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Squidge Monkey · Jan 16, 2006, 06:41 AM

Dictionary definition of pirate is:- 1. A person who infringes anothers' copyright or other buisness rights. 2. A person, organization, etc., that broadcasts without offical authorization. 3. appropriate or reproduce (another's works or ideas etc.) without permission, for one's own benifit.

So now we have difined Piracy, my question is:- When is piracy well piracy?

Let me use a situation i have just been in, I have a copy of Jedi Knight 2: Jedi Outcast. Which i purcashed legally, but just recently my girlfriend broke the CD. So when i try to find a No CD patch for the game am I commiting piracy?

Madison · Jan 16, 2006, 07:05 AM

I believe they'll replace the CD for you if you send them back the broken one, probably for $5.00, something like that. Email them and give it a try.

CaptainHaddock · Jan 16, 2006, 08:03 AM

A pirate is someone who pillages and murders on the high seas. Your definitions are all copyright infringement.

"when i try to find a No CD patch for the game am I commiting piracy?"

No.

Neither is it copyright infringement, since copyright law makes absolutely no references to downloading or otherwise receiving No-CD patches.

The iMac Man · Jan 16, 2006, 09:49 AM

No-CD hacks aren't really piracy, but they are breaking the Software License Agreement, which is illegal.

Chuckit · Jan 16, 2006, 10:36 AM

Arr, I be here ta plunder yer geek games, me hardies!

Oh, more to the point: Whether it's illegal isn't so black-and-white. Depending on local laws, license agreements may or may not be able to limit your property rights in certain ways.

Even more to the point, I don't think anybody would really care.

The iMac Man · Jan 17, 2006, 10:20 AM

Originally Posted by Chuckit

Even more to the point, I don't think anybody would really care.

Well, you're wrong.

Chuckit · Jan 17, 2006, 10:26 AM

I hope there's more to that post and it just got hampsternated.

JHromadka · Jan 17, 2006, 10:46 AM

I hate it when games force you to have a CD in to play. I own a particular game and have a perfectly good CD, but I use a no-CD hack because it saves battery life on my PowerBook and I can play the game anytime without having to remember to bring along the CD.

P · Jan 18, 2006, 12:07 PM

Originally Posted by The iMac Man

No-CD hacks aren't really piracy, but they are breaking the Software License Agreement, which is illegal.

Provided the click-through acceptance of a license agreement means anything. It was long thought that this was not an acceptable way to sign an agreement, but the recent Blizzard ruling indicates otherwise, at least in the US. Will be interesting to see what the appeals process does with it. In the rest of the world there is nothing to indicate that license agreements that you accept with a click on a button mean anything.

Weyland-Yutani · Jan 18, 2006, 07:37 PM

Accepting something with a click of a button is highly dubious at best. I can see all sorts of scams popping up if that will be the case internationally.

cheers

W-Y