(shrug) Software makers have been claiming we lease software from them for years. I'm pretty sure AutoCAD claimed that too the last time I looked at their license.
But no, "Therefore we have the right to steal from them" still isn't a moral justification for doing so. If you don't like the way they do business, then don't do business with them. They're games, not insulin. You can live without them.
I'll admit what I said was said in haste and the heat of passion, heh. I'll take back what I said if it was interpreted as support for theft and piracy. Normally, I'm a bull-with-brass-balls capitalist, and will defend a corporation's right to protect its product to the limit of reason and beyond.
But I'm also a consumer, and what gets me hot under the collar is when a corporation treats its customers like a resource to be controlled. As important as the rights of corporations are, consumer rights are just as, if not more, important. Only acknowledging the rights of consumers if not doing so causes a PR nightmare is not only bad business, it's socially repugnant in a capitalist society.
Corporations should be competing for the business of the consumer, not milking them for every dollar by rigidly regulating the use of their product. It stifles creativity and destroys the value in their purchase. Value is the point of my argument, not so much piracy.
The wealth of an individual is determined by what they own, and the accumulation of wealth is the right of every member of a capitalist society. I can sell my house as it is, or I can fix it up, build a pool, etc, to increase its value and then sell it for a profit. I can do this with everything that I own, but buying a PS3 I make a pact that it is essentially worthless to me despite how much money I put into it, in DLC and downloaded games and secondhand software and so forth. I can't upgrade it, I can't make it more attractive when I want to sell it. This isn't a business relationship the way I see it.
And I agree that not doing business with them is the moral choice. It makes me feel better not to buy used games (though I have every right to) and to not buy games from publishers who pull this kind of crap. But it accomplishes nothing. They have a product that I want, but their business practices make me not want to buy it. If I'm not their customer, they have no obligation to me. It only makes sense to bring the problem to their attention and give them a reason to change their minds. I live in the land of capitalism; its principles apply to every facet of my life, from the entertainment I enjoy to the essential services I need to survive, and I am entitled to all of it if I can afford it. That system is what has allowed these corporations their profits, and despite their hypocrisy, continuing to participate is the quickest way to bring about a change. Voting with your wallet doesn't mean not using it, it means using it to send a message.
Piracy is not my problem. What it is, is competition for the publishers. Piracy offers consumers a product they feel has superior value, and publishers try to prevent this competition by punishing the consumer for participating in it. It is illegal, should remain illegal, and publishers have every right to protect their product. But there is a middle ground between "doing nothing" and "trampling on consumer rights" that they choose not to take.
Point being, if they think that they have the right to take away the games they "provided" us at any time, then I'm of the opinion that it's only fair if we, as consumers, have the right to take away the money we "provided" them at any time. Makes as much sense as their bullcrap.
This still stands, but not as a justification for piracy. Justification for modifying video game consoles, video games, removing DRM and backing up your purchases? Yes, definitely. I have no problem with that.
If I'm going to be buying a "license" to operate a video game console and its software, and my investment can be rendered completely worthless to me on a whim, then I feel I am entitled to some compensation for the loss. A refund at least. I realize that I have no right to that after agreeing to the EULA or TOU or TOS or the rest of their BS. That needs to change.
I feel like a self-entitled prick after all that, heh.
I hope no one takes this too harshly. I really don't mean any offense.
Topic: General Game News (Read 324971 times)
