23rd January 2003, 6:36 PM
Here's what I wonder. Why would they be breaking the law even though all it does is NO profit for them and increase chances they could be arrested? It's almost like they think they are doing something moral...
In any case, here's all the explanations I've heard.
The above is a classic, even though there IS no 24 hour law. You download those files you are already breaking the law, there is no test period.
First off, I always find it amusing that they have to explain away all the moral problems each and every time I see this explanation. It's never partial, it's always complete. It's like the explanation is for them more than us.
Second, I'm afraid that releasing old ROMs with the defense that the companies aren't making money off them any more isn't valid, especially now in the era of the GBA. Now they certainly are making money off old out of print games, money they could easily be deprived of if people decide not to buy the new game because they already downloaded the older version. Games like Final Fantasy 1-6, all the classic 2D Mario games, and various other assorted games from across the map, are all having money made off of them. N64 games too are being released all over again, thus games like Zelda OOT are hardly out of print. (True, Zelda OOT is right now a limited edition bonus disk, but do you honestly think Nintendo is stupid enough not to sell it seperatly after the preorder deal?)
This is for those people who download games that are still being made and sold as we speak.
First off, they don't seem to mention the games that aren't liked enough to be "worthy of payment" but for some reason were never deleted from that person's computer.
Second, seriously, how is this an excuse? This isn't a frickin' pizza order here. Nintendo never said "your satisfaction is promised or your money back". That's not even something that all companies should be forced to do. "Let the buyer be ware". If you want to test a game, either find someone who has it already and ask to play it for a bit or rent it! I just wait for the day someone actually tries to sue a game company because the game is malfunctioning, as in, it sucks too much to play.
Let's assume this claim is true. How does that excuse the piracy? They could have tested it other ways.
Now let's look at the claim and ask how they know it's true. What studies have they done to proove this? How were the studies performed, using proper logic and scientific methods? How many is "many"? I submit that any and all e-mails from people saying "I bought it because I liked it when I downloaded the rom" could very well be from liars, faked for proof on their part, or any other situation. Let's also ask how many of these e-mails they may have recieved as their evidence they have. One or two? A dozen? Anywhere NEAR as many as the number of downloads from that site? Any "Infering" they do beyond that is not scientific proof, not that the mail itself is that valid either, since e-mail is a very dumb medium that really can be faked and can't be prooved to come from anywhere.
I like this explanation because it's honest, to themselves and to me. At least they aren't making up any stuff to make it sound moral and just. Now I can attack the whole theft thing directly without the justification thing to get in the way. Of course, those that think this usually are too stubborn to be convinced to stop, but hey they are easy to spot in the mall and avoid.
In any case, here's all the explanations I've heard.
Quote:"If you do not delete these files within 24 hours, you are breaking the law. These are ONLY for testing!"
The above is a classic, even though there IS no 24 hour law. You download those files you are already breaking the law, there is no test period.
Quote:These games are no longer being made, so we are doing a favor by releasing this "vaporware" so that others may enjoy these games like we did. The companies are not making any profit that could be denied by us releasing these old out of print games.
First off, I always find it amusing that they have to explain away all the moral problems each and every time I see this explanation. It's never partial, it's always complete. It's like the explanation is for them more than us.
Second, I'm afraid that releasing old ROMs with the defense that the companies aren't making money off them any more isn't valid, especially now in the era of the GBA. Now they certainly are making money off old out of print games, money they could easily be deprived of if people decide not to buy the new game because they already downloaded the older version. Games like Final Fantasy 1-6, all the classic 2D Mario games, and various other assorted games from across the map, are all having money made off of them. N64 games too are being released all over again, thus games like Zelda OOT are hardly out of print. (True, Zelda OOT is right now a limited edition bonus disk, but do you honestly think Nintendo is stupid enough not to sell it seperatly after the preorder deal?)
Quote:Sure, some of these are still in print, but we feel that most of the people that download these games are just trying them out, and if they like them enough, they will pay for it.
This is for those people who download games that are still being made and sold as we speak.
First off, they don't seem to mention the games that aren't liked enough to be "worthy of payment" but for some reason were never deleted from that person's computer.
Second, seriously, how is this an excuse? This isn't a frickin' pizza order here. Nintendo never said "your satisfaction is promised or your money back". That's not even something that all companies should be forced to do. "Let the buyer be ware". If you want to test a game, either find someone who has it already and ask to play it for a bit or rent it! I just wait for the day someone actually tries to sue a game company because the game is malfunctioning, as in, it sucks too much to play.
Quote:Many purchases can actually be traced TO us providing this content! We have given companies sales thanks to people testing these games and liking them enough to buy them.
Let's assume this claim is true. How does that excuse the piracy? They could have tested it other ways.
Now let's look at the claim and ask how they know it's true. What studies have they done to proove this? How were the studies performed, using proper logic and scientific methods? How many is "many"? I submit that any and all e-mails from people saying "I bought it because I liked it when I downloaded the rom" could very well be from liars, faked for proof on their part, or any other situation. Let's also ask how many of these e-mails they may have recieved as their evidence they have. One or two? A dozen? Anywhere NEAR as many as the number of downloads from that site? Any "Infering" they do beyond that is not scientific proof, not that the mail itself is that valid either, since e-mail is a very dumb medium that really can be faked and can't be prooved to come from anywhere.
Quote:I'm not going to be defending this at all. I want to get this stuff, and it's easier to get it for free. I just want to okay?
I like this explanation because it's honest, to themselves and to me. At least they aren't making up any stuff to make it sound moral and just. Now I can attack the whole theft thing directly without the justification thing to get in the way. Of course, those that think this usually are too stubborn to be convinced to stop, but hey they are easy to spot in the mall and avoid.
"On two occasions, I have been asked [by members of Parliament], 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?' I am not able to rightly apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question." ~ Charles Babbage (1791-1871)