You could always copy the game and send a cheque to the company. I don't think they'd mind.
Piracy at Poor Country
- Thread starter Sliver
- Start date
Gladi
The ignored thread killer
El_Machinae said:
I think they would be plent angry for me being facetious and sending them uncovered cheque
.
Leatherneck
Drive-by poster.
Gladi said:I think they would be plent angry for me being facetious and sending them uncovered cheque
Oh I think they already are plenty angry at you for being part of the problem. But you can start getting back in their good graces by sending US$50.00 to ...
Firaxis Games
11350 McCormick Road
Executive Plaza III; Suite 1100
Hunt Valley, MD 21031
USA
Just memo it as "guilt money". Now if you want to pirate something why not try profolatics. I am sure no one would mind.
Gladi
The ignored thread killer
Leatherneck said:
Ugh, why? I bought CIV (as can be seen fact that I am able to play mods
). But if you give me fifty bucks I got nothing aganist sending it to them
. Otherwise, where I will get them? I have roughly 10 bucks on person and debt of two bucks on account
.EDIT: Though who owns rights to Civ I? I pirated that one.
Leatherneck
Drive-by poster.
Gladi said:Ugh, why? I bought CIV (as can be seen fact that I am able to play mods
EDIT: Though who owns rights to Civ I? I pirated that one.
If memory serves me and it doesn't always I believe Avalon Hill, the maker of the Civilization board game, felt they had been ripped of by MicroProse and Sid Meier. In order to punish MicroProse, Avalon Hill licensed the rights to their board game to Activision (covering one game and one sequel), thereby allowing Activision to make a version of Civilization that would compete with Sid Meiers. The Activision version is called Civilization Call to Power and is very similar to Sid Meiers.
Since Civilization was one of MircoProse most successfull games they took a radical step to protect their product: MicroProse bought Hartland Trefoil, the original designer of the Civilization board game, thereby ending any claims Avalon Hill had to the title.
Avalon Hill lost all rights to the game and $400,000 USD in legal fees. This broke the company and Avalon Hill was taken over by another toy company: Hasbro. Ironically, MicroProse later run into financial troubles of their own and where also acquired by Hasbro, creating one big happy Civilization family
Hasbro had earlier taken over the legendary game company Atari.
So there you have it ...
(Credit Carl-Magnus Dumell case study for the course history of computer and video games.)
And why would I send you $50? I have a legal version of the game. If you are so broke then get off the net, stop playing games and GET A JOB or 2 or 3! That is a no brainer.
Gladi
The ignored thread killer
Leatherneck said:
Gladi said:Sigh. I am studying, S-t-u-d-e-n-t. In few years I will end. F-e-w y-e-a-r-s. I will enter workforce, hopefully I will get job. Money. B-u-c-k-s. G-r-e-e-n-s
Yes I am rude, but I am getting tired of repeating this ad nauseum. Or you can say I am already sick of it.
and
Too!!!Gladi said:
Leatherneck
Drive-by poster.
Gladi said:
Why wait go get one now, you know how many people in this country work their way through school. Sometimes with 2 or 3 jobs? I know I did I started work in Jr. High School. They don't wait until they are out to get one they just get one so they don't have to set around whining that they are broke. Man excuses a million I tell you.
Gladi
The ignored thread killer
Leatherneck said:Why wait go get one now, you know how many people in this country work their way through school. Sometimes with 2 or 3 jobs? I know I did I started work in Jr. High School. They don't wait until they are out to get one they just get one so they don't have to set around whining that they are broke. Man excuses a million I tell you.
Gladi said:
Why do I feel deja vu?
Maybe I have million excuses (hmm maybe I could start selling them?
), but alas 
they are real.
Mirc
Not mIRC!!!
$50 = 1/4 of my father's salary for one month.
Check this link. Just look at the legal price below the name of the product. That money is my father's salary for 3 months and something! While I can buy it for a little more than $1 (to be more exact, 3.5 RON, or 35.000 ROL), with no shipping costs, from a pirate site that I will not name, because it is against forum rules (and because anyway you can't order from outside Romania)!
Also I could download anything from the net, but my connection is too slow.
What do you think a normal person would do in this case, considering that the 2 alternatives are: buy a perfectly legal Adobe Photoshop for $629 that would take ages to ship here, that requires a credit card and a lot of personal information, or buy an illegal copy for $1, struggling with the cracks to install it, but ordering it instantly, over e-mail, and having to pay $1 when receives it through mail (regular mail, not e-mail), generally in 2 or 3 days? I am quite sure what I would do.
Check this link. Just look at the legal price below the name of the product. That money is my father's salary for 3 months and something! While I can buy it for a little more than $1 (to be more exact, 3.5 RON, or 35.000 ROL), with no shipping costs, from a pirate site that I will not name, because it is against forum rules (and because anyway you can't order from outside Romania)!
Also I could download anything from the net, but my connection is too slow.
What do you think a normal person would do in this case, considering that the 2 alternatives are: buy a perfectly legal Adobe Photoshop for $629 that would take ages to ship here, that requires a credit card and a lot of personal information, or buy an illegal copy for $1, struggling with the cracks to install it, but ordering it instantly, over e-mail, and having to pay $1 when receives it through mail (regular mail, not e-mail), generally in 2 or 3 days? I am quite sure what I would do.
Leatherneck
Drive-by poster.
Mirc said:
Then perhaps you don't need Photoshop. Perhaps you need to solve the problems for you countries economy as to why your county is so poor? America, my country started out poor and was taxed to death by the British, but we said enough is enough and put an end to it. Perhaps you heard, so to say there is nothing you can do is hogwash, many countries have done it through history. The price of freedom is high, and road is long but it can be had if you want it. OR you can have a pity party and say there is nothing you can do and it will never change. The choice is yours, no one can make it for you.
Leatherneck
Drive-by poster.
mdwh said:
I wasn't talking about IP I was talking about revenue. Thieft of revenue or grand larceny if you will.
GinandTonic
Saphire w/ Schweps + Lime
- Joined
- May 25, 2005
- Messages
- 8,898
Leatherneck said:
Legally, copyright infringement is not theft. Grand larceny is for theft (which this isnt) worth more than 200 bucks (which this isnt). If you use legaleese, you have to be right.
Larceny is perminantly depriving a person of thier property. This is why the Law Lords and the Supreme Court dont count copyright infringement as larceny, since the victim is not deprived of his property.
Dont argue with me about it, take it up with your senator or whatever.
Gladi
The ignored thread killer
Leatherneck said:
But it is phantasm revenue. Even if there was no pirating would it exist? Doubtfull.
Leatherneck
Drive-by poster.
Gladi said:
Doubtful your even in the neighborhood of right. But as long as people with your mindset are out there we'll never know. Your arguement hold about as much water as a paper sack.:thumbdown
And how is he permanently deprived of revenue? Copying doesn't cause the revenue to go down.Leatherneck said:
And if you're saying "not causing it to go up" counts, well that would make anyone who doesn't buy a product a thief, so that's clearly absurd.
Twist words all you like, the fact is there is no court that will convict someone who pirates with theft/larceny.
Gladi
The ignored thread killer
Leatherneck said:
So prove me wrong tough guy. I love being proved wrong.
There is some piracy in Greece as well, although prices ussually are not that different from an original copy. For example the original would cost 50 euro, and the pirated would cost 12 euro, which is still a lot for just a cd. (im not sure what the average wage is in Greece, but a state school teacher for example has a standard wage of roughly 800-850 euros, which is not much since cost of living has gone sky-high)
Perhaps there are cheeper pirates to be found however.
Also i do not think that the greek government has ever cared about computer game piracy. I know a pirate shop which is in a central part of the city, and certainly it would have been closed down if there was any interest in such action at all. However piracy is also cultural, since in the past (pre 90's) there were very few- if any- legitimate computer game shops. Pirates were a lot more common, and they had cornered the market, so no one really could compete with them, with the effect that original titles were only ordered by legitimate shops on demand. But why place an order and pay more, when you can just burn a copy of it for a lot less?
From the 90's onwards there are a lot of game shops here, although some of the old pirates continue to do business. I would suspect that Thessalonike has one of the highest percentages of internet cafe's /square mile, since there are tens of them in the center, and they very probably do illegal burning of games as well.
Piracy had always been around though. Remember X-copy for the Amiga, and the Demoscene
Most likely it will always be here in some form or other, until games cost considerably less, which does not seem very likely to happen.
Perhaps there are cheeper pirates to be found however.
Also i do not think that the greek government has ever cared about computer game piracy. I know a pirate shop which is in a central part of the city, and certainly it would have been closed down if there was any interest in such action at all. However piracy is also cultural, since in the past (pre 90's) there were very few- if any- legitimate computer game shops. Pirates were a lot more common, and they had cornered the market, so no one really could compete with them, with the effect that original titles were only ordered by legitimate shops on demand. But why place an order and pay more, when you can just burn a copy of it for a lot less?
From the 90's onwards there are a lot of game shops here, although some of the old pirates continue to do business. I would suspect that Thessalonike has one of the highest percentages of internet cafe's /square mile, since there are tens of them in the center, and they very probably do illegal burning of games as well.
Piracy had always been around though. Remember X-copy for the Amiga, and the Demoscene
Most likely it will always be here in some form or other, until games cost considerably less, which does not seem very likely to happen.
Kozmos
Jew Detective
Gladi said:So prove me wrong tough guy. I love being proved wrong.
Just let him be, he doesnt know how its like here.
