STOP! THIEF!

[bigsharn]

Ok, I know a few of our community will openly admit that they “borrow” software but this is a bit more legal than that… I’ve recently come across a dilemma; The CD drive on my laptop is buggered (don’t ask, it involved a Ford Fiesta and an ice patch back in January) and I’m really craving playing some prettiful RTS.

So, where’s the problem? Well I’ve got Red Alert 3 on DVD here, but no DVD drive to put it on, so is it right to download the .ISO for Red Alert 3 and just use my CD code? I mean, I’ve paid for the software license so where’s the problem? Oh. Wait. There’s nowhere I can “legally” download it from.

The same problem stretches across all mediums (games, apps, even ROMs). Legally speaking we pay for the software but if we don’t have the equipment to play it on we’re as good as goosed. This is why we need places like The Pirate Bay back and torrenting legalising, as there can’t be *just* me that needs the game downloading even if we’ve already paid for it.

Another prime example, I own a SNES and a few games. Because it’s coming up to 15 years old now (I know, depressing) I want a backup of my games, somewhere else I can play them, alas, ROM sites are becoming scarcer by the minute. Luckily I’ve got hold of Super Mario All Stars/World and Super Mario Kart (the two games I actually own) and a few Gameboy emulated games (again, which I do actually own) but if for some reason my computer were to die I don’t think I’d be able to get them again.

So, am I a thief for wanting to get hold of backup copies of things I already have or am I just another careful user that gives a crap if he loses his £1200 worth of Adobe CS5 discs and needs a replacement?
Opinions below if you please