VulcanDragon

As a friendly reminder, discussion of stealing copyrighted material (i.e., piracy) is against the Overclock.Net terms of service. What constitutes "piracy" may not be clear to everyone; but from this site's perspective, the line is very clear: anything that is a violation of the law, whether you believe that the law if just, fair, or whatever, is a violation of the ToS.

There was a thread in the Windows forum a few months ago that gave some specific examples of what is considered piracy. I encourage everyone to read that thread. For convenience's sake, I have also lifted and slightly modified BFRD's examples from that post, putting a slight gaming-specific perspective where appropriate.

A non-exhaustive list of things that should not be discussed:

• Any software that disables copy protection and/or disc encryption. This includes any sort of no-cd or other crack program for games and DVD copying software. The Digital Millenium Copyright Act of 2001 explicitly outlaws these types of programs.
• Any discussion of software that invalidates Shareware/Trialware restrictions.
• Offering to PM a member a serial number or crack, or asking for same.
• Any unauthorized use of corporate software.
• Using BitTorrent or other P2P networks to optain copyrighted software, music, movies, etc.
• Downloading any copyrighted media (games, music, movies, whatever) without the artist's permission.

Two gaming specific notes about that last bullet:

• It includes game ROMs used by emulators, downloading ROMs over the internet is illegal. Note however that the emulators themselves are perfectly legal, since they are independently developed software. So you can talk about emulators, just don't talk about acquiring ROMs.
• It also includes old games. There is no legal concept of "abandonware" despite what you may have seen on web sites devoted to the subject. Unless the original copyright holder explicitly permits redistribution of the old software as "freeware" or, less likely, public domain software, then it remains subject to copyright law.

By making sure we keep the site free of potentially illegal discussion, we can ensure that Overclock.Net is here for us to enjoy for a long time to come. Thanks everyone.

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Vulcan Dragon
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Chosen

I agree, Overclock.net should not be a place for discussion for theft of any kind. Im sure there are other forums dedicated to the art of copyright infringement.
This is not PIRACY.net

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ENTERPRISE

Very well said mate. I firmly beleive in not discussing such things here so we dont tarnish the site in any way

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matt_s989

And there is a lot of legitimate reasons to use these file sharing programs, i personally use it to download previously aired tv shows as i just can't get the time to watch tv

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BenHagerty

/agreed

PROBN4LYFE

Look fellas/fellowettes...
You get the point that Vulcan is making....no discussions about these topics while on the site...got it?
And for those of you who seem too dim to understand that every thread posted here is not for you to joke around with and play games and :turd: ,
you need to get a grip.
This isn't an open debate on "If what I'm doing is pirating"...and I don't see where that was stated.
This place is outta control sometimes.

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VulcanDragon

Like I said, your personal beliefs about what's "fair", "just", or whatever are largely irrelevant here on this particular issue. Sometimes I agree with people's personal positions on the matter, sometimes I don't. But I will always err on the side of caution when handing out warnings. We're protecting Overclock.Net, after all, not making a personal statement.

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Vulcan Dragon
Core i7 920 @ 3.7 GHz
Currently Playing: Galactic Civilizations II (PC); Call of Duty 4 (PC); Halo 3:ODST (X360); Rock Band: Metallica (X360); Dead Rising (X360); Mafia Wars (Facebook...DOH!!!!)
XBox Live Gamertag: Vulcan Draggon

VulcanDragon

Exactly right, thanks. I left the thread open for discussion so that people could ask clarifying questions, if necessary, which I and the other directors will be happy to answer. I will continue to do so, but please keep future posts on that track. Thanks.

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Vulcan Dragon
Core i7 920 @ 3.7 GHz
Currently Playing: Galactic Civilizations II (PC); Call of Duty 4 (PC); Halo 3:ODST (X360); Rock Band: Metallica (X360); Dead Rising (X360); Mafia Wars (Facebook...DOH!!!!)
XBox Live Gamertag: Vulcan Draggon

nizfiz

this is to keep the image and survival of the site i imagine? i'm willing to bet more than half of the people here pirate software and files. it's one of those don't ask/don't tell things, we don't talk about it but we know we all do it. am i right in this?

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RaCeR123

I don't quite get the purpose of this post. Just read the first post and it'll answer everything . Downloading files you have to pay for and don't own is illegal. Talking about them on forums or even giving out links to download sites would be considered illegal. Overclock.net could get in trouble etc. And about your question, just think about it. I don't think its to hard to answer your own question.

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RaCeR123