Another Perspective

[jimthayner]

Originally Posted by snorri [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Stealing is theft, theft is removing something from its owner. Intellectual property cannot be stolen unless the creator has lost what they made.



Untrue. The management has never (to my knowledge) suggested pirating the software. If some 'bad apples' break the rules and suggest that on the forums, then sure, censor them or ban them.



If the point of this post was about ethics, how's this:

I paid for my software. I have every ethical right to do what I want with it. If I want to edit it, I can. If I want to point my host file somewhere else, I can.

Sony is not being cheated out of anything. Do they offer a classic/trilogy server? No. So they wouldn't be getting paid anyway. If Sony provided the same service, and everyone just played here because it was free, then Sony might be losing money. But that's not the case.

Don't confuse breaking the EULA with law or morality. If you want to argue leniency for the cheaters, you need to do it a different way.

Wrong, wrong wrong.

1. While you may have a right to do what you want with software you purchased, YOU DID NOT PURCHASE THE SOFTWARE...you merely purchased a license for it, and you are obligated ethically to abide by that license says you should not use emulated servers. Period.

2. Regardless of whether or not Sony is offering a classic server is academic. As far as copyright law is concerned, if you attempt top publish half of a novel and distribute it for free, you're still violating the law.

3. Now, Roegan tried to make the point that "We're just violating the EULA, not the law." Not true. Recently, the Supreme Court ruled in the case of Blizzard vs. WoW Glider (an addon program to World of Warcraft) that WoW Glider violated U.S. Copyright law because WoW Glider copied parts of WoW's code into the RAM of a computer.

I shit you not, copying computer code into the RAM of a computer constitutes copyright violation, according to the Supreme Court. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MDY_Ind..._Entm%27t,_Inc.)

Now, since we're running Everquest in violation of the software licenses we purchased *we did not purchase software, we purchased licenses*, Citing MDY Industries vs. Blizzard, (http://virtuallyblind.com/files/mdy/07-14-08_Order.pdf) that as licenses, not owners of Everquest software, we are required BY LAW to make use of that software within the scope of the End User License Agreement.


If someone wants to cite legal precedent, make a coherent argument, or say something other than "well, Sony isn't losing anything, therefore its okay" I'd like to hear it.