Hello all. I have visited this site almost daily since i found it on the web. It is quite an interesting site and i find myself searching topics i never heard about from years ago. The knowledge that can be discovered is endless. However, i am having a problem understanding a certain issue. Everybody and there mother is gonna tell me to read the forum rules, which i have. Unfortunetly, i cant view links at this time so i cant re-read them. My question deals with the piracy issue. I understand, OBVIOUSLY, that topics such as that cant be condoned. However, i dont understand where the cut off of piracy issues and simpy just a valid question begins. U can search numerous forums where people discuss file sharing, downloading, blah blah. This site is developed to teach people how to backup, however downloading is discussed. I've seen moderators answer these questions for people in one thread, and in the next, chastise somebody and threaten to ban. This is understanble, but it is confusing to me as to what is acceptable. This question came from a thread i asked the other day and somebody jumped on my case. I have seen numerous threads relating to my problem which i wont restate for fear of being in outlaw. I searched for an answer for hours and then decided to post my thread due to the amount of topics i saw relating. I am not asking about the bias in what is considered piracy and what is not to be a smart ass i simply want to be correceted and fully informed in order to enjoy this website for the rest of my natural born life without fear of getting the infamous boot
Glad you're enjoying our site Basically if you own the movie/game, ask away. If you don't, don't ask. If this site is seen to support these types of questions it runs the very real risk of being shut down which none of us want. Everyone's interperation can vary slighty and may even depend on the mod's mood at the time. For argument's sake, let's say a mod has just finished warning/banning several individuals who were completely stupid about what they asked and then he happens upon your post when he's in a less than gracious mood about borderline questions. Get my drift? *EDIT* Bad advice removed :O _X_X_X_X_X_[small][/small]
I agree with everything you said except this - there have been many arguements over this where people say "i downloaded this game blah blah blah", and when we step in and say that you cant discuss downloading games here they always fire back with "well i own it, so it's ok". well it's not ok, it cant be discussed here even if you own it. it's just too easy for some one to say they own something after the fact, or claim they really own it after they get banned or whatever. So it was determined by the admins and Da Boss that there can simply be no dicussion of downloading games here period, even if you own it. I admit it does screw some people over if the only method they have of making/getting a backup is to download it, but those people are few compared to the others that actually can make their own backups. This site has been under the "eyeball" of "the man" for a long time, so it's best we not give them anything more that might piss them off. If they see where we help someone who downloaded a game, we are aiding in piracy as far as they are concerned. Even if it all goes to court and it's found out that the guy actually does own the game, who wants to spend the time and hassle of dealing with it like that? Movies are slightly different since there are alot of movies and other video clips and such that aren't copywritten at all. So if you get someone that says "hey I just downloaded an mpg movie and i need to know how to make a VCD out of it", that would be fine since there is no title stated, or where it came from or anything, so we can safely assume that this is a perfectly legal situation. but on the other hand, if someone comes in and says "hey i just downloaded kill bill 2 from IRC and it's a bunch or rar files, what do i do to watch it?" thats where the line is crossed, there is a title of a theater movie so you know the person couldn't possibly own it, and they also state where it came from. if this person was helped in any way, we would be accussed of aiding in piracy. And anyone else who came on the thread could add to it with "what network and channel on IRC?" then of course the original poster would come back with "oh it's on this network, on this channel, and it's packet #1 on the blue bot". so there you have exact instructions on where to get a pirated movie which would have "the man" crawling so far up the admins asses that they'd throw a party for the mods and kill us all with baseball bats for not catching the thread before it went that far. I hope this help clear up any issues with downloading material. if you ever see a thread that might be questionable please feel free to PM a moderator so it can be dealt with. I cant speak for the other mods, but i love getting PM's from members with questionable threads. There are like 100,000 members here and only a small handfull of moderators so we rely alot on members to help enforce the rules. Plus that kinda helps decide who gets promoted to senior member
