Is piracy wrong?

[dr_bob]

But yes, if they get their way, second hand software would be illegal. The fact that this would directly lead to the probable bankruptcy of the major high street chains or at the very least a massive reduction in the discounts they can ever offer seems to have been overlooked by EA et al.

What is the current state of play with this concept in Japan? I know the publishers were trying to outlaw the second hand game market and had the "NO RESELL" flashes all over their game boxes, but I never heard "what happened next".

I can't honestly remember the last new game UK game I bought at the £29.99 mark. Its all second hand, reduced or budget priced stuff for me (the Mega Drive Collection on PS2 was the last new game I bought and that was only £20 IIRC)

Coop

Actually there's a question?(offtopic)
Isnt it still >technically< illegal to resell games in the UK anyway?
If I remember rightly there's usually a some legal blurb at the end of the instructions/on the box etc somewhere about the publisher retain the rights etc etc , and that you cant make copies , blah blah or resell the title.Theres usually something similar on cd's too
Its like the one on video tapes at the end where you get a lot of legalese and get told you cant show them on oil rigs(what was with THAT anyway??)I don't actually have any games to hand here so I'll have a look at a few when I go home.



Anyway , piracy eh?
Maybe this is why every game lately seems to want to go online (either uploading/downloading content /multiplayer/Or is just another MMO which only work online anyway ) as it's quite hard to get away with using a dodgy serial key in an online game?

[stvd]

I dont copy/download any PC games, i know where i could get them from but i feel uneasy about it and i buy them all.

Do i feel guilty playing 25 year old roms for the Speccy ? Nope, you could say its 'illegal' as its someone elses software and i dont have permission, do i feel bad about that though, hell no

You'd be better off downloading the PC games and buying the Spectrum games.

It will cost you a lot less and it'll still be as illegal.

[Dudley]

Actually there's a question?(offtopic)
Isnt it still >technically< illegal to resell games in the UK anyway?
If I remember rightly there's usually a some legal blurb at the end of the instructions/on the box etc somewhere about the publisher retain the rights etc etc , and that you cant make copies , blah blah or resell the title.Theres usually something similar on cd's too
Its like the one on video tapes at the end where you get a lot of legalese and get told you cant show them on oil rigs(what was with THAT anyway??)I don't actually have any games to hand here so I'll have a look at a few when I go home.

No because licence agreements are contracts and you can't enter into contracts that restrict your legal rights. Just like a shop putting up a "No refunds" sign doesn't magically exempt them from the sale of goods act.

Some of the terms in those blurbs are binding, the resale one is not.

Anyway , piracy eh?
Maybe this is why every game lately seems to want to go online (either uploading/downloading content /multiplayer/Or is just another MMO which only work online anyway ) as it's quite hard to get away with using a dodgy serial key in an online game?

Absolutely, The industry loves you downloading games having bought them. Strange they're no bloody cheaper though isn't it. C+C3 on EA Link is £30.

You can get it for £25.99 from Amazon and have a physical copy you can sell on when you're finished or keep and install years later. Your EA Link copy will be instantly worthless when EA kills that service.

[Rev. Stuart Campbell]

Will he reply

Where CAN he be? Perhaps we should file a missing-person report with the police. I'm getting a little worried.

[Randall Flagg]

What most of the profession fail to realise is that just because you have copies of a game, doesn't necessarily mean you would have bought it if you couldn't get a copy.

e.g

Back in the amiga days I had a mate that had literally thousands and thousands of amiga disks, all pirates. He collected anything and everything that was released for the Amiga. It was literally a small room full of disk drawers.

He actually used about 2 or 3 games out of all of them and he ended up buying those to get instructions or just because they were worth buying. He just had this obsession with getting the games.

Did the software industry lose any money, no. He would never have bought any of that software. He collected it because to him it was free. If he'd had to pay he simply wouldn't have collected it. He'd still have had the same few games.

At the end of the day, if a game is worth the money then you'll buy it pure and simple. Unfortunately with so much crap software over the years, people are far less likely to part with money.

Xbox360 demos are a really good way of getting a game taster. I was going to buy GRAW 2 until I played the demo and realised it was just another interactive movie. Save me buying the game. I've no interest in getting hold of a dodgy copy of it because the game just isn't worth my time IMHO.