Poll: Moral Question about downloading...

[JamesStone]

I´m thinking about downloading a game... Wait, mods, before you start polishing the banhammer, it´s more complex than that. You see, I have Medieval 2 Total war. I just bought a new computer and was thinking about re-installing it. The problem is that I lost the CD. And this is the moral question. Is it wrong to download a game that I already paid for? I mean, it´s not like any download I make is taking money away from the publisher, it´s just one copy, but used a lot of times. And it´s not like I´m denying the publisher of their earned money, I already paid the rights to use one copy, and by downloading another free one I´m not destroying their margin of profit. So, what do you think?

 

[Shoggoth2588]

4 people have voted no but I haven't seen any posts on why or why not so I'll take a crack at it. I voted 'no' because as you said, you paid for your copy and can't find it. It sounds like the only way you'll be able to play the game at all. So go for it! Your reasoning was pretty sound after all.

 

[Fayathon]

Downloading a game that you've already paid for is technically illegal, but I view it the same as making a legal backup copy. I've done the same for a few games that I've owned over the years, but make sure that you download a copy of the same game, for the same platform, otherwise you tip over the very fine line between utilizing a third party backup and piracy.

That's my two cents anyways.

EDIT: Important detail I feel I missed, you have the CD-key or verification for the game right? If you do then there should be no issue whatsoever, if not, then you're treading into a very gray area, where you have nothing to back your claims of actually owning the game.

 

[FortheLegion]

You payed once. No need to pay again.

 

[suitepee7]

i'd say no, the devs would say yes. buy everything on steam, that way you won't meet this problem again =p

 

[Fayathon]

i'd say no, the devs would say yes. buy everything on steam, that way you won't meet this problem again =p

As much as I love Steam, it's not a particularly faultless recovery system, a better method of keeping your games would be to get a program to rip your game discs and keeping a physical backup yourself.

 

[JamesStone]

Downloading a game that you've already paid for is technically illegal, but I view it the same as making a legal backup copy. I've done the same for a few games that I've owned over the years, but make sure that you download a copy of the same game, for the same platform, otherwise you tip over the very fine line between utilizing a third party backup and piracy.

That's my two cents anyways.

EDIT: Important detail I feel I missed, you have the CD-key or verification for the game right? If you do then there should be no issue whatsoever, if not, then you're treading into a very gray area, where you have nothing to back your claims of actually owning the game.

Yes, I have everything, the only thing missing is the CD. I think it was still inside my portable PC when I sold it. Well, the buyer can consider it a bonus package.

 

[Gigano]

Well, it'd undoubtedly violate the word of law, if perhaps not the spirit of it. More importantly though (at least in ethical terms), why should others but yourself bear the cost of your own carelessness in misplacing the CD?

If you lose something it'll have to be replaced, and who'd it be more fair to assign that (these days rather limited [http://www.ebay.com/ctg/Medieval-II-Total-War-Gold-Pack-PC-2008-/64193125?_dmpt=Video_Games_Games&_pcategid=139973&_pcatid=2&_refkw=medieval+2+total+war&_trkparms=65%253A12%257C66%253A2%257C39%253A1%257C72%253A5551&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14]) expense to; the ones who sold it to you long ago, or the guy who lost it?

 

[Ranorak]

This is one of the reasons that downloading isn't illegal in the Netherlands.
Personal backups.

 

[Jadak]

Medieval 2 is tied with Steam anyways, meaning you don't need to have bought it on Steam to have it on Steam. If you have the CD key as you've said, you can register it on Steam and download it the legal way, problem solved. Hell, I think doing that is required to even play the game in the first place so you should already be good to go.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

Morally wrong? No. Illegal? Still yes.

 

[Fayathon]

Downloading a game that you've already paid for is technically illegal, but I view it the same as making a legal backup copy. I've done the same for a few games that I've owned over the years, but make sure that you download a copy of the same game, for the same platform, otherwise you tip over the very fine line between utilizing a third party backup and piracy.

That's my two cents anyways.

EDIT: Important detail I feel I missed, you have the CD-key or verification for the game right? If you do then there should be no issue whatsoever, if not, then you're treading into a very gray area, where you have nothing to back your claims of actually owning the game.

Yes, I have everything, the only thing missing is the CD. I think it was still inside my portable PC when I sold it. Well, the buyer can consider it a bonus package.

If you have everything needed to properly install the game normally and you download a version that installs the same as the legit copy you should be fine.

As was mentioned above you could also see if you can verify the game on a digital distribution service, which is what I did to my copy of Starcraft 1/2 and Diablo 2, they'll (the developer/distributor) ask for your CD-key and possibly some other information and when that is satisfied you can download another copy of the game straight from a trusted legal source, saving you the headache of tracking down a legally ambiguous (not to mention potentially unsafe) copy to download elsewhere.

 

[Nuke_em_05]

Well, publishers are up in arms about illegal file-sharing because they claim you have really only purchased a license to play, and that the copies are a means of playing without paying for a license. According to them; you didn't pay for a disk or ones and zeros, you paid for the rights to access the content.

So, that door should swing both ways. If you already bought a license, it shouldn't matter what media you use to access the content you paid for.

Though, you could call the publisher up and see if they won't send you a disk, or an official download. As long as you still have the CD key to prove you own a license. That's actually what you paid for, a key to the license.

Though I think EA owns the IP for that now, so good luck.

If I were you, I'd be less worried about what "the internet" thinks and more about what you think. And, while I say I feel it is morally acceptable, it is more important to identify if it is legally acceptable; and I actually don't know. Bear in mind: EA.

 

[Erana]

Morally? the only qualms one could possibly have are about committing a technically illegal act.
I hate sugar coating things like this, though. If you're breaking the law in your actions, you're breaking the law.
Don't bother justifying your actions to me- I don't consider morality and lawfulness to be the same thing. It does bother me when people use the two as synonymous terms.

Personally, I don't really take mind of the law, I just try to be a decent person and that just happens to coincide with things that typically don't get one arrested.

In situations like this, I feel like the law is proven to be flawed here for the fact that it would condemn someone over a technicality, rather than doing what its meant to do. (which is to keep people from using the product without paying)

But that's the law for you- as flawed and as beneficial as its creators. I can't say, "Go for it!!!" because I do feel its not right to tell others to commit an illegal act, but I won't get up in arms over a scenario in which everyone got paid as they were supposed to and the customer gets to use their product.

 

[Gennadios]

If the devs (more likely the publishers) had their say, you'd have to rebuy the game any time you bought a new computer or reformatted your hard drive.

This question keeps popping up, and the answer is always the same, if you have the CD Key, receipt, or if you already paid for it, even if there's no solid way to prove it, you have the license for that game, no matter how it may find it's way to the hard drive. It gets slightly fudgy when you take it into account which release version you have (whether you bought a standard game but are downloading Gold/Platinum edition,) but that really depends on how much of the included content you already paid for.

Nobody ever brings this up, but you don't pay for the CD when you buy a game, you pay for the End User License Agreement, which gives you the right to play the particular version or release of the game you paid for.

 

[Garret866]

bah, Downloading is just people sharing with other people (only they dont know them) - if you lost your CD wouldnt you ask your friend to give you his copy for installiation?

 

[the spud]

It isn't wrong, but I would keep it to myself. It's one of those things that is only legally wrong, but you are in the right morally.

 

[spartan231490]

You already paid for it, but I dislike the fact that you are in some small way showing moral support to the people who uploaded the game to the internet. I say yeah go for it, but it's a shame you can't transfer it from your old computer or get a new disc from the company.

 

[Soods]

Pirating can get you in all sorts of troubles. The Faceless Mega Corporations will probably not miss your 50 dollars, nor do the pirate sites care too much about one seed, but YOU can become the victim. If you can pirate without getting caught, then it's ok in my books, but if you screw it up and get caught, then it's naturally wrong.

But I've been told that my moral sense differs from others', so I wouldn't count too much on my opinion in this case.