Larian Studios Forums General About this website Riftrunner voting

is this just an example, or is this really true <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif" alt="" />
......excuse me for sounding stupid,
but that sounds somewhat like paying off the mafia, to protect your companies games and programs....this can't really be true is it? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif" alt="" />
I certainly hope not!! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/suspicion.gif" alt="" />

Jurak, let me tell you exactly what is wrong with TCPA.
Every society has its criminals, but also they do have lawyers, courts with judges and adjudicators, law makers and law enforcing police.
If I sold you any electronic machine on lease such that I can program it with bill-date lock-up algorithms, and if you fail to pay, you end up with a piece of junk; then I have enforced a law that I made and became the judge and the police altogether. So if that machine was a productivity tool of which you earn your living, you would most definitely fail to produce and comply even a little bit later. This forces you to borrow that money with huge interest to unlock your machine and live.

Even though you did owe me money I never had the right to be the judge, jury and police combined.
A criminal is not a criminal until it is proven and such proof demands professional law to avoid framing and monopoly.

That is why even though I fight against software piracy, I shall equally fight against monopoly and domination using disgusting methods such as the TCPA.
Consumers should never buy an electronic machine that contains an electronic cop-judge combined when the law maker is your technical opponent.
Microsoft and Intel are assuming that all potential customers are also potential criminals until they prove innocent, which is ridiculous. I would very certainly pay money to protect myself but why should anyone pay the price of electronic components and software development meant to protect M.S. and Intel from others? If that coalition lacks the monopoly we shall all take a turn and buy from their runner up competitor.
I would most certainly buy an Apple.

Just incredible,!! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif" alt="" /> "takes one to know one" or "what they think of as one"
..i guess, and how in hell are they allowed to do this to us?
Do we have any other choice..
..besides buying an apple? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif" alt="" />

According to the law, if you did not get money in return for that copy then it is not piracy.
Civil crimes’ law demands the infliction of damage, which may include a financial damage.
If your friend did buy the game and did have an accident for which the game was damaged or lost and you volunteered to make for him a copy free of charge, then it is not piracy by the law at all.

On the other hand, if both of you and your friend bought a single game splitting the cost, then made a copy so that both of you end up with two games at the price of one game, it is absolutely piracy and damage was inflicted.

If you cut my face with a knife you may have to go to jail, but if a doctor cuts my face with a knife in an operation he might get a reward.
Acts in themselves do not incriminate unless intentions and damage infliction are associated to that act.
That is why it is the job of professional lawyers and law makers to design the law and police to enforce it, not you and me.
Cheers.

key-word being "design"
----time for some new design's then..........

i think a definite re-defining of some modern day
laws and policies ought to be re-assessed! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif" alt="" />
Isn't it past due?? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/think.gif" alt="" />

Why don't they just walk into a computer store, stick a few copies under their jacket and run out? That way, they wouldn't have to pay for the first copy either, and everyone would get manuals, etc.




So you can not see the difference between making a backup for yourself to protect against scratches or other damage to the CD, and distributing pirated copies of software? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/question.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/question.gif" alt="" />

Says you - in the endeffect it's the same, Johnson: theft!
Kiya

yeah, Larian deserves to reap the rewards of what they worked for. Lar mentioned that in the manuel, IIRC, very nice forward of his, and I just hope, no one here has stolen it.

you think??

game companies dont get the profit for their games.
they get money if their games are put in stores..
not when they are downloaded from the internet or copied..

and if they dont get their profit, they are unable to create more games..

"making a copy isnt as bad" ... "its the same concept but less damage done"

It is still stealing. If my friend stole something and gave it to me, I would turn them in. Benefiting from theft isn't far removed doing it yourself. You can quibble over one being more wrong than the other, but they are both still wrong.

Just because software companies do not produce something physically tangible, does not mean they do not have to invest a lot of resources into doing so. Due to piracy, companies have to devote energy to copy protection that could better have been spent on the software, then handle the increased support that this can cause due to conflicts or lost registration keys, etc. This means less money for the developer and higher prices for the consumer.

and you don't think its wrong

Software is like Books.

The font, the printed text, the paper, the material which was used to actually "print" - all that belongst to you.

What does NOT belong to you is the spiritual content of what has been shaped into a visible - or machine-readable - form.

Johnson, you might be somehow taking it lightly, and yes we might need to explain it to you.

The law is a blind sward of JUSTICE .

Basically we are all FREE

Freedom basically means that you may do whatever you wish.

Now there is not only you but there is also me, and my freedom may very possibly interfere with yours and conflict is born.

There are basic logic rules behind law making with fairness and a BALANCE at work.

I build a house and you come and live in it kicking me out of it is considered to be a criminal act because it is my most basic rights to reap the benefits of my own effort and it is absolutely NOT for you to put your hands on it without compensating me. That is why you could BUY the house, which I built and that would be quite legal for you then to live in it.

The very same thing applies to the software.

There is a huge effort and work-hours invested in creating a game, during the production time many bills must be paid for electricity, rent etcetera; many salaries must be paid too and food must be bought and eaten to continue to survive.

It is quite legal to buy the copyrights COPY and RIGHTS then start copying rightfully.

Without buying the copyrights, making copies is absolutely an act of offence that causes damages and IS promptly incriminated by the law.

While making copies in the continuous sense of the meaning is plain crime, the software house gives legal permission to its customers to make backups, which are basically NON PROFITABLE [b] copying acts.

Therefore, buy the rights given to your friend who DID BUY the software he is authorised to make a backup of his software, which was lost before he could practice his rights. Now if you assumingly make a copy of an identical software for him or if he borrowed your authentic medium and copied it with the intention of a backup in mind, it is quite legal.

By the law, the end result is that he has a copy which he basically paid for.
No damage infliction is to be found in this particular case.
****** Case Closed ******

If you decided to make ten copies and give them as a present to your neighbourhood friends, you have caused the damage of preventing the potential profits of the software house when your friends visit you, see the game, like the game and decide to buy an authentic copy for themselves.

This is like opening the backdoor of my house and inviting your friends to party in my place without my permission, consent or compensation.

[b] NOW THAT IS PLAIN CRIME

DID YOU UNDERSTAND <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/question.gif" alt="" />

tell him to go fork out his own cash.....freeloader!! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/suspicion.gif" alt="" />

no harm asking johnson...thats just what i would say to
whoever asks me for MY game.....that i paid my hard earned dollars for! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif" alt="" />

Well, I do lend my games to friends - they are trustworthy <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> - as they know my passion for collecting games, they use mine to make up their minds whether to buy it or not.

And I get games from them, too - specially the genre I don't like, so I can decide, if I buy the game for the library or not. It's more for recommendation, I guess - when it deals with games I normally wouldn't even bother to look at the demo. Another one is getting violent games, so I can get a better pic of them and have more arguments against it if my members insist on me buying them = information, I guess.

Kiya

Addendum: And I play only original CD - though I have a burner, I haven't even installed the appropriate software - I simply use it as my CD drive <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shame.gif" alt="" /> - too lazy to delve into this copying stuff <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shame.gif" alt="" /> - my trader recommended DVD + burner <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shame.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shame.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shame.gif" alt="" />
The only copy CD I use is the one from the old forum, when I need it for research. Ok, laugh at me, I've deserved it <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/silly.gif" alt="" />

Johnson, I'm NOT going to discuss my library politics here on this forum. You asked about lending, I answered. Leave it at that, please.
Kiya

DONT start this way johnsonn..
even though you are a kid, you SHOUL know the difference between a violent game and a FANATASY game..

even in kirby games you "kill" your opponents <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/winkwink.gif" alt="" />

gore is dirty things like blood.
not all violent games have that

That depends on the local law. There are countries where it is fully legal to make a copy for personal use of digital media. This includes games, but also videos and DVDs. The keyword is 'personal' of course. You are entitled to make a backup copy in case something goes wrong with your original product. You've gotten that right when purchasing the copy. In that sense it is not illegal.
However the software you've purchased is in most cases restricted to be played on ONE machine only at a given time. So it's fully legal, to give the original to a friend, making it impossible for you to play, but allowing the friend to play. Using your copy instead is illegal again, although owning the copy is not (if you have the original also).