM dump from a torrent site of a game cartridge you purchased a decade ago?
no

[8b] Downloading a ROM dump from a torrent site of a game cartridge you purchased a decade ago, but have since lost?
no


[9] Downloading multiple ROM hacks of a retro game, when you have purchased the original game itself as part of a recent retro compilation disk.
no


my opinions on how it should be.

Probably most of the above is illegal, but if I didn't miss something, I paid money to play this game to the company. My continued enjoyment of this game is probably going to benefit them further when I tell people 'it's still great!'

Also retro gaming, downloading those games that we loved 20 years ago? Should be allowed, that shits going to die otherwise.

Remakes/reimaginings or whatever is different.

Further, Steam is winning at how game sales should be.
Also, all the people that may or may not have come in here and started wishing death/cancer on pirates, I bet they all wank to porn they don't pay for. just saying.

This. This is illegal, highly immoral, detrimental to the industry and indicates that you feel entitled to a product because you bought a similar one years ago. I think you're unequivocally wrong on this matter, with the law on my side, not yours. I don't think I need to crap up this thread any more with this back-and-forth that won't lead anywhere.

If it's the exact same game that he paid for, I don't see it as 'highly immoral' but 'technically illegal' (or possibly 'blatantly illegal')
 
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