Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Is this considered piracy?

Do you consider this piracy?

  • Yes

    Votes: 9 64.3%

  • No

    Votes: 5 35.7%
  • Total voters
    14
Status
Not open for further replies.
B

Boesky

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Lets say I purchased Windows XP in 2004. It's in my basement hidden beneath hundreds of papers, crates, and containers. I just go on a torrent website and download a copy, burn it, and install. Piracy?

Yes or No?
 
Boesky said:
Lets say I purchased Windows XP in 2004. It's in my basement hidden beneath hundreds of papers, crates, and containers. I just go on a torrent website and download a copy, burn it, and install. Piracy?

Yes or No?
Click to expand...

Just dig it out of the basement and then you don't even have to worry about it!
 
Absolutely not. You have a license to use one copy. If the "software police" came knockin' at your door, then you'd better be diggin' up that license.
 
BlackiBook said:
Just dig it out of the basement and then you don't even have to worry about it!
Click to expand...

^^^
THIS.

Anyway, back to the question. IF you download the same version (Home, Professional, etc), and there is no crack on that version (good luck with that), then it shouldn't be, even though Microsoft will try to say otherwise. Technically, you are just getting the media.
 
Technically it is piracy as you are participating in unauthorized reproduction of something. But if one owns the license, it shouldn't cause any legal problems as long as it can be produced when needed. It would probably be faster to dig the disc up, though.
 
But wouldn't the question be of a valid product key?? He has to put that in for it to be legal! I could give out tons of XP install CDs but not product keys... That is where the question of legality comes in...
 
BlackiBook said:
But wouldn't the question be of a valid product key?? He has to put that in for it to be legal! I could give out tons of XP install CDs but not product keys... That is where the question of legality comes in...
Click to expand...

Yeah, that is where the question comes from. Basically, if you use your existing key, but use another install media, you are ok. And only install it once, obviously.
 
I can't get the Microsoft licence page to open right now, but I believe that it explicitly allows you to make a copy of the media. The trick would be getting your product key, which is probably stored along with your CD 🙂
 
This is one of the many examples of why Piracy has become so popular in the first place. It's more convenient, it's faster and on top of that, not only is it cheaper, but it's completely FREE!

If you're sat at home and you decide you'd like to buy a piece of software for your computer, it's highly unlikely you feel like hopping in the car to drive to the store to buy said software. Why would you even do that, when you can easily hop on a torrent site and download the software faster than you could drive to the store.

IF the software company offered the software online to purchase and download in the first place, I highly doubt that piracy would have ever even taken off. But once people realize they can get something for free, they aren't going to go out of their way to be moral citizens.
 
If you torrent it, you're uploading as well as downloading.
Plus you'd still need to get your original disc for your license key...
 
Nermal said:
I can't get the Microsoft licence page to open right now, but I believe that it explicitly allows you to make a copy of the media. The trick would be getting your product key, which is probably stored along with your CD 🙂
Click to expand...

Not necessarily. Sometimes the license sticker is on the back of the PC, so depending on the chaotic state of his basement, downloading a torrent and applying his legal key might indeed be easier, and as long as he uses his valid key, I don't see anything wrong in that.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back