as long as you have cd key you can downlaod diablo and many other blizzard games for free on their sit

it's true i noticed that when i installed SCII (broke the CD in 2000)... i should try to find it :p (and for my other bliz games too... though i gave wc3 to a friend ^^)

thanks

It is illegal for the same reason that the big banks and GM got bailed out, and Sony can install a virus on your computer without (significant) legal consequences ...

Governments all around the world have taken on larger roles within the economy (sold to people by convincing them that they're "helping" them or "helping the poor") and this power is heavily used to protect the interests of those people who have money or power.

It is not illegal to make backups, but as long as people are willing to abuse backups companies will do evrything to prevent you from playing such a backup.

If they can figure out how to tie a backup to the original is such a way that they can only be used by 1 person at a time, then I'm sure they will sell you all the stuff you could ever want to make as many backups as you like.

They would even prefer a system where a game is uniquely tied to you and can't be used by anyone else. Would you prefer that? It already exists, downloadable games, no resale possibility, but you can backup your hdd as many times as you like. But will you still be able to play them in 10 years?

Modding your system isn't illegal. You can mod your system any way you damn well please. Lots and lots and lots of people play their Wii games off of external hard drives.

Just because you're legally allowed to do something doesn't mean the corporation is obligated to make it easy for you to do so. Where they cross the line is when they cross away from "not making it easy," to, "altering or destroying your private property" in pursuit of those goals

Exactly why I "borrowed" a back-up car from the dealership.  If my original car breaks, are they gonna replace it?  Hell no!  And I'm NOT getting insurance, either.  I heard many retailers let you buy a protection plan for new (maybe even used) games.  I don't get that plan, either.  I've only had two games break in three decades.  One of them, I burned the scratches out with a cigarette lighter.  The other, I bit in half because it sucked.

^^^BTW, burning the scratches is the reason the game broke.  It worked perfectly well with the scractches in it.

i'm not entirely sure about video games but...

The MPAA argued in a lawsuit against Real Networks that even making one copy (backup) is illegal.  Real Networks lost that lawsuit too.

Now i'm extrapolating a bit here but I'm pretty sure video games sold in disc form has roughly the same user licensing agreements meaning making backup strictly speaking is illegal.

now practically speaking, if all you do is make a backup for yourself and don't distribute you aren't likely to get caught.    ...but this is the reason why there are no "legal" backup programs availible and why the only way to make a backup is to jailbreak your system to run illegal softwares.

...the only true expection that i know about is psn in which any software you buy can be downloaded to 5 machines under the user agreement.  hence why game sharing (while not following the spirit of the law) is in fact legal.  i think steam could fall into this category as well but i'm not familur enough with steam to say anything for certain.

I apologize for being pedantic, but the EULA has little to do with it; in most jurisdictions, EULAs aren't legally enforceable. Nintendo says you're not allowed to have backups, but oh boy, you sure are.