Starforce Petition!

[dr_psikick]

boycote, no starforce in my system.
In fact all the copy protection schemes IMO are dubious and abusive, because when you buy one game, you are not buying only the game itself, you buy the box, the media (CD / DVD) and so on... and you have every right to copy/backup any part of the product - it's yours you have paid - for your personal use.
For example, when I was in the university, I often copy my own books (that I have bought) just to study, because I like to write and cut pages... so I still have the originals nice and cleans...
Other point is that a copy protection scheme that makes you to have the CD on drive to play the game is demaging the drive - CD/DVD drives are like commom lights they have a certain number of hours of life...
Finishing a key code, IMO is the only legit scheme of copy protection - I can have 1000 copies but I only have one code...

[Grumpy]

@dr_psikick

because when you buy one game, you are not buying only the game itself

This is a common misunderstanding as you 'never' really own the game. When you purchase the disc etc you actually only purchase the licence to play that game on 1 pc at a time. You dont technically own the actual game itself.
I know this sounds stupid but thats how it is.

[Joe Forster/STA]

Yes, you have the right to use the game (with tons of limitations, see the EULA for the details) but you never get the copy- and intellectual rights of the game.

See chips in cars. As far as I've been told, their firmware is also copy protected (at least, by the law) and you may get into legal trouble if you provedly changed it without the manufacturer's agreement (besides losing the guarantee of the car, of course). You may use it as you received it but you may NOT reverse engineer it, change it, copy it (partially or fully), resell it etc. etc.

[Mason]

Laws trump the EULA. AFAIK, USA law has recognized things like the right to make a copy for archival purposes, the right to resell and the right to reverse engineer regardless of what the EULA says.

[Grumpy]

@Mason

Laws trump the EULA

Yes in some countries this is very true but (and I quote Joe's wording on this)you still.......

have the right to use the game ......but you never get the copy- and intellectual rights of the game.

[Joe Forster/STA]

Yeah, I'm sure are a few countries where authorities don't give a fuck about intellectual property and copyrights. However, software companies don't sell much software there either as they actually COULDN'T.

I would assume that China is today the greatest software pirate on the planet. Not only because of the sheer number of citizens but also the weird government that is 1) anti-capitalist but 2) - not surprisingly! - open for new technology, including hardware and software, because that makes them money. (Please, don't get me wrong, I'm not against China in any way... They are great people, with their own Red Flag Linux for the government's use, YEAH! )

E.g. in Hungary, laws concerning copy- and intellectual rights of software are going to change to more strict as this is mandatory for the EU membership. I don't wish to comment on that because time - however long it takes, though - will show the truth anyway...

[Faraz_Hayat]

Originally Posted by Joe Forster/STA

Yeah, I'm sure are a few countries where authorities don't give a fuck about intellectual property and copyrights. However, software companies don't sell much software there either as they actually COULDN'T.

I would assume that China is today the greatest software pirate on the planet. Not only because of the sheer number of citizens but also the weird government that is 1) anti-capitalist but 2) - not surprisingly! - open for new technology, including hardware and software, because that makes them money. (Please, don't get me wrong, I'm not against China in any way... They are great people, with their own Red Flag Linux for the government's use, YEAH! )

E.g. in Hungary, laws concerning copy- and intellectual rights of software are going to change to more strict as this is mandatory for the EU membership. I don't wish to comment on that because time - however long it takes, though - will show the truth anyway...

To, surprise you then as USA caused approximately 7 Billion dollar loss(highest) on piracy rather than China's 4 billion.This is ofcourse a figure given by Global Software Piracy Study.This is solely because USA's markets are so big that even small piracy markets amongst them cause huge losses.Still however the piracy rates in USA are quite low about 21% in 2005.