Is emulating acceptable?

[Super_Boom]

I don't honestly know about legality. People tell me that it's okay as long as they own they own the original copy, though I'm pretty most of these games have disclaimers reminding them that the IP holder holds the copyright. I know I certainly wouldn't feel confident defending myself that way in court...though I admit I haven't looked into the topic closely.

If you don't own the game before downloading, then I'm sure it's absolutely illegal. I don't know how it wouldn't be honestly.

Morals vary from person to person. I remember back in college, I used to justify it with some of the writings of St. Thomas Aquinas, where he claimed the reason stealing an item was a sin was because the original owner would no longer be able to use that item. In the case of piracy...technically this would be okay...though I think looking back, I was really just trying to justify being a cheap bastard. Now that I can afford to support my hobby, I absolutely refuse to download games illegally, and look on people who justify piracy the same way I look at my past self. Which isn't exactly positive.