Downloadable retail needed?

[Archonsod]

PDF said:
You're citing "unfair", abusively restrictive d/l systems that don't allow you to make a CD yourself or limit your freedom to use the game in a way or another.

I mentioned Star Dock

Even so, a file I can make a CD from is fair enough, assuming I have a CD burner. The problem is not so much the download itself, as the protection methods in the Download - you can make a CD copy of HL2, but your still dependent on Steam being up to actually activate it.
There's also the whole ownership thing. I'd rather have a nice CD case, with a manual I can flick through on the train and whatever other goodies are shoved in there than a bunch of binary any day.

Theft is the act of taking something from someone unlawfully. When I take something from someone, he loses it. That's not the case with unathorised copying.

How about the developer who doesn't get paid because the game isn't selling? Or his kids & wife who lose their home because he lost his job? Like it or not, the second you pirate the game, your making yourself implicit in those kind of effects.

[Cainehill]

Archonsod said:
Theft is the act of taking something from someone unlawfully. When I take something from someone, he loses it. That's not the case with unathorised copying.

How about the developer who doesn't get paid because the game isn't selling? Or his kids & wife who lose their home because he lost his job? Like it or not, the second you pirate the game, your making yourself implicit in those kind of effects.

[/quote]

For Dog's sake, please bother yourself to _read_ something regarding copyright. If nothing else, the bit where copyright (and patents) were implemented to _encourage_ invention and creativity, not to stifle them.

Then note : if I _steal_ your car, you can't use it. You can't sell it. If I could _copy_ your car, you could still use it. You could still sell it. If I were the type to _pay_ for your car (or a song, book, game, that turns out to be a POS), I would have paid for it even after copying it. If I'm _not_ the type to pay for it, I wouldn't buy/pay for it anyway.

(Yes, over-simplification - if there is _free_ beer, and it is good beer, a large number of college age (and other) idiots are going to slurp it down, no matter what, even if there's _better_ beer that costs a nickel a glass. But we're not typing beer.)

In addition : pay attention to authors, game developers, and musical artists, many of whom say the _industry_ is the pirates/thieves. I've seen this from all three categories, but can only refer you to Courtney Love's "diatribe" on music piracy, in which she castigated BMG, Sony, etc, and _NOT_ the pirates.

[PhilD]

Archonsod said:
How about the developer who doesn't get paid because the game isn't selling? Or his kids & wife who lose their home because he lost his job? Like it or not, the second you pirate the game, your making yourself implicit in those kind of effects.

The questions isn't whether copying information without an authorization to do so is or isn't "good" or "fair". The question is whether it qualifies as "theft".

It used to be - and most legal systems in the world are tailored to deal with this other, older world - that making a working copy of anything required money/skill/talent/effort/resources. Therefore, it was basically sufficient to punish the people who would take the physical object from someone else - with the exception of, essentially, texts (books, plays, whatever), which never cost that much to produce (as text, not as printed books).

Now, with the advent of "information technology", the situation has changed - some pieces of information can cost considerable amount of effort to produce, and virtually nothing to copy. The thing is, legal systems all over the world are way behind in catching up with this change - and we're stuck with improper words like "theft" to describe an activity that has major differences with what used to be called this; the thing with information being that (barring complex quantum mechanics setups) it can be duplicated perfectly at virtually no cost, and without depriving anyone of it.

But, basically, this is not the place for such discussions (and English, not being my main language, is not the most comfortable for me to hold such discussions).