Is it piracy if you already own the product you are pirating?

[Arkzism]

or heres another thing, lets say if the disk you have for a computer game is ruined... and you have no other way of getting it: no steam version of it, no digital download etc, is it okay to pirate or crack it?

 

[CrystalShadow]

That's all well and good, but some time last year I was put in the situation of a company selling me a game with DRM, and then not providing me the required codes to actually get the game to install and work.
No amount of discussing this with their customer services would even get them to acknowledge they knew of the existence of this code...

My options here were...
1. Get a code through illegal means. (I didn't technically need an entire second copy of the game.)
2. Continue pestering the customer service people in the faint hope they might actually realise their mistake.
3. Demand a refund. (But game companies are notorious for ignoring those kinds of demands.)
4. Sue the company. (No idea whether that would work.)

After several weeks of trying option 2, without success, I gave in and went with option 1.

I have no idea what the 'right' response would've been from a legal point of view, since they sold me a product with crucial bits missing.
In as far as the situation was concerned, it's similar to selling someone a car, but not giving them a set of keys, then when they ask you for the keys, you claim not to know it even needs any...

There's undoubtedly some kind of legal recourse, but it would have taken a lot of time and money for very little gain, other than to prove a point to the company in question about being more careful with what you sell people...

As far as legal recourse goes, yes, you can sue the company for not delivering the product as promised.

The easier option? Just say "I want to speak to your manager." Keep going up the ladder until you get to someone who actually cares, or can actually help you. Believe it or not, companies do actually listen. Customer service reps have very little training, usually don't know a thing about the company they work for, and hate their jobs. Don't even deal with them, go up the food chain.

An even easier option is to just take it back to the store and let them know the problem. As long as it has the receipt and original packaging, they'll usually take it back with no questions asked.

There's always a legal way to solve issues. It does take some work and effort, but it's worth it. Believe me, I work in the entertainment industry, and I know how frustrating and convoluted it can be. That's why I try to help people navigate the minefield that it is. But there's always a legal way. And if you're not sure, ask.

That's reasonable advice. Although this was a digital distribution service, so... 'proof of purchase' consists of the email they sent me and my credit card statement...
There's no physical product to return, and I can't even begin to imagine how I would contact the manager of whoever I was dealing with. (Or knowing who I was even in contact with.)

Couple this with the only two identifiable points of contact being the sales support team and technical support... Well, technical support understood the problem but couldn't help, and 'sales' turned out to be an unrelated company.

I suppose it's my own fault for not being entirely clear about the situation.

So...
Of your suggestions:

1. I could've tried suing them. (But that's never a simple option. Also, under the circumstances, legal jurisdiction is unclear; The company is in a different country to me...)
2. Asking for the manager by email when you're not even sure who you're in contact with might be possible, but it's certainly not straight-forward, and the actual result of such a request isn't at all clear.
3. 'Taking it back to the store' is literally impossible, since there's no physical product to speak of (or a store for that matter). I can't return a digital download, because doing so would be meaningless. I can request a refund, but there's no way of actually returning the product. (I can delete it, but there's no way of proving I did so.)

So... Thanks for actually making some suggestions here. Though unfortunately most of them aren't plausible under the circumstances.

I had a similar problem when I bought a copy of the Orange box at retail, but that was much simpler. I went back to the store, and told them the code needed was missing.
Since the box was open before I bought it, and they knew they had copies like that instore (no disks in the box), upon seeing the box and disks I had, and my reciept, simply gave me a code, which solved the problem.

I do know that can work if you ask.

But in this instance nothing I tried actually worked, and all the most obvious actions I could take were undermined by the nature of it being a digital download from an online store.

 

[alandavidson]

Snip

That's really interesting, and has sent me on a hunt to find the customer support numbers of Valve and Origin, including US, UK, and AU.

On that note, if anyone has the original game boxes for Half-Life, or Portal, please contact me with the service rep number printed on the back.

 

[CrystalShadow]

Snip

That's really interesting, and has sent me on a hunt to find the customer support numbers of Valve and Origin, including US, UK, and AU.

On that note, if anyone has the original game boxes for Half-Life, or Portal, please contact me with the service rep number printed on the back.

I'm not entirely sure there is such a number. The orange box doesn't have one. The most you get is a reference telling you to look on the steam forums if you need help.

(And just to clarify - not that you specifically are asking, but whatever, the Orange box does contain 2 DVD's at retail, as well as an insert with an install code. The shop had opened the games, removed the disks, but left the insert with the install code in the boxes on the shelf. Since technically all you need to install any of the games is the code itself, not the disks, the shop had actually locked away the wrong thing, and I had inadvertently picked up a box which someone had stolen the code from... Ironically the people that worked there were even aware that this happened fairly often, but didn't bother doing anything about it...)

 

[Sir Thomas Sean Connery]

Legally, yes. However, the law is often stupid. This is why we must question it.

Morally, absolutely not. You gave the company your money. If you gave them that sale, you are entitled to a working game. If you did not receive this, it is up to you to get it.

DISCLAIMER: Piracy is bad, M'kay?

 

[Scorekeeper]

This is kinda ambiguous. Technically, I believe it is still piracy. However, if you've already purchased the product and are not going to distribute the copy you're creating/downloading, I don't see a problem. I suppose it'd be analogous to burning a CD you'd purchased onto your Xbox for your listening convenience.