GetDotted Domains

Viewing Thread:
"Selfishness"

The "General Games Chat" forum, which includes Retro Game Reviews, has been archived and is now read-only. You cannot post here or create a new thread or review on this forum.

Thu 02/05/02 at 19:19
Regular
Posts: 787
Define Piracy. I couldn't, but could you. Perhaps a simple definition would be the unauthorised use of software. Or the illegal distribution of software. Of playing copied games. Or not having paid the original price for the game.

There are loopholes in every single one of these arguments. Plenty of people play unregistered games, simply because registering is a hassle and pointless. And as for playing copied games, are 'backups' illegal. I mean, in all seriousness, somebody who plays games off CD-Rs can hardly be a pirate if they own the original anyway. And you could have just won the game from a competition.

But copying and general illegal usage is the past. The new 'it' is file sharing. Everybody is doing it right now. You cannot say that you don't have and use a version of AudioGalaxy, Morpheus or KaZaA on your computer right now. I have all three, and while I generally use them for downloads of game videos and obscure music (such as game soundtracks), I've found plenty of illegalities which aren't illegal. Purely because, they're not being distributed freely off a web page, they're being transferred. They're being shared. Which is not illegal.

I got KaZaA a few days ago. I'm fed up of broken links, non working downloads and general messing up of my PC due to unreliable servers. It is a very comprehensive file sharing program, replete with plenty of loopholes and the like to allow *cough* illegal downloads. Here are a few examples of what I managed to find...


First up, I tried searching for 'PS2 emulator'. And up came a list of various programs, plus a full version of Bleem 2 (PS2). Then I searched for Roms, and casting aside the many thousand SNES, Mega Drive and GameBoy Roms, I also managed to find a wealth of PlayStation 2 Roms, plus the odd 800 MB .avi image files for (dun dun duuuunnnn) Final Fantasy X, GTA3, TH3, MOHAA and (shock horror) the beta version of Final Fantasy 11.

I don't support piracy at all, but I can't see why developers don't put a stop to this blatant piracy. You can download game image files, then write them straight to CD, for crying out loud. But we've all been taught, by parents and friends, that we should share our toys, play together. And perhaps that's what we're doing, just on a much grander scale. But why there isn't a stop being put to this I don't know, and perhaps the theory that developers actually want these illegal files being spread is a valid one, especially the common knowledge that you can download illegal warez off these file sharing programs.

So until people either wake up to just what's going on, or the fun comes out of it, we'll constantly have a source for all our pirating desires. While many avoid it, others gain from the intellectual property of the developers which is plain wrong. Nobody has never played or made a copied game, and the only real valid reason why people copy games is the kick that you get from it. Its illegal, man!


And until corporations promote selfishness to a massive degree, we'll continue to share our games and perhaps ruin the game industry. But probably not.
Thu 02/05/02 at 21:14
Regular
"[SE] Acetrooper"
Posts: 2,527
I think piracy is downright unacceptable.
It's just a scummy way of getting things illegally.

A friend if mine already has Spiderman and The Scorpion King on DVD, downloaded from Kazaa.
THAT annoys me. Utterly.
Thu 02/05/02 at 20:31
"Uzi Lover"
Posts: 7,403
½pint wrote:
I also managed to find a wealth of PlayStation
> 2 Roms, plus the odd 800 MB .avi image files for (dun dun duuuunnnn)
> Final Fantasy X, GTA3, TH3, MOHAA and (shock horror) the beta version
> of Final Fantasy 11.


It is very easy to download games off the Kazaa program and others having a sharing community. They are like advanced Napsters, which allow to to search for software, videos etc.


Reffering to the quoted part of you post, it isn't possible to burn a CD image of a game as a .avi file is it? They are just compressed video files from the mpeg?!?
Thu 02/05/02 at 20:22
Posts: 0
Good post I have to agree with you there.
Thu 02/05/02 at 19:45
Regular
"Touched!"
Posts: 4,910
As far as i'm concerned, if its not the official product or its an emulator or whatever then its not right, because of people copying games it costs the gaming industry masses of money, you'd be surprised at how much damage it really does, if you can't afford the games then you can't afford them, simple as that, get a job, get some money and buy the games instead of getting cheap ones.
I think its ok for you to make a backup of something..but thats it.

Good post though!
Thu 02/05/02 at 19:19
Regular
"¬_¬"
Posts: 3,110
Define Piracy. I couldn't, but could you. Perhaps a simple definition would be the unauthorised use of software. Or the illegal distribution of software. Of playing copied games. Or not having paid the original price for the game.

There are loopholes in every single one of these arguments. Plenty of people play unregistered games, simply because registering is a hassle and pointless. And as for playing copied games, are 'backups' illegal. I mean, in all seriousness, somebody who plays games off CD-Rs can hardly be a pirate if they own the original anyway. And you could have just won the game from a competition.

But copying and general illegal usage is the past. The new 'it' is file sharing. Everybody is doing it right now. You cannot say that you don't have and use a version of AudioGalaxy, Morpheus or KaZaA on your computer right now. I have all three, and while I generally use them for downloads of game videos and obscure music (such as game soundtracks), I've found plenty of illegalities which aren't illegal. Purely because, they're not being distributed freely off a web page, they're being transferred. They're being shared. Which is not illegal.

I got KaZaA a few days ago. I'm fed up of broken links, non working downloads and general messing up of my PC due to unreliable servers. It is a very comprehensive file sharing program, replete with plenty of loopholes and the like to allow *cough* illegal downloads. Here are a few examples of what I managed to find...


First up, I tried searching for 'PS2 emulator'. And up came a list of various programs, plus a full version of Bleem 2 (PS2). Then I searched for Roms, and casting aside the many thousand SNES, Mega Drive and GameBoy Roms, I also managed to find a wealth of PlayStation 2 Roms, plus the odd 800 MB .avi image files for (dun dun duuuunnnn) Final Fantasy X, GTA3, TH3, MOHAA and (shock horror) the beta version of Final Fantasy 11.

I don't support piracy at all, but I can't see why developers don't put a stop to this blatant piracy. You can download game image files, then write them straight to CD, for crying out loud. But we've all been taught, by parents and friends, that we should share our toys, play together. And perhaps that's what we're doing, just on a much grander scale. But why there isn't a stop being put to this I don't know, and perhaps the theory that developers actually want these illegal files being spread is a valid one, especially the common knowledge that you can download illegal warez off these file sharing programs.

So until people either wake up to just what's going on, or the fun comes out of it, we'll constantly have a source for all our pirating desires. While many avoid it, others gain from the intellectual property of the developers which is plain wrong. Nobody has never played or made a copied game, and the only real valid reason why people copy games is the kick that you get from it. Its illegal, man!


And until corporations promote selfishness to a massive degree, we'll continue to share our games and perhaps ruin the game industry. But probably not.

Freeola & GetDotted are rated 5 Stars

Check out some of our customer reviews below:

Excellent support service!
I have always found the support staff to provide an excellent service on every occasion I've called.
Ben
Second to none...
So far the services you provide are second to none. Keep up the good work.
Andy

View More Reviews

Need some help? Give us a call on 01376 55 60 60

Go to Support Centre

It appears you are using an old browser, as such, some parts of the Freeola and Getdotted site will not work as intended. Using the latest version of your browser, or another browser such as Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, or Opera will provide a better, safer browsing experience for you.