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would you consider this legal?

Kat King123

Kat King123

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jan 3, 2009
195
0
i have been wondering, lets say you go out and buy a mac from apple with leopard on it. For some reason or anther you seem to have lost your recovery disk and need to get it for whatever reason. Would say, it would be ok to torrent the image? Not that i need to do this i have a retail version and a restore disk but just wondering what are your thoughts?:D
 
I wouldn't think it would be illegal. Just in a bit of a grey zone.

Just like downloading ROMs isn't illegal if you own the original game.
 
iamkewl said:
I wouldn't think it would be illegal. Just in a bit of a grey zone.

Just like downloading ROMs isn't illegal if you own the original game.
Click to expand...

It is illegal no matter what the reason is, you did not own that copy that you downloaded.

If I lost my copy of 1984, does that mean I have the right to go to the store and take one home? Don't give me the "it's not the same thing, its virtual and victimless" stuff, it's still stealing no matter how you cut it.

The laws allow you to back up what you own, not download a similar copy from the Internet. You have to make and provide your own copies.
 
iamkewl said:
I wouldn't think it would be illegal. Just in a bit of a grey zone.

Just like downloading ROMs isn't illegal if you own the original game.
Click to expand...

You can always find some justification for piracy or thief.

pirated copies of OSx and other software often contain trojans which can be really nasty.

Get some ethics and get replacement disks from Apple.
 
MikhailT said:
It is illegal no matter what the reason is, you did not own that copy that you downloaded.

If I lost my copy of 1984, does that mean I have the right to go to the store and take one home? Don't give me the "it's not the same thing, its virtual and victimless" stuff, it's still stealing no matter how you cut it.

The laws allow you to back up what you own, not download a similar copy from the Internet. You have to make and provide your own copies.
Click to expand...

ok i understand now i really was just wondering thanks for taking the time to clear it up:)
 
old-wiz said:
You can always find some justification for piracy or thief.

pirated copies of OSx and other software often contain trojans which can be really nasty.

Get some ethics and get replacement disks from Apple.
Click to expand...

Ethics isn't involved at all here. You're allowed to own backups of the software yu own. If Apple makes it difficult or even "impossible" to do so, then I see no problem downloading a copy someone else has made.

Its one thing if you lose a physical good; it cost money to physically build the item. If you lose a digital good, it doesn't cost anything to redownload it burn it yourself, save for a few hours, some bandwidth, and a blank disk.

Whats wrong with that?
 
This discussion is like Mac vs PC. To answer your question it is illegal. Its up to you whether its ethical. That's the question you should ask yourself. :p
 
MikhailT said:
It is illegal no matter what the reason is, you did not own that copy that you downloaded.

If I lost my copy of 1984, does that mean I have the right to go to the store and take one home? Don't give me the "it's not the same thing, its virtual and victimless" stuff, it's still stealing no matter how you cut it.
Click to expand...
It's not the same thing, as he/she bought a license to use software, not a physical disk. The physical disk is just a medium for storage of a piece of software he/she bought a license to use.
 
From my understanding it is not illegal to download, it is illegal to upload. Using bittorrent puts you on the illegal side as you are uploading as you download.

I'm not a lawyer, and I live in a different country to most of the people here (well, I assume I do, I'm not in the US of A).
 
kryptonianjorel said:
Ethics isn't involved at all here. You're allowed to own backups of the software yu own. If Apple makes it difficult or even "impossible" to do so, then I see no problem downloading a copy someone else has made.

Its one thing if you lose a physical good; it cost money to physically build the item. If you lose a digital good, it doesn't cost anything to redownload it burn it yourself, save for a few hours, some bandwidth, and a blank disk.

Whats wrong with that?
Click to expand...

He clearly stated already that he lost the recovery disks that was designed to be used to reinstall the OS on his computer. They aren't the same retail/oem image that can be installed on any Mac, they are built specifically to the models that he has.

A digital copy does not excuse a person from paying a replacement fee if he lost a physical disc.

jwt said:
It's not the same thing, as he/she bought a license to use software, not a physical disk. The physical disk is just a medium for storage of a piece of software he/she bought a license to use.
Click to expand...

It doesn't excuse him to download software from illegal sources.
He can only get the software from the actual company that he licensed from. It doesn't matter if it is an exact copy bit by bit, downloading it from someplace other than Apple isn't applicable by this license.

A different way to explain is like the DRM crap, like somebody buying an mp3 file from iTunes. Technically, that person paid for a license for that mp3 track in iTunes from Apple, the person don't own that track and this mp3 is only retrievable from iTunes. They can't download an mp3 from some illegal source (meaning other than iTunes) and claim that they have the right to download a DRM-free song since they bought a copy (really a license) from Apple.

Just like we have no real ownership to the OS X which means nobody can download it from other sources other than Apple and claim that they have the right to do so.

NightGeometry said:
From my understanding it is not illegal to download, it is illegal to upload. Using bittorrent puts you on the illegal side as you are uploading as you download.

I'm not a lawyer, and I live in a different country to most of the people here (well, I assume I do, I'm not in the US of A).
Click to expand...

The laws are specific to the country, no legal system are the same. In USA, it is illegal to download or upload copyrighted material that you have no authorization to, simple as that.
 
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