downloading stuff I own?

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ColJack

Where'd That 6th Toe Come From?
what are the legalities of downloading things I own a copy of but in a different format?

after a read of the DOS games thread I got to thinking that I'd like to play Privateer 2:The Darkening again but as it's on 3 discs and I don't want to swap them I looked for and found a download with them as ISO's so I can mount all 3 at once..

now to be fair I own 2 coppies of this game already, one the DOS version and one the WIN95 version..

I also happen to own 2 copies of Fallout 3, both on PS3, one the regular and one the GOTY version..
I'd like to get it for PC so I can see what mods are available for it but I'm pretty sure that downloading a different format of it is illegal
 
It is illegal to download games like that.

It is legal for you to make copies of games you already own for personal use.
 
interesting point, I wonder at this myself, I guess it may depend where you are living, but you should at least have the right to backup a game, (but then in order to do so, you can't bypass the copy protection) which makes that a bit pointless, but yeah if you already own the game, then I don't see a problem with that, but Im not sure on the legal side of this,
 
i dont know what the legal stand point but i dont see any problem with that, the way i see it you buy a license to use the game/movie/etc

i dont see any problem making a back up or downloading it because i am too lazy to look for the cd and its faster, as long as you use some thing you payed for the right to use it its ok.

i even have no problem with sharing the cd with a friend, as long as its you or him just as you can share a book or any other product you payed for.

but the moment you download/use stuff you dont own or share something that you cannot track it use its the same as stealing from the developers as you either use something you didnt payed for or allow other to do so.
 
When you buy something on a certain format, you are buying a license for that format. If you bought a PC version of a game, you only have that one license for the PC version, not, for instance, the PS3 version. So you have no right in downloading the PS3 version. Same game, yes, but different format and licensing.
 
its different product not different format, different format will be CD,DVD or direct download.

for me its the equivalent of using the DVD i bought in my DVD player or one the PC or just riping it and storing it on my streamer.
while different product is the same as movie X in DVD quality vs HD quality.
 
It is not legal barring the game having been released as free by its authors, or if the license belongs to no one. In other words: it's only legal if everyone can legally download regardless of having bought it at some point before.

Whether you have moral problems with it is something only you can decide.
 
Reconite said:
It is legal for you to make copies of games you already own for personal use.
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For Germany. In general yes. You have the right to make a copy of anything you own for your own use.

But it is only legal as long you do NOT avoid or break any copy protection. So in other words. Since almost every game has one. Its here ilegal too. The only way it would be legal is if a game is released without any protection at all. Then you could do a copy.

But thats what I know. Maybe the laws have changed.
 
Perfectly legal, as long as it's the same version and as long as there's no proof that you downloaded the second copy. For instance if you own the original DOS version of Privateer 2, you can download another copy of the DOS version and you can legitimately claim that you simply made a backup copy of a game you already purchased. If it's a version for another system, however, such as your F3 example, it's illegal.

But if you already have Privateer 2, why don't you just make your own ISOs from the discs?
 
fedaykin said:
Perfectly legal, as long as it's the same version and as long as there's no proof that you downloaded the second copy. For instance if you own the original DOS version of Privateer 2, you can download another copy of the DOS version and you can legitimately claim that you simply made a backup copy of a game you already purchased. If it's a version for another system, however, such as your F3 example, it's illegal.

But if you already have Privateer 2, why don't you just make your own ISOs from the discs?
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That's not legal at all, that's plausible deniability.
 
Just copy the content of your disks on you hard drive. That's what i did with my Fallout Collection. No way am i letting something bad to happen to that disk.
 
fedaykin said:
Yes it does, actually, since no illegal act has been committed.
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No, an illegal act has been committed. It <s>can't</s> is tough to be proven in court, but that doesn't make it legal.

Killing people isn't legal even if it can't be proven in court.
 
How is this thread not considered piracy talk? Because it is somewhat meta? Right. But the very first post more than hints at the future intentions of the poster, no? If you don't think so, let me rephrase that very first post for you all:

"I'm thinking about obtaining (a) games via illegal ways. What do you guys think about that?"

I don't see how it matters that he already has different formats of said game(s). Seriously: what a daft question. I have the Harry Potter books, paid for them and all, so hey guys: would it be okay for me to download the movies? I also saw a play of Alice in Wonderland once, paid a ticket and even had a couple of drinks to support the company that performed the play, so now it's okay if I get my hands on the movie and the filmscore for free, right? :roll:

Why do you think there are different formats in the first place? Why do you think that, nowadays, different formats tend to come with different extras? Because they hope you'll be suckered into buying all of them, not downloading some of them for free because you bought one.

Man, this is a stupid discussion and it's piracy talk.
 
alec said:
I have the Harry Potter books, paid for them and all, so hey guys: would it be okay for me to download the movies? I also saw a play of Alice in Wonderland once, paid a ticket and even had a couple of drinks to support the company that performed the play, so now it's okay if I get my hands on the movie and the filmscore for free, right? :roll:
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what?! harry potter movie and a book, alice play and a movie, movie and film score?! its all different products not formats.
obviously its stealing and bare no relation to what is discussed here.

if you buy a book as long as you dont duplicate it you can do with it whatever you want, borrow it, put in nylon to preserve it etc
as long as you use one product you payed for then its all kosher and if recording a movies for personal use is allowed (e.g. renting since you pay the content provider to watch it)

then obviously that if i buy the movie for personal use then i can do with it whatever i want, i can put my favorite cd on one DVD because those cd's take to much place and already started to wear off and i can put it on my streamer because its more comfortable and faster to push play instead of looking for the cd cleaning the dust hoping its works...
 
mor said:
what?! harry potter movie and a book, alice play and a movie, movie and film score?! its all different products not formats.
obviously its stealing and bare no relation to what is discussed here.
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Yes, it does. It's just one extra step up the ladder to show you how the initial question isn't thought through very well.

A question on the same level as the one asked by the first poster would be: I have "Thriller" by Michael Jackson on vinyl. My record player broke down, but I really want to hear the album. Is it okay if I DL the album illegally from the internet?
I have all the Chaplin movies on VHS tape, but I would like to see them in digital quality, so it's okay if I just download BluRay version of them for free, right?

mor said:
its all different products not formats.
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Different formats are different products. What is so hard to understand about that?
 
alec said:
A question on the same level as the one asked by the first poster would be: I have "Thriller" by Michael Jackson on vinyl. My record player broke down, but I really want to hear the album. Is it okay if I DL the album illegally from the internet?
I have all the Chaplin movies on VHS tape, but I would like to see them in digital quality, so it's okay if I just download BluRay version of them for free, right?
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What? No. His copies are in working conditions and he wants to download them because...uh...because he doesn't know how to do ISOs or something.

A question on the same level would be: I have "Thriller" on CD but I want it on my PC. Is it okay if I download it from internet?

He asked about FO3 but he said himself that that is illegal.
 
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