Good News for all legal gamers

I know this may be more of an off-topic issue but this impacts all gamers.

If you have been downloading games illegally, and you live in the UK, get ready for some tough love. Multiple internet service providers are adopting a 'three strike' policy. If you are caught illegally downloading gaming software on three separate occasions, you'll be cut from your provider. Also, any broadband company that refuses to support this policy will be prosecuted. Time to clean up your act, pirates!

I hope more counties follow this. If not slowed down pirating could really hurt gaming. This is a win for everyone. Well everyone who does not pirate games.

ive never downloaded a game....i hope this ban is for games only though ;)

I'm curious, how would they know what you're downloading? will they be spying all all our internet communications?Ontain

You don't think they already do not?

On Topic: This is just I hope will slow it down some. I know it will not stop pirates the better ones. But there are a lot of pirates that are not so good at it and maybe if this happens to a few the rest will slow down some.

This will slow down less savvy pirates. Many pirates are good at hiding their tracks through many alternatives.

I'm curious, how would they know what you're downloading? will they be spying all all our internet communications?Ontain

Sometimes companies "seed" copies of their own works on torrent networks and track the IPs that are connected to them. Some go through courts to get lists of IPs that connect to websites known to offer illegal software. Some ISPs simply track how much bandwidth you use, and after a certain amount (100 Gbs for many) they assume its for illegals and they will block your bandwidth.

There are many ways that they can see what you do if you don't cover yourself.

[QUOTE="Ontain"]I'm curious, how would they know what you're downloading? will they be spying all all our internet communications?HarlockJC

You don't think they already do not?

On Topic: This is just I hope will slow it down some. I know it will not stop pirates the better ones. But there are a lot of pirates that are not so good at it and maybe if this happens to a few the rest will slow down some.

no i don't think they really take much time to spy right now because that would take more resources and manpower. why would ISP's want to spend resources on that unless they are getting paid to do so or forced to by the government?

now once they start doing this we'll see law suits start coming in as i'm sure ppl will find this akin to looking through their mail or watching them in their homes.

no i don't think they really take much time to spy right now because that would take more resources and manpower. why would ISP's want to spend resources on that unless they are getting paid to do so or forced to by the government?

now once they start doing this we'll see law suits start coming in as i'm sure ppl will find this akin to looking through their mail or watching them in their homes.

Ontain

Many times its not the ISPs. Its the copyright owners who have to do the leg work, and once they can prove it, they either go to the ISP and make a complaint (in which case you can get anything from a "cease and desist" letter to a removal from the ISP) or they go to the government and file legal claims, and then you go to court and either get fined or jailed or both.

Usually the companies go to the ISPs first, as court cases cost them money, but like you saw with the RIAA, sometimes they do go to court against the end users.

[QUOTE="Ontain"]I'm curious, how would they know what you're downloading? will they be spying all all our internet communications?SpruceCaboose

Sometimes companies "seed" copies of their own works on torrent networks and track the IPs that are connected to them. Some go through courts to get lists of IPs that connect to websites known to offer illegal software. Some ISPs simply track how much bandwidth you use, and after a certain amount (100 Gbs for many) they assume its for illegals and they will block your bandwidth.

There are many ways that they can see what you do if you don't cover yourself.

I can understand the fake seeds and that if they do that i'm fine with it. if they just get you for bandwidth that's total bs. with streaming video (like netflix), itunes, appletv, game demos and other legal things taking up bandwidth this would be insane.they would need to publish and have a way for ppl to track their own bandwidth usage. (and stop advertising unlimited)

How about the rest of the World? UK is just one tiny little country...

[QUOTE="SpruceCaboose"]

[QUOTE="Ontain"]I'm curious, how would they know what you're downloading? will they be spying all all our internet communications?Ontain

Sometimes companies "seed" copies of their own works on torrent networks and track the IPs that are connected to them. Some go through courts to get lists of IPs that connect to websites known to offer illegal software. Some ISPs simply track how much bandwidth you use, and after a certain amount (100 Gbs for many) they assume its for illegals and they will block your bandwidth.

There are many ways that they can see what you do if you don't cover yourself.

I can understand the fake seeds and that if they do that i'm fine with it. if they just get you for bandwidth that's total bs. with streaming video (like netflix), itunes, appletv, game demos and other legal things taking up bandwidth this would be insane.they would need to publish and have a way for ppl to track their own bandwidth usage. (and stop advertising unlimited)

Very true. I agree with that completely.

Note, I never said I agree with any of these things. I am also against DRM. But like I said, there are ways to thwart tracking, and its not just for illegal things. Some places even track your search terms and flag certain words. We are becoming more like 1984 everyday (Ok, not quite this bad, but I could see it getting there eventually), and most people don't realize it.

ive never downloaded a game....i hope this ban is for games only though ;)

mingo123

lol

if this does happen though, expect film and music companies to ask for a similar thing .. basically, illegal game downloads will just be the start

How about the rest of the World? UK is just one tiny little continent...

PullTheTricker

So this will lead to pirating becoming harder to track -_- It's doing the popular thing.
Take away most of the need to pirate, and it will go away.
KungfuKitten

What give away games that cost millions to make for free?

I've never downloaded a game illegally but I don't care if other people do it.m_machine024

I do downloading games illegally takes away money from the compaies that make the games. If they get less money then they will make less games.

havnt they been saying they are going to crack down for a while now? everytime they say they are gonna crack down piracy just gets bigger and bigger. this isnt going to do much unless some of the copyright holders have something good up their sleeve to catch people. ISP's have no intrest in catching people because if they have to cut people from the sevires all that does is make them loose money.

so in otherwords this means nothing they have been saying this for years.

why is this good news for illegal gamers? I have never downloaded a game illegally, it`s too much effort just for a game.tader-salad

Its good news for legal gamers.

I know this may be more of an off-topic issue but this impacts all gamers.

UK getting serious about illegal game downloads

If you have been downloading games illegally, and you live in the UK, get ready for some tough love. Multiple internet service providers are adopting a 'three strike' policy. If you are caught illegally downloading gaming software on three separate occasions, you'll be cut from your provider. Also, any broadband company that refuses to support this policy will be prosecuted. Time to clean up your act, pirates!

I hope more counties follow this. If not slowed down pirating could really hurt gaming. This is a win for everyone. Well everyone who does not pirate games.

HarlockJC

First of all, yes this is totally the wrong forum.

Second of all, no, this is bad for gaming. People, such as myself, that have always done things legally and on the up-and-up will have to put up with all kinds of fallout from a change like this just because OTHER people are breaking the law.

You have heard of "big brother" haven't you? This fits that description perfectly.

Ah, thank God i'm on AOL. They're too incompetent to enforce something like this.

How about the rest of the World? UK is just one tiny little continent...

PullTheTricker

:lol: sig worthy

[QUOTE="m_machine024"]I've never downloaded a game illegally but I don't care if other people do it.HarlockJC

I do downloading games illegally takes away money from the compaies that make the games. If they get less money then they will make less games.

I'm going to admit it - I "illegally" download games. But I only do it for certain reasons:

1. If the games are a different region. For example, my PAL copy of Final Fantasy VIII has some screen position problems when played on my PSP. The NTSC version does not have these problems, so I should be entitled to download that version instead since technically I already own the game. You are allowed to download any game you already own for "back-up" purposes.
2. If the games are out-of-print or very old. The publishers aren't making any money off them anymore, and in some cases don't even exist. River City Ransom, for example, was developed by Technos Japan who do not exist anymore. The money I spend on a pre-owned copy will only go to a private seller and not the company. Basically, I would buy it legally and support the company if I could, but I can't.
3. Frankly, no one cares about 99% of old games anymore. Some publishers even shun their own work - I heard SEGA apparently deleted Rez from their databases (years before Mizuguchi picked it up for the XBLA remake).
4. Why should I not have the right to play stunning games just because of where I live? I could never play Snatcher or Xenogears just because I live in Europe - downloads have let me do it after so many years.

All that said, I would never download a game which is easily available commercially and which developers are actively making money on. I really only do it for the rare and old games.

[QUOTE="m_machine024"]I've never downloaded a game illegally but I don't care if other people do it.HarlockJC

I do downloading games illegally takes away money from the compaies that make the games. If they get less money then they will make less games.

Some one mentioned a great point a while back. That those who download games never had plans to buy it in the first place hence the deveoloper isn't losing anything.

[QUOTE="m_machine024"]I've never downloaded a game illegally but I don't care if other people do it.HarlockJC

I do downloading games illegally takes away money from the compaies that make the games. If they get less money then they will make less games.

that's only if ppl were actually going to buy them in the first place. no one knows the actual numbers. remember that they say the same thing for the used games market.

In my country games cost from $100 per copy.

Mehhhhh...

If it wasn't for Steam, I dunno what I'd do.

1. If the games are a different region. For example, my PAL copy of Final Fantasy VIII has some screen position problems when played on my PSP. The NTSC version does not have these problems, so I should be entitled to download that version instead since technically I already own the game. You are allowed to download any game you already own for "back-up" purposes.

-Spock-

[QUOTE="-Spock-"]

1. If the games are a different region. For example, my PAL copy of Final Fantasy VIII has some screen position problems when played on my PSP. The NTSC version does not have these problems, so I should be entitled to download that version instead since technically I already own the game. You are allowed to download any game you already own for "back-up" purposes.

BuryMe

that's correct. though in some countries it is legal to create your own backup but not download someone elses backup.

Where do people find all this stuff on the net!? Not that I look, but seriously guys, just go out and buy the games..

Where do people find all this stuff on the net!? Not that I look, but seriously guys, just go out and buy the games..GnR-SLaSh

[QUOTE="KungfuKitten"]So this will lead to pirating becoming harder to track -_- It's doing the popular thing.
Take away most of the need to pirate, and it will go away.
HarlockJC

What give away games that cost millions to make for free?

[QUOTE="BuryMe"][QUOTE="-Spock-"]

1. If the games are a different region. For example, my PAL copy of Final Fantasy VIII has some screen position problems when played on my PSP. The NTSC version does not have these problems, so I should be entitled to download that version instead since technically I already own the game. You are allowed to download any game you already own for "back-up" purposes.

Ontain

that's correct. though in some countries it is legal to create your own backup but not download someone elses backup.

[QUOTE="-Spock-"]

1. If the games are a different region. For example, my PAL copy of Final Fantasy VIII has some screen position problems when played on my PSP. The NTSC version does not have these problems, so I should be entitled to download that version instead since technically I already own the game. You are allowed to download any game you already own for "back-up" purposes.

BuryMe

Really? Well, that's a point i'll have to take into consideration in future. Still, part of me would rather run the risk. As my other point stated, I am losing out just because of my region. If I want to play the game, i'll have to buy an NTSC version as well as my original PAL version, and an NTSC PlayStation too if I want to play it at home as well as on my PSP. That's a massive waste of money if you ask me, all for something I already own. I frankly refuse to be shafted just because I was born into a PAL territory.

[QUOTE="BuryMe"][QUOTE="-Spock-"]

1. If the games are a different region. For example, my PAL copy of Final Fantasy VIII has some screen position problems when played on my PSP. The NTSC version does not have these problems, so I should be entitled to download that version instead since technically I already own the game. You are allowed to download any game you already own for "back-up" purposes.

-Spock-

Really? Well, that's a point i'll have to take into consideration in future. Still, part of me would rather run the risk. As my other point stated, I am losing out just because of my region. If I want to play the game, i'll have to buy an NTSC version as well as my original PAL version, and an NTSC PlayStation too if I want to play it at home as well as on my PSP. That's a massive waste of money if you ask me, all for something I already own. I frankly refuse to be shafted just because I was born into a PAL territory.

i think for that it really depends where you live, different countrys have different piracy pollicies, youd have to look up the ones for your own country to find out for sure if you can or not

[QUOTE="HarlockJC"]

[QUOTE="m_machine024"]I've never downloaded a game illegally but I don't care if other people do it.-Spock-

I do downloading games illegally takes away money from the compaies that make the games. If they get less money then they will make less games.

I'm going to admit it - I "illegally" download games. But I only do it for certain reasons:

1. If the games are a different region. For example, my PAL copy of Final Fantasy VIII has some screen position problems when played on my PSP. The NTSC version does not have these problems, so I should be entitled to download that version instead since technically I already own the game. You are allowed to download any game you already own for "back-up" purposes.
2. If the games are out-of-print or very old. The publishers aren't making any money off them anymore, and in some cases don't even exist. River City Ransom, for example, was developed by Technos Japan who do not exist anymore. The money I spend on a pre-owned copy will only go to a private seller and not the company. Basically, I would buy it legally and support the company if I could, but I can't.
3. Frankly, no one cares about 99% of old games anymore. Some publishers even shun their own work - I heard SEGA apparently deleted Rez from their databases (years before Mizuguchi picked it up for the XBLA remake).
4. Why should I not have the right to play stunning games just because of where I live? I could never play Snatcher or Xenogears just because I live in Europe - downloads have let me do it after so many years.

All that said, I would never download a game which is easily available commercially and which developers are actively making money on. I really only do it for the rare and old games.

I can understand those reasons. I don't have a problem with those reasons either.

[QUOTE="HarlockJC"]

[QUOTE="m_machine024"]I've never downloaded a game illegally but I don't care if other people do it.Ramadear

I do downloading games illegally takes away money from the compaies that make the games. If they get less money then they will make less games.

Some one mentioned a great point a while back. That those who download games never had plans to buy it in the first place hence the deveoloper isn't losing anything.

Someone does not download a game because they want the game to take up space on their hard drive. They down loaded because they want to play the game. They may not have planed to buy the game right now but if the only choice was to buy the game or not play it. Then some of them would buy even if they say they never would have in the first place.

[QUOTE="mingo123"]

ive never downloaded a game....i hope this ban is for games only though ;)

akif22

lol

if this does happen though, expect film and music companies to ask for a similar thing .. basically, illegal game downloads will just be the start

fine with films as well but music? noooooooooooooooooooooooo lol