Posted November 23, 2009
Well, the consensus seems to be that you're in the clear if you just go grab yourself another copy from somewhere because you paid for it once before, and that's all you need to do to justify whatever you do from this point forward.
Me, I don't see it that way.
I know that software isn't the same as a hard and fast physical item. When you go to a store, buy a game on a CD and take that CD home, you may own the disc, but you don't so much own the software. We all know this. But I guess I still liken this to, say, owning a piece of hard merchandise, like, say, a football.
If you lose your football, you can't go to a store and say "Well, I still have my receipt from when I bought this football, can you give me a new one?" Nor can you just walk into the store, grab a new football off the shelf and say "Well, I paid for one a few months back, I'm just taking a replacement." You can't hijack a truck with a whole bunch of footballs, grab one out of the shipment and say "This one's mine... need to replace the one I lost. I have proof I'm owed a football."
I -know- it's not the same with software because software is much more ambiguous, and what you purchase is just the medium by which that software makes it to your computer, as well as a vague "permission" to use that software. So, yes, I understand it's not the same thing.
But to ME (and I cannot stress this enough,) my feeling is that going and downloading a new copy of the game and claiming "Well, I bought one a while ago... it was legit..." is the same thing as taking that football. I fully expect people to say my metaphor doesn't make sense, and I'm not expecting anyone to agree with me, but that's just how I feel on the subject, and the original poster did ask for opinions. So there's mine.
Me, I don't see it that way.
I know that software isn't the same as a hard and fast physical item. When you go to a store, buy a game on a CD and take that CD home, you may own the disc, but you don't so much own the software. We all know this. But I guess I still liken this to, say, owning a piece of hard merchandise, like, say, a football.
If you lose your football, you can't go to a store and say "Well, I still have my receipt from when I bought this football, can you give me a new one?" Nor can you just walk into the store, grab a new football off the shelf and say "Well, I paid for one a few months back, I'm just taking a replacement." You can't hijack a truck with a whole bunch of footballs, grab one out of the shipment and say "This one's mine... need to replace the one I lost. I have proof I'm owed a football."
I -know- it's not the same with software because software is much more ambiguous, and what you purchase is just the medium by which that software makes it to your computer, as well as a vague "permission" to use that software. So, yes, I understand it's not the same thing.
But to ME (and I cannot stress this enough,) my feeling is that going and downloading a new copy of the game and claiming "Well, I bought one a while ago... it was legit..." is the same thing as taking that football. I fully expect people to say my metaphor doesn't make sense, and I'm not expecting anyone to agree with me, but that's just how I feel on the subject, and the original poster did ask for opinions. So there's mine.
