Need some piracy advice....

[Unsilenced]

You could get your friend in a lot more shit than you mean to. I get that you have a moral conviction against piracy, and I'm not going to argue with you on that because it's frankly besides the point.

When it comes to legal action like that, I wouldn't do it to someone I hated. You could walk up to me and kick me in the balls and I still wouldn't fuck you over like that. It's just not right. How much do you think he pirates, total? Do you think he's uploaded anything? You could absolutely fuck this guy for life.

This isn't like cheating on a math test or stealing a candy bar as a little kid. This crosses the line from "teach a lesson" to "seriously fucking his shit up."


If you want to, you know, not completely ruin his entire existence, you could just make it seem like he's been caught. Make a bogus e-mail with an official sounding name and send a really important looking paper telling him he's been busted.

That way you get all of the scare without actually shitting all over his entire life.

 

[SirDeadly]

In the end it all comes down to if you are willing to completely ruin his life by getting him a massive fine which he probably can't afford to pay. Piracy is bad but is this extreme outcome worth ratting a friend out on?

 

[somonels]

Copyright infringement is not piracy; stop making pirates sad.

Skyrim was better, but not Morrowind enough, had I played it sooner I might find TeS:Arena the best..

 

[Callate]

I suspect it's pretty unlikely he'll face serious legal sanction for this, even if he is caught. It's one instance of piracy, not running a warez site or providing a torrent seed responsible for hundreds of violations. Legal departments generally have better things to do with their time.

If you want to go through with this, an e-mail to Bethesda or the ESA will probably do the trick. The ESA specifically notes it respects the right to remain anonymous, at least with regard to reporting web sites. If you knew where he downloaded from, though, it would probably be more helpful to them.

 

[LT Cannibal 68]

Ya know, I can understand distaste of his position, but you'd really do that to a friend of yours?

Alright, I'm going to hop up on my soap box for a few seconds. You don't have to agree with me but this is how I see it...

Piracy is bad, I think most of us can agree on that (or if you don't, you're probably not here on this forum since Mods have made the sites stance pretty damn clear).

Now, if someone was on welfare who shouldn't be, friend or not, would you report them? If someone is running an insurance scam, would you report them? If someone was skimming a bit of money off of bank transactions (think Office Space), would you report them?

I use those as examples because they're all examples of someone taking money from someone. Maybe you would report your friend and maybe you wouldn't but I'm thinking that THIS is where the OP is coming from. I'd be surprised if he was doing it for shits and giggles...

*EDIT: Note; I purposefully did not state what I thought about the issue. I'm merely thinking about how the OP is seeing the situation (though if I'm wrong, feel free to correct me OP)

Your pretty much right the fact is, like I said he will keep doing it now and in the long run will either get caught and face worse repercuisions or just prove piracy is a way to get free games for no risk and laugh in my face about it. I just need to scare him into stopping is all. I am not doing this out of spite.

Scare it into him? what the fuck?! get off your high horse man nobody appointed you the SS of bethesda's legal team, i hope you realize that being a total rat and snitching on your friend makes you look even worse than what he did. I'm damn fucking glad i have no friends like you damn.

 

[LT Cannibal 68]

OP sounds a bit like a complete dick, even if his friend pirated something.

Also, I'm fairly sure the friend will just keep on pirating and just won't talk to Dickhead McGee about it.

precisely my point mate

 

[Wintermoot]

Bethesda already made load,s of money on Skyrim and yes it,s a insult to the dev.
maybe you can report it to the police or mail Bethesda with a fake gmail.
or don,t care since piracy is rampant.

 

[LT Cannibal 68]

You could get your friend in a lot more shit than you mean to. I get that you have a moral conviction against piracy, and I'm not going to argue with you on that because it's frankly besides the point.

When it comes to legal action like that, I wouldn't do it to someone I hated. You could walk up to me and kick me in the balls and I still wouldn't fuck you over like that. It's just not right. How much do you think he pirates, total? Do you think he's uploaded anything? You could absolutely fuck this guy for life.

This isn't like cheating on a math test or stealing a candy bar as a little kid. This crosses the line from "teach a lesson" to "seriously fucking his shit up."


If you want to, you know, not completely ruin his entire existence, you could just make it seem like he's been caught. Make a bogus e-mail with an official sounding name and send a really important looking paper telling him he's been busted.

That way you get all of the scare without actually shitting all over his entire life.

that's an interesting idea but if i was on the receiving end of that and i found out i would go to the guys house and tear him a new hole in which he could stuff his e-mails and letters you know what i mean? Unless he's ready for a physical confrontation and more than likely losing a friend i would abstain from proceeding with his plan of action. Here's a wild thought why doesn't he just stop talking to the guy if it offends him so much?

 

[KeyMaster45]

Let me tell you a story OP. I have a friend, one day we found out he pirates all his video games, no exceptions, simply because he's a cheap bastard and why pay for it when he can get it for free. We argued with him about the morality and ethics of it, called him a dumbass a few times, and let it go after that. Then Microsoft bricked his 360 for playing pirated games online. We got to have a good laugh at his expense, and now he doesn't pirate video games anymore because of all the trouble he had to go through to sell his bricked 360 and buy a new one.

The point is, don't be a snitch. It's not worth destroying a friendship over.

 

[LT Cannibal 68]

OP, I have to ask you: have you ever watched a youtube video that wasn't uploaded by the copyright owner? Ever listened to a song on youtube that wasn't part of an official channel? Ever downloaded a song, movie, or TV show? Ever used an image you didn't have explicit permission to use(hint: if you didn't personally make your avatar, you've definitely done that one)? Then you need to stop complaining about your friend, because you are literally just as much of a lawbreaker as he is. Modern copyright law is fundamentally broken. There's no need to ever get high and mighty about it like this.

You just gave me a superior-logic-boner. Thank you, friend.

OT: You're a pretty shitty friend OP. A lot of my friends do varing levels of drugs and while I don't share their enthusiasm for said illegal substances I don't organise a police raid on their house because, and bear with me on this, they're my fucking friends.

trophies, medals, beer and free hookers for both of ya! that just punched so many holes in the argument he might as well drop it.

 

[Durgiun]

For all of you "Wow, you're so horrible for ever snitching on your friend!", I have one question:

Say your friend murdered someone, and has no remorse for their act. They even plan to do it again. Would you still refuse to tell anyone?

Did you just compare internet piracy to murder?

Dude, the hell is wrong with you? Taking someone's life isn't the same as pirating a game off the internet. You moral guardians are really loony sometimes.

A better comparison would be going to Bethesda's headquarters and copying their new unreleased game CD and playing it or just distribuing new copies freely.

And yes, I would refuse to tell anyone, 'cause it's not like they're stealing from a beggar's cup.

 

[Smooth Operator]

Well you can call the police, but do think about what you are about to do really hard because if you get him convicted / in jail expect repercussions.
Not just from him but everyone you know, at that point you single handedly made yourself the untrustworthy outsider of your community.

 

[Mark Hardigan]

*sigh* Can of worms, anybody?

 

[Quaidis]

The best course of action is to e-ml the company (or contact a mod on the company/game forums through the PM system) that made the game and tell them of your concerns. They aren't going to run at the guy with a team of lawyers or fine him a ton. The worst they're going to do is ban him from the server. It's something that wont hurt him, but will teach him a lesson on the matter.

If he confronts you after the fact of being banned, feign ignorance. Ask him, "What are you talking about? Why would I do that?" and then have your friend assume that the company was witch-hunting pirates.

One thing you shouldn't have done is post your problem on a public forum. What's to keep your friend from accessing The Escapist and finding out about all this? What goes on the internet, stays on the internet.