Illegal is illegal, and not legal!

[Eli]

Originally posted by Sirotnikov
I've been very carefull with my warez policy and most good games I bought - Red Alert I, Diablo I, Commandos I. I don't intend to buy D2, or commandos 2. I'm *very* lucky that I managed to get a warezed copy of RA 2 which I delted 30 minutes later.

I can send Commandos2 to you. But the game is not that good, waste of 3 cds and one hour to burn.

[Rogan Josh]

I am really at a loss to understand how companies can make any profit in Germany at all.

In Germany, video stores also rent out PC games. So, it is a very simple matter to go to the video store, rent a game, do a full install (or burn a CD) and download one of these CD cracks which are very easy to find on the internet (and usually very small).

Then you even have the full game rather than a cut down warez version.

[Solver]

I do actually agree with Deathray here. One of the reasons for me to buy the game, BTW, will be that I want the manual and everything else.

And I am an example of a man living in a not-rich country. Latvia is an ex-Soviet country, though I think the second best among those (after Estonia, on par with Lithuania). Prices in USA are generally lower, and wages are certainy much higher. For Americans, spedning 40-50$ for a game isn't tough. I don't actually envy them - I'm happy there are countries with such a strong economic position on Earth. You should also note that piracy is way higher in countries where people receive less money, as it's significally cheaper to make a download.

And yes, I hate the politics of releasing Civ 3 in USA first. They'd better be off doing like this: distributing the game on, say, October 30th, have the stores in all countries (USA, Europe, Australia, Asia, Antarctica) have it, and release it everywhere on November whateverth, even if 16th, but I'd still like that politics more.

[Grumbold]

Originally posted by Rogan Josh
I am really at a loss to understand how companies can make any profit in Germany at all.

In Germany, video stores also rent out PC games. So, it is a very simple matter to go to the video store, rent a game, do a full install (or burn a CD) and download one of these CD cracks which are very easy to find on the internet (and usually very small).

Then you even have the full game rather than a cut down warez version.

I'm sure a true German will come and set me straight in about 10 seconds time, but here is my take on it:

Germany has a very strong gaming culture. I have taken part in the European "Intergame" boardgame championships several years and the number of German teams who enter is huge. Their culture is far more into adults playing boardgames, RPG's, wargames and computer games than the UK or other European countries. So if it is the socially acceptable thing to spend money on games and play them, it is more likely that people will buy the real thing rather than go for a no-manual hacked download.

Video stores renting out games sounds like a great idea to me. Rent one for a week and then buy it yourself if it turns out to be good quality. Bet it must cut down a bit on the tendency to release dire games in the hope of making a quick killing before people realise how bad it really is. The UK 10 day return policy on game purchases means I buy lots of games and feel quite happy about returning the bad ones. Without this opportunity to "try on" something before buying it for good, no wonder others feel they can resort to piracy even if they do have the money to spend.

[Rasbelin]

Originally posted by Nenad

How do you know that pirates are connected to organized crime (in Russia)?

That's a statement of the Finnish copyright supervison
organisation. And I suppose they know what they say.
BTW, that fact has to do with Russian piracy,
not those copies made in China and Thailand.

[Rasbelin]

Originally posted by FuFu15

what would i do without you, Rasbelin.

Probably quite much; at least if I understand
your message properly.

[Simpson II]

Originally posted by drake

Tell the thousands of people that get laid off from software companies that software pirating isnt hurting anyone.

I didn't say software piracy isn't hurting anyone; I said 'even if you aren't hurting anyone', as in when you pirate a game for a couple of weeks to get round silly distribution rules then buy a copy later, or when you download a piece of software you'd never consider buying just to have a look for an hour or two.

I'm not arguing piracy in general is OK; I'm saying that following the law blindly just because it's the law is rather worse.

[Rasbelin]

Originally posted by Solver

Antarctica

I'm just wondering if there's civ fans even
on the South Pole.
Looks like there's civers a bit everywhere.