By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Close
SvennoJ on 01 May 2017
Edit Thread
CladInShadows said:
SvennoJ said:

I applaud your efforts to do the right thing. The only reason I can give you, is that you support piracy by downloading roms. You add to the popularity of them, adding another download to the tally, justifying others to do the same. Others that might not own a legal copy.

To give an analogy. Over the years I have found that the best way to keep a publicly accessible space clean is not by putting up signs or bins etc, but by making sure it is clean in the first place. When people see other people do something, they'll more inclined to do it themselves. When they find it neat and tidy, they tend to want to keep it that way.  If I clean it straigh way in spring I maybe take out a small plastic bag of trash and it stays nice. Wait a few weeks and there's a garbage bag full of crap around. It multiplies!

By downloading the Rom you legitimize downloading said roms in the eyes of others. So yes, ethically there is a small difference. Which is also why using emulators for brand new games shouldn't be advertised. Monkey see, monkey does. That's the human race.

Yeah, that was the only reason I could think of as well.  But honestly that argument doesn't hold much weight with me. I just did a quick search for the Skyward Sword ISO, since I don't remember where I got it from.  None of the sites showed a download tally of any kind.  I'll admit I didn't spend much time looking, though.  So if we're talking about a download tally only visible to the owner of the site, then I suppose the owner would see an additional download from me.  So in some miniscule way, I have validated the pirate's existence. Though I doubt I was the "make or break" statistic for any of the Wii or Gamecube games I have downloaded.  PS1/PS2 games I always ripped on my own.  And I suppose you could also make the argument that I am indirectly supporting piracy by giving one more download for Rawdump, which is the program I use to rip my Wii games today.  But people are going to rip and pirate whether or not I download or rip games I have already paid for.  I'm a small non-existent drop in the bucket of the piracy world.

That's an argument everyone can make, until everyone does it and well you see where that is going. That's ofcourse the whole thing with piracy. As long as only a few people do it, it's not a problem. Encouraging more people to download roms, simply by the act of downloading roms, is tipping the scale ever so slightly. You can see, I'm not the make or break statistic, yet you're still just as responsible as all the other ones that are not the make or break statistic by themselves.

As another anolagy. Suppose you use public transport, have a monthly or yearly pass yet decide it's too much trouble to carry it along with you. Is it alright to jump the entry barrier at the station as you paid for it anyway? What about the kids seeing you 'legally' jump the barrier. And what does it hurt anyone if some people don't pay for public transport.

Anyway you probably are a non-existent drop as a legal owner who downloads the occasional copy of owned software. The effect on piracy is likely negligable. Ironically when more people do the 'right' thing, that effect gets bigger :/