Poll: are you breaking the law if...

[Roxor]

I suspect it probably is illegal, but if so, I wouldn't agree with that law.

 

[erbkaiser]

however, what if the game was released with no DRM issues, but then after a mandatory patch (as in, the game will not start without it) it installs problem DRM which is intrusive and causes gameplay issues, is it morally right then?

Has that ever happened? I know of several games which removed the DRM in patches, but not the other way around.
Anyway for any patch there is a downgrade patch available. E.g. when Plants vs Zombies turned the Michael Jackson zombie into Disco Stu, there was a patch within days to revert it. And even if you buy GTA:SA new so it is decaffinated out of the box, you can downpatch it to the Hot Coffee version with a single unofficial patch.
As long as you are not downloading and sharing anything not related to making the game work (by removing a CD check or faulty DRM), so as long as you are just modifying the executable and/or DLLs, I do not feel you should be said to be infringing on anything.

 

[moretimethansense]

You brought a copy, not the right to pirate it.

Not according to most modern publishers, they quite often make the claim that you are in fact buying a license, not a game.

OP: Yes, it is illegal (in most places) but it really shouldn't be, the thing is even if downloading a game you've already purchased was legal, bypassing te copy protection wouldn't be.
Hell in canada you can download whatever the fuck you like, but bypassing any copy protection is a crime.

 

[MelasZepheos_v1legacy]

It's illegal, but morally a bit, uh, flexible shall we say.

DRM is basically shit, this is almost universally agreed on, and sometimes it even prevents you from playing the game. However, there's no point in buying a second copy of the game, spending more money, when it still has DRM equipped. Thus in order to play the game you bought, you may even find yourself in a position of needing to buy it.

I think morally this one kind of balances out. It's not like 'I'm playing a pirated copy for a demo, then I'll buy the real thing' because that will lead to the justification 'well I've played it now, there's no need to buy it.' This is 'I've bought it, and now I want to play it.'

This is the greyest of grey areas when it comes to pirating. Another example would be, 'I own all 7 Season of Buffy, but forgot to bring them to Uni. Is it okay to watch Buffy online, until I get home and can watch it on DVD?' Or 'I love Castle, but they aren't releasing the Season 1 DVD until May 6th. I have watched every episode, and the second it comes out I'll buy the boxset, but until they announced the Region 2 release date I didn't even know if I would be able to watch the show.' Morally suspect, because it deals with what exactly the privileges or rights of a consumerist public are.

 

[Rednog]

Get it on Steam and play it anywhere on your account



Haters gonna hate...

This is far from the truth, steam does have region locking, especially with Valve's own games.
I had it happen with Portal 2 and people have experienced it with various other games like the Orange Box.

 

[runnernda]

It's illegal and shouldn't be in my opinion. I'm one of those weird people who doesn't pirate anything, but I have a lot of friends who do. This isn't really pirating, since you did buy a copy. I wouldn't worry.

 

[ZombieGenesis]

It's illegal, but not immoral. If I buy a book, but don't like the cover, I could well choose to rip off that cover so I don't have to put up with it anymore.
If I don't like seeing tacky DRM, Imma rip it off. Capiche?

 

[suitepee7]

You brought a copy, not the right to pirate it.

/thread'd in the first reply. Well played, Valagetti, well played...

EDIT: Also, where're the choices for the people who don't give a toss about the morality on this issue?

well, you didn't have to vote at all. i kid i kid, i just didn't think to put that option up there xD

Has that ever happened? I know of several games which removed the DRM in patches, but not the other way around.

was more looking at it being a hypothetical situation, to my knowledge no games have done this, but i'm more looking at what if here ^^

 

[Mad1Cow]

You should be able to buy a license of the game and the ability to download it off of whomever you purchased it from...see steam and what blizzard do with digital purchasing for WoW. However for the moment, just downloading a game and then pirating it, is technically wrong...though I see no reason it should be, so long as you can prove you bought it in a secure environment.

 

[Damien Granz]

not sure if this is off-topic or gaming, but anyway...

so, are you breaking the law if you purchase a game (PC only), but then pirate and play a version of the game with the DRM removed? technically you are playing an illegal copy, but you have already legitimately bought the product.

also, what do you morally think about this? do you feel you should be punished by the law, or is it acceptable in your eyes?


side note: i did a quick search for this topic already existing, but didn't find anything. i did do a lazy look though, so my apologies if this has been said before

I'm against piracy, however in this case, you payed for the product, so the argument that your 'pirated' copy is harming their business is gone (because they got their money). So, morally you should be able to do what you want with your copy.

However, it's still against the law, because you void your lease contract not to modify the software. You don't technically 'own' ... really anything you buy anymore. You just lease it with a very specific contract with very specific terms.

You can argue that this is an inherently bad and unfair system of doing business because it effectively bypasses customer rights with a loophole, but I think that's a different topic altogether.

 

[Fetzenfisch]

'yes, illegal and rightly so'

If you buy a cassette tape of some band, that doesn't mean you deserve a copy on CD, LP, or anything else with out buying it as well.

That comparison doesnt really work, this would be a second material medium, the right comparison would be transforming a cd to mp3

 

[silverbullet1989]

i genrally buy a game ( if not on steam ) and find a no dvd crack, would that be classed as illegal to?

the current trend with DRM is that it causes more headache and pain for the person who actually buys the game and does not illegally download it, so why not remove it? your not hurting anyone by doing it?.. youve paid for the game and you do not have to put up with stupid limitations...

 

[Jodah]

Its still illegal but most people would not have a moral issue with it.

 

[Brandon237]

The funny thing about buying games is that you don't really buy a game, instead, you buy the license to use it. By that logic, it should be ok to pirate a game if the company you bought it from fucks you over somehow.

You are very correct there.
For a physical product which cannot be distributed infinitely at little extra cost, you pay for the physical item.
For data which can be distributed infinitely at little extra cost, you pay for the right to use it. That right means that anywhere you buy / obtain the game, makes no difference, you have payed the producers for the licence already.

I have cracked most of my games (LEGALLY purchased the cd, but couldn't be bothered to change the cd in the machine every two hours) and from what my IT teacher says, that is perfectly legal as I have obtained the licence to use it by buying the product legally. I just modify my current copy so that it is convenient.