When is pirating ok? (discussion)

[Nurio]

Cover songs need to be licensed though, keep that in mind. There needs to be an agreement between publishers, credit needs to be paid first, unless the song is Public Domain. Nobody makes a cover, signs it with his/her band name and sells it just like that - that's a lawsuit waiting to happen. Same with books or movies - any media, really.

That's true, I suppose. Bah, I don't know a whole lot about the music industry.

Though, I wonder if people could answer my question a few posts back. It's not completely relevant to the current line of discussion, but it's relevant to the thread topic to a degree.

 

[Foxi4]

I'm wondering. I can remember GBAtemp having at least a list of releases in the scene. But now I don't see them having this list anymore. Did GBAtemp opt to not show a list of releases anymore? And if so, why?

Because it gradually transforms into a News site rather than a Release site. Scene Releases are no longer the main focus. I hope that answers your question.

 

[Filipe C Bello dos Santos]

i don't recall of any distribution of roms on gbatemp, just that list of releases that the site used to have. But i'm curious about this too.

 

[Nurio]

Because it gradually transforms into a News site rather than a Release site. Scene Releases are no longer the main focus. I hope that answers your question.

It does. To an extent. It doesn't completely answer the "why", though.
I mean, why did they suddenly make this decision to change focus? Did they get some sort of legal pressure from copyright holders? Or did the staff suddenly 'see the light'? Or was there a staff change?

 

[Foxi4]

It does. To an extent. It doesn't completely answer the "why", though.
I mean, why did they suddenly make this decision to change focus? Did they get some sort of legal pressure from copyright holders? Or did the staff suddenly 'see the light'? Or was there a staff change?

It was a gradual change - not many people know that GBATemp actually used to be a ROM site. It was just the decision of the staff, the TempBot has been disabled some time ago and the change of the forum system was the cherry on top of the cake.

 

[Rayder]

I used to pirate everything just because I could. But now, digital distribution is making me do it. I have a decent job now, making good money and can afford to buy just about anything I want. But I refuse to buy a game without a physical disk in my hand. I've spent many years DL'ing stuff for free, I'm NOT going to PAY for a DL. It's especially frustrating to want a game, go into a store to get it and find out the only way to get that game is digital distribution. Ok, fine, I'll download it, but I ain't PAYING to download a game. Screw that noise.

Well, I'm resisting digital distribution as long as I can anyway. $60 a pop for a game, and you get less than you ever did before.....no pretty box, no disk, no instruction book, just a download. May as well just pirate it.

 

[Filipe C Bello dos Santos]

I used to pirate everything just because I could. But now, digital distribution is making me do it. I have a decent job now, making good money and can afford to buy just about anything I want. But I refuse to buy a game without a physical disk in my hand. I've spent many years DL'ing stuff for free, I'm NOT going to PAY for a DL. It's especially frustrating to want a game, go into a store to get it and find out the only way to get that game is digital distribution. Ok, fine, I'll download it, but I ain't PAYING to download a game. Screw that noise.

Well, I'm resisting digital distribution as long as I can anyway. $60 a pop for a game, and you get less than you ever did before.....no pretty box, no disk, no instruction book, just a download. May as well just pirate it.

But there some games on Steam ana gog.com with fair prices. I will never download a game that cost 5, 10 bucks, my computer worth around US$700, so it's fair to pay that price for a game.

 

[retKHAAAN]

Well, i don't feel that i'm stealing something because i'm not making any profit from it, neither the people who make the game, those are already paid for it. Only companies looses money with piracy, but i bet they're quite nice in their mansions.

You're not making any profit? You're getting to play a game you otherwise wouldn't have been able to. Profit is not limited to $$$

 

[Foxi4]

But there some games on Steam ana gog.com with fair prices. I will never download a game that cost 5, 10 bucks, my computer worth around US$700, so it's fair to pay that price for a game.

It's not for you to judge which price is fair and which isn't - you don't know the costs of developing a video game.

 

[Filipe C Bello dos Santos]

And because of that i have no right to find the price for the game expensive ?
the game is sell at retail price for about $40, in the country that i live they're about $80, $90 bucks, and most of people earn about $400/month.
Again, i'm not making excuses for piracy, but in your judgement, and i also agree with you, but i just don't care, i buy games only when i can and only if i know that i will play this game for a long time.

But why, for example, i would buy a copy of chronno trigger for DS when i can emulate it and play for free ?

 

[Nurio]

It was a gradual change - not many people know that GBATemp actually used to be a ROM site. It was just the decision of the staff, the TempBot has been disabled some time ago and the change of the forum system was the cherry on top of the cake.

Okay, thanks. That sufficiently answers it. Now I wonder if there are other sites that simply list all the releases, since those seem to be more reliable than ROM sites. I could just see which games are released and use Google to search for the filename and download the ROM.
If anyone knows of such a site, can they tell me about it? Even a link to a reliable ROM site would be fine. Oh right, no linking of such kind is allowed on this site. Drat, if only there were some way to circumvent this and tell me privately on these forums or otherwise. *cough*

Yes, I admit, I pirate from time to time. But I consider myself at least a fair pirate.
I've pirated quite some games over the years to try them out. If I don't like them, I delete them. If I enjoyed and played through the game, I try to buy it if it's available. Yes, even at full price.
In a sense, I use pirated games as demos of sorts. (And I like the extra functionality and convenience that flash cards and hard drives offer.)

Because of this, I am of the opinion that piracy doesn't necessarily hurt sales. Without piracy I wouldn't have tried out and fallen in love with the Ace Attorney series, for example. The Visual Novel is a whole market I've gotten into because of piracy, and now I am a loyal customer in that industry.

 

[Janthran]

I'm pretty sure it is legal to download games/music/whatever in Canada.

 

[Foxi4]

Okay, thanks. That sufficiently answers it. Now I wonder if there are other sites that simply list all the releases, since those seem to be more reliable than ROM sites. I could just see which games are released and use Google to search for the filename and download the ROM.

I'm a News Poster at DS-Scene, so as far as the DS is concerned, obviously I'm going to recommend it - it's a very accurate database and we also offer an app which automatically downloads and applies patches.

For all other consoles, there's things like AGBX.net, NFORush etc.

Those sites do not contain any illegal content, they only list releases.

I'm pretty sure it is legal to download games/music/whatever in Canada.

You're pretty wrong.

 

[Deleted User]

It's all okay until I don't have to spend $100+ on a shitty $25 game.

Australia prices are fucking stupid.

 

[Nurio]

I'm a News Poster at DS-Scene, so as far as the DS is concerned, obviously I'm going to recommend it - it's a very accurate database and we also offer an app which automatically downloads and applies patches.

For all other consoles, there's things like AGBX.net, NFORush etc.

Those sites do not contain any illegal content, they only list releases.

Thank you. Exactly what I was looking for.

 

[Filipe C Bello dos Santos]

This is a statement from gog.com about SOPA, and illustrates everything that i think about piracy.

"GOG.com is opposed to piracy and copyright infringement, but we know that there are good way to try and reduce piracy and bad ones,"
"GOG.com will always oppose anti-piracy methods that threaten user privacy and freedom. We will always stay DRM-free and apply ‘same game-same price’ policy. We will always put trust in our users as the best method of fighting piracy."

In an intreview, Trevor Longino said this about their games had been download on p2p torrent sites

“Some of the largest sources of traffic on GOG.com are from torrent trackers and abandonware sites. And you know what? The traffic from these websites converts to purchasers at a better percentage than straight search traffic from Google does. The first exposure these people had to GOG.com came through illegal free copies of the games we sell, and they found our offer so compelling that they sign up and buy from us.”

http://www.gog.com/news/gog_com_joins_opposition_to_sopa_and_pipa

 

[jimskeet2002]

WAAAAAAY back in the day, when i was young and the Dinosaurs roamed freely across the land, Intellectual property was considered stolen....IF....You were making copies and SELLING it. Other wise it was sharing your product with others. We used to make each other cassette tapes of music we had and VCR tapes of movies that our friends had. There was no real fuss.
Then came the day... SONY screamed to the public that we,( the common people) did own what we bought but merely rent it from them. At first, the public said "That's Stupid." But now after years of constant yelling by the corporations that if you share then you are a thief. The public has been slowly persuaded that it's true.
I, for one say, it is not as big a deal as these companies make it out to be. Where i see it, most people don't want to bother with the technical mumbo jumbo and just pay for the product out right. I have had literally 100s of conversations with other parents who at first complain about the cost of DS games for their kids. I would then tell them about the R4 and how they could just get the Rom and install it on a micro SD.... Then they just say..."I'll just buy it."
I did not mean to make a rant, but i say it's alright and these companies are just brain washing you to think other wise.

Exactly!!!!
Someone buys the game. Isn't it his to do it whatever he wants? Or you guys like to pay your money to "rent" the software????

 

[Foxi4]

Exactly!!!!
Someone buys the game. Isn't it his to do it whatever he wants? Or you guys like to pay your money to "rent" the software????

It was illegal even in the forementioned days, it's just that nobody gave enough sh*t to do anything about it. If the license does not specify otherwise, it is for one user only - you cannot "share" whether you like it or not.

Fun Fact: Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes complained about copyright protection - his stories were illegaly copied and published without his consent in the States, it's an interesting tid bit to know about piracy. Yes, you can pirate a book.

 

[Jayro]

Piracy is my way of life. I pirate everything, because I'm poor. I can't wait for the 3DS to be able to load roms. Then I can finally have the games I can't afford.

 

[jimskeet2002]

Ok then go pay for your games and in 20 years of paying u will have wasted like 20.000 dollars on games have fun with that.