Torrents, Is it ever OK » Forum Post by NickJames

It is wrong if you mention it on an official forum.It is ok and not ok.You can not have an open discussion about such things on this forum.A lot of smartass people will come bashing you,calling you a thief,a pirate and so on.So just retract your question,believe in what you think is the good choice and be done with it.

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I don`t think so. Why not mention it? Get it out in the public`s eye. I`m not trying to hide anything, I`m being honest. This is a great polite, Intelligent communty. I look forward to their replies. I want other`s opinion`s, That`1s why I started this thread. I`m pretty sure SD will allow this.

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I think it's okay, at least with an old game such as System Shock 2. With new games I have a mixed feeling about pirated copies, if the game is worth the money, go and buy it, if you don't think it's worth the money then it's up to you.

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You've obviously gone to great lengths to try and find the game in stores , and online. (ebay doesnt count because nothing goes to the developers). I think its okay , but nobody can really tell you that , because everyone has their own level of morals.

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EviliroN

Join Date 04/2008

+20

now you can just go and read what eveyone wrote about it here:

https://forums.sinsofasolarempire.com/347311

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I`ve tried, I don`t want to steal anything. Some older games are impossible to find. I want to try them badly, Does that make me part of the problem?

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if you feel really bad about it, read the credits of the game, look them up online and send them a gift.

there's such a thing as public domain, where once copyrighted works end up after a certain period has passed, not sure what this length of time is regarding video games, but given the speed of the industry i wouldn't think 10 years to unreasonable IMHO.

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Alstein

Join Date 07/2004

+55

My stance:

It's only wrong in that you're denying the company profits. That's the loss from copyright infringement. If a company is no longer or doesn't actively seek the profits, then it's ok.

Basically this leaves these categories ok to me:

Imports with no US release, or no US release for an unreasonably long time. To me, exclusivity windows for regions make a title fair game, unless it's a few days or a week or so. But if you still like the game by the time it comes out, you should buy it (if you don't, well it's the company's fault for their stupid practices)

Abandonware

That's pretty much about it.

The definition of unreasonably long time is up to the individual.

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Yes, it is wrong to pirate them. It is illegal. It deprives the developer/artist of the reasonable profits from their work. If you say it is because you cannot afford it, don't like the price, don't like the retailer or ANY OTHER EXCUSE you are just justifying your unethical behavor.

It is wrong.

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As soon as an item is no longer produced its a signal that the original owners of the IP no longer seek to make any profit from it and are openning it up to the public domain. Considering Copyright was setup to protect them (and -not- the companies who rape their idea's) i'd consider it completely acceptable.

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System Shock 2.

THat's available on Home of the underdog

http://www.hotud.org/

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if you feel really bad about it, read the credits of the game, look them up online and send them a gift.

Tracke each and every one of them names and give them a hug~!

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Honestly if they're not producing the game (and even if they are) go for it if it's really old. I've bought at least two or three copies of SC and lost them everytime, I feel absolutely no bad will about pirating a copy now.

Same with ancient games, anything over 5 years (C&C Red Alert for example) I generally pirate just to keep my disks free of scratches etc for things like that.

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The reason game makers don't like piracy is because they want money for their work. Abandonware by definition gives its makers no money. The result of pirating abandonware is that there is not even a potential for loss of money by those who made it.

To use the piracy = theft comparison many people use, pirating adandonware would be like someone taking something after you throw it away.

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MottiKhan

Join Date 04/2007

+152

Piracy in any case can bring real consequences. Even in the case of abandonware, if the authorities want to make an example of you, they can. In the U.S. for example, the law concerning circumventing DRM technology reads...

§ 1204. Criminal offenses and penalties5

(a) In General. — Any person who violates section 1201 or 1202 willfully and for purposes of commercial advantage or private financial gain —

(1) shall be fined not more than $500,000 or imprisoned for not more than 5 years, or both, for the first offense; and

(2) shall be fined not more than $1,000,000 or imprisoned for not more than 10 years, or both, for any subsequent offense.

(b ) Limitation for Nonprofit Library, Archives, Educational Institution, or Public Broadcasting Entity. — Subsection (a) shall not apply to a nonprofit library, archives, educational institution, or public broadcasting entity (as defined under section 118(g)).

(c) Statute of Limitations. — No criminal proceeding shall be brought under this section unless such proceeding is commenced within five years after the cause of action arose.

That's just the criminal side, without the need for a "victim".

Civil penalties can add to the pain if the company being victimized is available.

Now the determination of what exactly "personal financial gain" means. If you're being targeted, it could mean simply the fact that you didn't have to pay for the game. Some might say that that's not the intent of the law, but if you've ever seen the inside of a courtroom, that argument has long been swept aside.

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Of course. Many linux distributions are downloadable by torrents, as are freeware games, fan-made movies etc. Piracy is not the same as torrents

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i pirate games which have been abandoned or are so old you cant get them first hand. if i want a game i will go out and buy it but some times theres so much (languege controle) with it no release in country/political point etc i will pirate it the list of pirated games so far is 2 final fantasy 7 wich i did try to get hold of for console/pc but there were no copys out there even second hand in the stores and they kept going oh we will remake this game gave some screen shots then stoped it rinse and repeate. and heros of might and magic 3 which i then brought when i finaly saw a copy in the shops.

what i dont like is the fact that torrents and piracy are assumed to be the same thing torrents are a wa for p2p file transfer. piracy is just one part of it.

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Quoting cleflar,

reply 9

Yes, it is wrong to pirate them. It is illegal. It deprives the developer/artist of the reasonable profits from their work. If you say it is because you cannot afford it, don't like the price, don't like the retailer or ANY OTHER EXCUSE you are just justifying your unethical behavor.

It is wrong.

Did you even read the first post? He's talking about old games that aren't sold anymore, like Master of Orion.

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Old or not, games are developped.

If you bought something *when & then*, you own the right to use it as you please and for how long as you want to.

If you grabbed a pirated copy *when & then*, your personal conscience dictates how you feel about enjoying that particular time of playing it.

C&C, Master of Orion, Civilization 2 & 3, X-Coms, AoE II & III - name it... i purchased (full prices, btw) and played knowing damn well who got my money for that privilege.

StarDock is the latest developper i fully support by INVESTING time & money that i earn by working extremely hard myself.

A lot of smartass people will come bashing you,calling you a thief,a pirate and so on.

Honesty is THE smart way to live. And, i can walk down any streets & inside every stores with pride for contributing to a society, friends & family i'd kill to protect. Blame my military rank and training for believing in Peace & Angels.

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WIllythemailboy

Join Date 03/2006

+70

Motti - I'm fairly sure that bit of legal code you sited only applies to those profitting from the infringing activity (making a bunch of copies and selling them, for instance). Not one person getting one copy, that is more along the lines of a $2500 fine.

I see people specifically listing C&C games as no longer being sold. They recently released The First Decade, which is all of the C&C games up to and including Red Alert 2: Yuri's Revenge all in one box (and conveniently compatable with newer OSs), for about the same price as one new game.

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they also freely distributerd the first two games for free for the 5 year anerversary (i think this is when the first one was freely avalible) and 10 year anerversary(for the second one) but yes they have made comercial versions of them aswell.

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Saint Mina

Join Date 07/2007

+20

I could crack or buy a new or old game or even movies here for 25,000 rupiah which is about $4 to $5 in a public store but then I could not play online or get patches without cracking them too. So when I go to Singapore, I can find the original gome for around $40 to $80, here it cost around 500,000 rupiah that is months salary for most people.

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