DRM: Thinking hypothetically

[whyarecarrots]

Sorry for bringing up this old chestnut again, but I promise that anything from me is not going to be the same old rant on the same old over-discussed topic.

What I'm starting this to ask, is a question on the legality of something I saw mentioned off-hand on these forums a couple of times. Eg, buying a game, but then downloading a torrented copy of the game in order to avoid having the DRM (I'm largely thinking about Securom and it's equivalents here), either to avoid the possible computer problems it can cause, or because of a principled disagreement with the idea of the install limit and the control that it potentially has over your system. If this is legal, it might be a nice way to avoid the DRM, although it still doesn't help the issue of stopping developers using software such as Securom... But the DRM boycott issue has been discussed before, so please don't move onto that.

Oh, and I realise that the ruling on this would change depending on where you are, so if you are able to post an answer, could you mention where you're talking about, specifically, just for the sake of the discussion.

Thanks

[Disclaimer]I would like it to be known I am speaking entirely hypothetically here... The idea that this may in any way be related to me is ludicrous, and any computers used to post replies to this thread must also be, by association, hypothetical[/disclaimer]

 

[Chezzz]

Sorry for bringing up this old chestnut again, but I promise that anything from me is not going to be the same old rant on the same old over-discussed topic.

What I'm starting this to ask,

But that's a discussion that's been done before, so please don't move onto that.

That doesn't really make sense

 

[More Fun To Compute]

If you live in the US then circumventing DRM is a criminal offence. You still have a legal right to boycott any software with DRM if you don't accept this as consumption is, regrettably, still not mandatory. Personally, I wouldn't condone any sort of disrespect of authority or loss of revenue to the game industry so you should buy 10 copies of all games then not play them so that you both do your bit for the glorious industry and avoid toxic DRM.

 

[cuddly_tomato]

Illegal for this reason:-

When you download the data other people start downloading from you, people who have not legitimately purchased the game. You are thus supplying them with that which they have not paid for and are therefore aiding in an illegal activity.

 

[whyarecarrots]

That doesn't really make sense

Edited to make a bit more sense

Illegal for this reason:-

When you download the data other people start downloading from you, people who have not legitimately purchased the game. You are thus supplying them with that which they have not paid for and are therefore aiding in an illegal activity.

How would people start downloading from me? (sorry, I know nothing about the technical side of this)

 

[cuddly_tomato]

That doesn't really make sense

Edited to make a bit more sense

Illegal for this reason:-

When you download the data other people start downloading from you, people who have not legitimately purchased the game. You are thus supplying them with that which they have not paid for and are therefore aiding in an illegal activity.

How would people start downloading from me? (sorry, I know nothing about the technical side of this)

It is how torrents work. You DL bits of data from other people who do have those bits of data. Pretty soon you will have a fair amount of whatever it is you are trying to download, upon which point other people who don't have the data you have will start downloading from you. The application you use to download does all of this automatically.

 

[whyarecarrots]

That doesn't really make sense

Edited to make a bit more sense

Illegal for this reason:-

When you download the data other people start downloading from you, people who have not legitimately purchased the game. You are thus supplying them with that which they have not paid for and are therefore aiding in an illegal activity.

How would people start downloading from me? (sorry, I know nothing about the technical side of this)

It is how torrents work. You DL bits of data from other people who do have those bits of data. Pretty soon you will have a fair amount of whatever it is you are trying to download, upon which point other people who don't have the data you have will start downloading from you. The application you use to download does all of this automatically.

Ahh right, now I understand. Thanks.

I';m now starting to see why this hasn't been mentioned more widely on the Escapist... :/

 

[Theo Samaritan]

I';m now starting to see why this hasn't been mentioned more widely on the Escapist... :/

It is, but it usually gets snowed under "piracy is bad mmkay". This sort of stuff is stuff you shouldn't discuss in here I'm afraid.

 

[Jack and Calumon]

First Impressions:
Oh god! Not another DRM Thread! This ground has been covered so many times there's a trench there that is 20 feet deep.

After reading:
You pose a much more interesting thread to usual DRM threads. You actually debate on the actual neccesity of it, or am I just reading this wrong.

 

[jemborg]

How would people start downloading from me? (sorry, I know nothing about the technical side of this)

He would be referring to bittorrenting most probably.

Wikipedia Bittorrent Links [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bittorrent]

 

[whyarecarrots]

Oh, hangon, I just understood OP's point.

To rephrase it more managebly:

If you buy a CD, do you have the right to that same intellectual property from any other source (Ie, downloading songs/games you already have from torrents, DRM free), or do you only have the rights to the intellect property when the CD you bought is the source (Ie, you upload it to iTunes?)

...Can I please just copy and paste that instead of my original post: it's a far more eloquent way of saying what I meant to.

I';m now starting to see why this hasn't been mentioned more widely on the Escapist... :/

It is, but it usually gets snowed under "piracy is bad mmkay". This sort of stuff is stuff you shouldn't discuss in here I'm afraid.

Can I close my own topic if the discussion gets bad? Or do I need to ask a mod?