Kailos: On one hand, you are correct. Piracy figures are often inflated by various entertainment industries, so as to justify their oppressive tactics. Just because a game is pirated, does not mean it was a lost sale. After all, there is no way to measure that a person would have actually purchased the game they are pirating. In many documented cases, people who pirate certain games, movies or songs, only play, watch or listen to it, because they have "free" access to it. If there was no pirate alternative, they would likely not use it at all.
Yep.
Kailos: Conversely, it is still wrong and still stealing. You are gaining access to something that you would normally have to pay for, in order to have access to it. So while it is not necessarily a "lost sale that will cripple revenue" like many of these companies erroneously argue, it is a stolen product.
I'm aware of this, but I'm also aware of the fact that this "stealing", as you call it, is made by millions at the same time. It's something that isn't just stealing, it's a major technology evolution that needs to be addressed with something different than just law enforcing. Sometimes, in history, law need to be revised and this is this time.
Kailos: Also, yes a disc is copied when you install it to a drive and run that copy, and in most EULAs, the license specifically grants you that use and that copy. In fact, the Half Life EULA states that you are allowed only two copies of the game. One on your hard drive (as the installed game) and one on the disc you purchased. When a person uploads a game for others to download, they are clearly breaking that contract, as there are now more than two copies of that individual's purchased disc. The same is true for other instances of pirated games. There are no two ways about it. It is piracy, plain and simple and it is not justifiable.
Again, I'm aware of this, but I still "pirate" the game. Just like many, many others do. I mean, I regularly purchase retail games from time to time, but I also use "piracy" to see if that game is worth my money. During the years I've spent thousand euros on software I have previously put my hands on. It isn't an unfair thing to do at all from my point of view. I'm the pirate, I'm the user, I'm the one that purchase stuff. So I win. In this decision-making process, DRM is just a nuisance.
Kailos: The only remotely accepted form of piracy, is the use of Abandonware. If a copyright holder fails to enforce their own copyright or maintain access to a product that was once offered, then there is little reason to get angry with a consumer who takes "illegal" routes in order to gain access to said software. This is why Abandonware exists. It is like the public domain of software (only technically. legally, perhaps not). But this only refers to something like Thexder (good luck finding that game), not something like Alpha Protocol, which is brand new and legally available, in abundance.
Again, I agree. But for the law's matter, piracy is piracy so if you download old software from abandoware sites you're just a dirty, industry-screwing pirate. They could sell the old software you download, so you're a pirate. Obviously, this "digital piracy" thing is just folly. I'd add some in-depth links on the issue but I'm too lazy at the moment....
chautemoc: I don't think he depends on his creations for a living. Or does anything for a living. Maybe lives in an alternate universe where the streets are made of candy and chocolate and video games are made by simply imagining them? How he found his way here I couldn't hope to guess.
I write news on
Punto Informatico for a living. The site is creative-commons compliant, and yet I make a decent money a month. I'm more aware of the issue I'm talking about than you can think, indeed...
