Poll: My mom's trying to take away MY computer

[Bloodstain]

Hey blood...do you not think there is something else going on with the OP... he's being "punished" for something? He's not following the rules, she is threatening to take away a privillege. That's what this is really about, anything else is a smokescreen.

And when you live for free in mommy's house, yes, you have to follow her rules. All of them.

You can try to negociate as adults, but in the end, you don't like it, leave. Can't afford it and want to continue sucking up free rent? Then suck up the rules, that's how you pay your rent.

That's possible, yes. But we don't know the whole story, do we? I don't think we should make assumptions.
Hey OP, give us more background information!

I would normally agree with you, raven, but property rights are something you can't take away, under no circumstances. Of course, we again have to know more: Is she claiming property of the computer and planning to keep it? Is she just taking it away temporarily as some sort of punishment for something? If it's the former, I agree with the OP, it's his. If it's the ladder, we would have to know why he is being punished.

 

[Axzarious]

Buy a new case and CD drive, then its 100% yours. Then, lock your mother out of it before she kills it again.

 

[AndyFromMonday]

Since he probably threw away the parts, he needs to replace them with equiv

Well actually no. I also said this: "Either way, she agreed to give him the computer but was very loose on the terms of use and as such I don't think the above applies at all. She did not specify that he can't replace the parts/throw out the old and as such the computer still belongs to him, apart from the parts belonging to her."

Giving that the agreement did not specify actually keeping those old parts, he's not bound by anything to give them back.

He chooses to live there, therefore he chooses to live with her rules. He has no grounds to come here complaining, especially if he isn't paying rent.

No. He lives there but that doesn't mean that he must live under her rules. What belongs to him does not belong to her. If she believes this is enough grounds to kick him out then by all means, she should. However, to say that he's somehow "bound" by his rules to give her everything he owns is bullshit.

 

[Rusty Bucket]

Resort to violence. It's the best way.

 

[Retardinator]

Well, you could just pull out the 98% of the parts that belong to you and say "OK, here you go What's yours is yours again, what I paid for, I took for myself."

 

[Thaius]

Oh... I was prepared to come on here and give another lecture about how you're still under her roof, and still under her rules, expecting that you were another kid thinking you were more mature than you actually are. But you're 18. So really, outside of requiring some things for the lodging (help around the house, etc.), very few requirements are within her rights to impose on you. You're right, that shouldn't be happening.

 

[LightspeedJack]

If she tries to take it just hold it really tight.

 

[Toasty Virus]

Do you pay bills? cause if you don't, and you live off her in her house, then it's fair enough I suppose.

 

[MgR]

Either pay her off for the case and the drive, or buy your own.

THAT or just take all your parts out and let her use it.

 

[The Stonker]

I would argue she can take it away in the sense that she pays for the electricity. Other than that we have a <a href=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ship_of_Theseus>Theseus Paradox on our hands. Oh wait, no we don't because we have ownership laws now. According to the law it is hers.

Even if you relinquish the ownership of it?
Because if that's the case then I can go back and demand every single birthday present I've given.

But about your mother... I would do this.
I would give her the computer, yes! I would.
But then I would fill it up with pterodactyl porn, put passwords everywere and when she opens her facebook, then make the computer go into auto lock. So that you can in the future just unlock the comp, write tons of crazy shit on her facebook, because hey mums are like that (some think that they need hardcore gamer rigs to play freaking farmville)
Or go the easy route.
Tell her to fuck off, because the moment you show dominence and if you're under 18, then she can't throw you out according to the law ( or atleast in my country).
Plus, tell her that she should respect you as a equal member of the family and that she has no right in swifting your rights away.

P.s.Going apeshit crazy on her will just damage the image of gamers and I think it's quite shocking that some people here have suggested violence, really? Be more creative.
Destroy her.

 

[Nigh Invulnerable]

The question is, why is she threatening to take it away?
I doubt she is doing it just to be a *****

Surprised no one asked this yet.

Yeah, I'm beginning to wonder if this isn't just some kid whining about how his mom is actually punishing him for once.

Yup, right here. This whole...let's say "story" seems very one-sided.

Also, it's hers because no matter how old you are, you are still living in the house she's paying for. Technically, she owns everything in it. I'm 19, and I understand this concept. If you don't like it, move out.

Something else worth considering: did the OP keep the old parts? If so, just stick 'em back in the case and keep his own parts, buy a new case, and away he goes.

However, I too suspect we're only hearing a small portion of the story. Why does Mom want the computer back?

 

[Talshere]

Its

snip

Is the OS yours? Its fairly expensive. Also, if she is paying for the internet, she is entitled to take that, as well as denying you power unless you contribute.

As for the hardware. Whats yours is yours.....A case it £5 Go buy one. a DVD drive is like £15. If you can afford to shell out £150 for a decent GPU then you can afford £20 to remove any argument of possession.

 

[CarpathianMuffin]

It's your computer if she outright told you that it's yours.

 

[PatrickXD]

Take out all your parts, and either put back in/pay for all the old parts. If you don't give back old parts then it's kind of unfair to take it away, as she would have a loss in money.

 

[BlackStar42]

Replace the few parts she paid for, give them to her and say "here's your computer!" and laugh.

 

[zidine100]

did you pay for the parts via pocket money or something she gave you? if so my views is that its hers still

if you paid for them out of your own pocket and have the old parts put them back in and (of course put the virus back on) give it to her, since infact she did purchase the computer and gave it to you.

did she give it to you as a gift, if so gifts are non refundable.

regardless, if you dont give it back, expect to be kicked out, or be forced to pay rent electricity bill and food costs and other miscellaneous bills, its her house after all.

 

[milkkart]

buy a new case, put the old parts back in the old case and give it her. problem solved.

 

[Crazy_Dude]

buy a new case, put the old parts back in the old case and give it her. problem solved.

I was just about to say the same.

If she doesnt even know how the Virus scan works and broke the computer herself. If you really rebuilt it from scratch it is your computer you dont give a guy your broken car so he can fix it up and built all kinds of new better parts in so you can claim its yours.

It just doesnt make sense and you shouldn never ever allow her to take it away from you. Such hard work shouldnt go to waste because of stupid parents.

And as quoted above just buy a new case and move everything in there. If you build this from scratch that shouldnt be too hard for you to do and would solve all the problems.

 

[dylanatthemovies]

Cut off her head & put it in the freezer.

That's what I do when my mum pisses me off.

Mod Edit: Bad taste. Either contribute to discussion, or don't post, but don't post crap.

Bad taste? This coming from the magazine that publishes Yachtzee's videos. I thought there'd actually be a bit of a dark sense of humour on this board. Especially with the advent of Courage Wolf taking over the internet.

Personally, I'd do a Mel Gibson and 'threaten to bury her in the rose garden. the ****.'

 

[Atros81]

This reminds me of the fairly famous quote. 'Teenagers, Tired of being harassed by your parents? Act Now!! Move out, get a job, pay your own way, while you still know everything!'

All the passive aggressive crap in this thread is sickeningly amusing. She has the right to believe that it's a family resource (which SHE would have ultimate control over), rather then something that explicitly belongs to YOU. As I see it, it's being used as a pawn in some sort of power struggle. You never once mentioned WHY she is threatening to take it away, and you're so caught up on the 'she's trying to take away something that belongs to me' argument that you're not even LOOKING at what she is trying to say.

As a few people here have noted, she would be perfectly within her rights (unless you have an actual agreement to pay rent, at which point it becomes stickier) to dump you on the street with just the shirt on your back. It may be a ***** thing to do perhaps... but it's still within her rights.

Yes, you may be 18 now, which can give you the legal right to own property. However, from the impression I get, the upgrade process on the computer took place over a relatively extended period of time... over a couple years. Before you were 18, anything you bought became property of the family, not to you personally.

Somehow, as I see it, usage of the computer is being utilized in a way similar to... say, usage of the family car. The parents own it, though you as part of the conditions of you using, you may be required to pay for portions (the details of which varies according to the family) of the maintenance. If you fuck up something or other (which it sounds like there's a very good chance you may be doing), they would be within their rights to take away driving privileges.

Now, to the rest of you. The vast majority of the comments seem to involve 'take out what's hers, and give her the rest.' I'm sure it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that whole line of action is counterproductive, and will only make whatever is causing this situation worse.