SEIV is being Pirated

mobil · #1 August 29th, 2001, 01:26 AM

Distribution is clearly very important to avoid piracy. I live in Norway, and sometimes games come to Norway several months after release in US or the rest of Europe (Birth of the Federation and Imperium Galactica II are examples of this).

When ppl await games like Master of Orion III (to be released next spring), it is very important to have a worldwide release in order to make piracy less interesting. My concience tells me not to download from the net, but I cannot buy the game either until someone decides its time for a Norwegian release.

One alternative is to order the game from the net, but that is only an option if I can download the game directly and pay with visa card. If i have to order a cd then i will have to go through a huge expensive paper mill. I have tried this once when i ordered a football kit and a football video from England. I had to pay VAT (norwegian VAT on top of the English one ofcourse), postal handling fee, import tax and finally VAT on the import tax. All in all �40 for importing �70 of goods.

I dont like piracy, and i buy all games that I think are great (from reviews, testing at friends or testing demos/illegal Versions). Still I admit that I could not stand waiting 3 months for Birth of the Federation and I played an illegal Version and discovered that it was crap. Therefore i never bough the game when it finally arrived. The same has happened bout three times with other games.

What I am trying to say here is that the game distribution is important because games have a very short life before something better comes by. "Everyone" reads the same reviews on the net, and ppl expect to find the games in the store soon after a game has gone gold. Dont expect ppl to read about the hottest new game for months before they can try it themselves.

This might not be a big issue for ppl living in US og UK, but for me its a huge annoyance.

tesco samoa · #2 August 29th, 2001, 01:56 AM

Thanks BeeDee10

For correcting that post. I was going into to correct it. But I will leave it as it stands now.

Have a good day.

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L? GdX $ Fr C++ SdT T+ Sf* Tcp+ A M++ MpTM ROTS Pw+ Fq+ Nd Rp++ G+

tesco samoa · #3 August 28th, 2001, 02:09 PM

What does everyone think of music??? Along the same lines???

I am a member of the emusic club so I just download albums from that site and other stuff for back catalogue music that is unavailable anywhere.

I do not shop at music stores. 100% to 300% mark up is just too much for me.

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L? GdX $ Fr C++ SdT T+ Sf* Tcp+ A M++ MpTM ROTS Pw+ Fq+ Nd Rp++ G+

Instar · #4 August 28th, 2001, 11:26 PM

One thing that irks me is that here, you can prosecute it. In other countries, its not enforced at all. China even condones it really, they steal all the software and stuff. Ticks me off, it does

LazarusLong42 · #5 August 29th, 2001, 12:31 AM

The worst thing about pirating is there is more to it than the simplest ethical dilemma possible. Take this for instance:

Joe Blow in Nowhereton, Outback, AU, buys SE4 through Shrapnel... it'll arrive in two weeks. Is it now ethical for him to download the full Version from a warez site or wherever? Technically, as soon as the credit card transaction is processed, he is the holder of an SE4 license.

Discuss. Can anyone give me a good reason why it is unethical for Joe to download the full Version elsewhere while waiting for the CD which has already been paid for?

(N.B. I don't support pirating. I do, however, support interesting ethical/philosophical problems

)

LL

Richard · #6 August 29th, 2001, 01:00 AM

Because by downloading it he adds one more vote to why the warez site handler should stay in business and probably makes him some money via banners.

Plus if you have to go through some of the sites voting mechanisms you help him that way.

Any download is a vote to the legitimacy of warez.

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Sarge is coming...

Richard Arnesen
Director of Covert Ops
Shrapnel Games
http://www.shrapnelgames.com

geoschmo · #7 August 29th, 2001, 01:00 AM

I think the distinction is in transmitting or sharing copies of the software. Warez doesn't verify that you purchased the software, so whether or not it's ethical for you to download it, it's definelty unethical and illegal for them to upload it.

I myself have copies of SEIV on two separate PC's. That may be a technical violation of the copyright. But I would NEVER make a copy for someone, or give or sell my computer with the copy loaded on it to someone.

Geoschmo