I've said harsh words about certain justifications towards illegal downloading before but, in this case, I find it hard to justify reasons not do it.
Is it stealing to pirate a game you own physicaly but cant install
- Thread starter Veldel
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In my opinion it's not piracy. Like many said before me, you paid for the product you have rights to use it how you wish. If you are actually worried about the possibility of getting caught with a downloaded copy, contact a DRM lawyer or even the game developer themselves. I'm sure either would have useful information. And if you do actually do this, let me know. I am very interested.
Saying it's not piracy "no matter" how you get it is a bit silly.Bigsmith said:I just made this
I think it'll do.
Edit:
Just get ahold of a USB CD drive. Am getting one my self soon.
Though if the purpose of this thread is rationalisation and justification for an act one plans to commit anyway, it's probably moot to argue the reality of the situation in the first place.
It's not stealing. Stealing software is like going to Walmart and hijacking a game and walking out without paying for it. That's similar to going to Walmart and hijacking a cake (or anything else for that matter) and walking out without paying for it. Copying is different. When you copy a game, you probably obtained the physical disks you're copying it to legally, so you're just transferring the information from one medium to the other, or downloading the information from the internet and transferring it to a disk. That's similar to downloading the recipe for a cake and using that to bake it yourself. The difference is that the recipe for a program is worth much more than the recipe for the cake, and the physical components for the game (hard drive space or a blank dvd) is much less expensive than the physical components for the cake (flour and sugar and all that).Assassin Xaero said:
It's technically piracy, and it's technically stealing. Those who are saying it isn't are arguing a moral, not a legal point. I'm a lawyer, but I don't practice in this area of law, so my opinion should carry some weight but there may be exceptions out there (disclaimer).
But... you're not going to be sued or prosecuted for it. Morally, it's fine. So don't worry about it.
My computer doesn't have a CD drive either, and my external is really loud and fairly slow, so I either download legally or use a CD Emulator. It's a pain.
But... you're not going to be sued or prosecuted for it. Morally, it's fine. So don't worry about it.
My computer doesn't have a CD drive either, and my external is really loud and fairly slow, so I either download legally or use a CD Emulator. It's a pain.
Come across this one before:
The only reason anyone will take you to court for piracy (or whatever you want to call it) is if they loose out on money.
You could have hooked up an external cd/dvd drive and installed them normally and legally.
Boom, they have no arguement as they wouldn't have got any cash out of it anyway. Case Closed.
Besides, in the current climate unless your downloading things which are unreleased, very recent or very valuable there will rarely be any court case as most games cost under £40.
At the moment I'd think those most at risk seem to be those that make things publicly available as they could potentially loose a company millions of pounds (Look at The Pirate Bay)...
The only reason anyone will take you to court for piracy (or whatever you want to call it) is if they loose out on money.
You could have hooked up an external cd/dvd drive and installed them normally and legally.
Boom, they have no arguement as they wouldn't have got any cash out of it anyway. Case Closed.
Besides, in the current climate unless your downloading things which are unreleased, very recent or very valuable there will rarely be any court case as most games cost under £40.
At the moment I'd think those most at risk seem to be those that make things publicly available as they could potentially loose a company millions of pounds (Look at The Pirate Bay)...
You could get a USB dis drive. Yes that's a lot of effort and money and so on, and personally I would consider the alternative method. But the developer would probably say that's the best way, since it's totally legal.
Up to you I guess *shrug*
Up to you I guess *shrug*
If you download it from torrents it's still piracy and people who say otherwise are hypocrites, but because you already own a copy, therefore paid once for the product, why would anyone care... just have fun with playing it. Laws are made by people for other people usually being based on some sort of moral values... you're just playin' a game, you ain't killin' or robbin' anyone (having paid for the product & all) => gg.
Is it technically piracy? Probably.
But this is what I would call condoned piracy. You paid for it. The developer is losing out in no way whatsoever.
But this is what I would call condoned piracy. You paid for it. The developer is losing out in no way whatsoever.
No, of course not. Legally, perhaps, but morally? Not at all. You payed money for a game, therefore you should be able to access the game in full.
I'd say that is legal.
There's someone who seems to be on this thread only to argue against everyone who says they see it as legal. I won't name them.
There's someone who seems to be on this thread only to argue against everyone who says they see it as legal. I won't name them.
Seconded.Tankichi said:
Look at what blizzard did for starcraft I (I assume some other games, but I have no first hand experience with them). You lose your disc, but still got your key? Hop onto their website and dl a copy. This is essentially no different, except the developer doesn't have to foot the bandwidth bill.
I had to do something similar because I bought a digital download of a game and they didn't provide me with a valid CD key and the code they gave me didn't work for the rest of the copy protection either.
After half a dozen emails I still don't have a legitimate code...
(still trying to figure out what to do)
So... I cracked the game instead.
This is a different situation though, because they sold me something which never worked to begin with, and not being able to play the game isn't a fault at my end, but at theirs for not providing the needed information.
And yet, technically, what I had to do to get the game working under these conditions is still illegal...
Just goes to show you really can't win sometimes. (I'm doing something illegal, but if I wasn't, I could argue the game company was stealing from me. The illegal act on my part is the only thing stopping me from demanding a refund from them.)
After half a dozen emails I still don't have a legitimate code...
(still trying to figure out what to do)
So... I cracked the game instead.
This is a different situation though, because they sold me something which never worked to begin with, and not being able to play the game isn't a fault at my end, but at theirs for not providing the needed information.
And yet, technically, what I had to do to get the game working under these conditions is still illegal...
Just goes to show you really can't win sometimes. (I'm doing something illegal, but if I wasn't, I could argue the game company was stealing from me. The illegal act on my part is the only thing stopping me from demanding a refund from them.)
I've found myself in a similar situation to the OP. Having about 1300 albums on CD a netbook and an MP3 player I am sure you can see the problem I face.
Personally whether I opt for an optical drive or not is a decision I can make without The Escapist community but I do sympathise with the OP's problem.
Now, if only I could get a pirate 10 minute presentation on Cartesian Dualism in Horror movies from 1920 to 2000!
Personally whether I opt for an optical drive or not is a decision I can make without The Escapist community but I do sympathise with the OP's problem.
Now, if only I could get a pirate 10 minute presentation on Cartesian Dualism in Horror movies from 1920 to 2000!
