Slashdot Mirror
GTA: San Andreas Leaked
Anonymous Coward cuts-and-pastes: "Less than a week after a pirated version of Halo 2 began appearing on the Web, another of the year's most sought after games has been stolen. Ironically, it also happens to be a game titled after a larcenous act itself. That's right. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas has become the latest victim of piracy, with illegal copies of the game, its manual, and its cover appearing on various Web sites." Update: 10/21 13:54 GMT by Z : Rockstar adds some details to what we know about the crime in a press release covered by CVG.
I know this is Slashdot, but these piracies are really hurting. I don't know about the financial aspect of things, but a lot of programmers worked really hard for this, and stealing the program just takes the shine out of all the work they put into it.
0 /20/news_6111057.html
We hate licensing and the such, but how far away are we from USB dongles?
Oh, Coralized Link.
http://www.gamespot.com.nyud.net:8090/news/2004/1
A NYC lawyer blogs. http://www.chuangblog.com/
It's not surprising that the theft of this game is considered news on Slashdot, considering the demographics. This puerile offering will probably be the most 'action' that Slashdotters will get in their lives. And yet you wonder why there aren't women in tech, as you sit around in your jammies playing out your sexist fantasies on your gaming console??
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Please post bittorrent links.... thanks!
:-P
I guess you're joking, but just to be an AC ass for once...
Link
Mirror
Look, I know a guy who's working on it, a really decent man. He has a wife, a child, and another on the way.
What about all the good things hitler did?
I've had enough abrasive sigs. Kittens are cute and fuzzy.
"Downloading, possession and distribution of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, including making the game available on the internet, is theft."
So:
- Possession of the game is theft.
- Distribution of the game is theft.
Does that mean we're not allowed to buy it, nor are high-street shops allowed to sell it, once the game is officially released?
Do you consider this behavior not immoral? Or do you just have a beef with the term 'theft'?
It's not theft plain and simple. There is a constant misuse of the word in the media because of companies using scare tactics.
Theft is the act of physically depriving someone of a piece of their property. By me copying and downloading and then spreading their product I haven't denied them of anything.
Hopefully Rockstar is listening. I WILL NOT BUY YOUR PRODUCTS AGAIN UNTIL YOU CHANGE YOUR TACTICS.
Couldn't have happened to a better company.
FUCK those morons who produce this game..
I'm all for Doom style violence, but when you get into car jacking and shit like that.. go to hell..
whoever modded my above post -1 troll
go cheney yourself.
and fuck rockstar games too
Suppose everyone obtained their copy from a friend instead of buying it...
Yeah, yeah, yeah... Suppose your grandma had a cock - then she would have been a granddad, wouldn't she? We are talking real world here, not some imaginary netherland. And in real world games are made and they are sold. You can't harm Electronic Arts, Adobe or Microsoft by pirating their products, no matter how much you try.
Copyright is a rather artificial construct.
It's also rather old, so most people don't remember the reasons for its existence.
Answer: because it still takes money to create the work, and publishers should be able to make a profit on it.
Nope. Publishers should not be able to do anything. It's that people should be able to get more public domain games, and copyright might influence publishers into funding more such games (that become public domain after the copyright expires). Developers and publishers have no right to profit, not right at all, except in as much as customers will voluntarily pay them. If I don't want to support Rockstar, this is not your business, this is not govenment's, FBI's or BSA's business - this is strictly between me and Rockstar - I either pay them or I don't.
Only a communist would demand that publishers and artists work for nothing... and that is what you are demanding when you state that it is OK to copy software.
First, there is nothing wrong with communism. There was a thriving community of authors, film directors, musicians, etc. in the Soviet Union. Not surprisingly, everyone in the world could legally copy their work for free, just like USSR was able to freely copy and publish foreign works.
Second, noone "demands" that Rockstar works (BTW, why you keep saying that publishers work - are you "working" for one?) for free. It's free market - they can work if they believe they can sell enough copies. If they can't, they don't have too. But please, don't demand that I pay money to publishers and artists - I don't necessarily give a shit about them.
Of course there are reasons why copying actually helps rather than hurts: people can have a free preview, it's like free advertising for the publisher, etc. etc. But if you copy something and continue to use it, I have no problems calling you a thief of the artist and of those who paid for their legitimate copy.
All reasons you list are irrelevant. People may copy products simply because it helps THEM. Everyone should have free access to knowledge, art and other types of information for free and without artificial limitations. This has nothing to do with being a thief - after all, aren't you stealing the letters from the Latin alphabet, you cleptolingo scum?
OK, I'll bite.
Bite me instead.
Future Wiki -- If you don't think about the future, you cannot have one.
Did I state anywhere that no company would ever be harmed by piracy? No. I did not state that. It's nice to know that an irrelevant argument, one which I did not even make, is invalid. Good job. I simply stated that video games are in no danger of extinction. This is because the profits being realized by successful game companies are so great that if the current players all suddenly vanished, there would be a new crop in place tomorrow. Are you saying I'm wrong about that? (Note to the pedantic: I realize it might take more than one day. I was using mild exaggeration to underscore my point.) Note that I also did not endorse software piracy at any point, nor did I advance the notion or implication that I am 'special' or better than anyone else, much less everyone else. For the record: I am not a unique snowflake, and I pay for my games. I don't encourage others not to. I simply stated that there will always be people who will pirate games. Again, would you care to contradict me on that point? If you don't care to address the points I actually made, rather than the fanciful imaginations of your fevered brain, please don't bother to respond.
http://xkcd.com/386/
I'd like to see you say that its ok to do it.
I'll tell you the same thing I told the other troll: you won't see me say any such thing. Nor have you seen me say any such thing. Bzzt. Sorry. Try again.
http://xkcd.com/386/
You corrected an assertion that I did not make. Besides, companies in every field go out of business every single day. Am I more heartless for mentioning that fact than you are for bemoaning it? It's just the way it goes. My family owned a business at one point, and it went under because of my step-dad's drug use and gambling debts. It was a good company, too. That doesn't mean that I think drug use and gambling are going to go away just from me bitching about it. The harsh fact is, if your business can't survive it doesn't matter why. Would I prefer living in a utopia where no one ever acted in an immoral fashion? Of course. Do I believe that endless bitching about not living in such a society on slashdot is going to bring that state about? Hell no. All I'm saying is that there has been nothing added to this debate in the last 1500 conversations about it I've seen on slashdot, so why not end it? In fact, I'm going to follow my own advice. Feel free to respond if you like, but I am through with this topic.
http://xkcd.com/386/