Threshold for Piracy?

bigwayne writes "A continuing source of internal discussion, among the organizers of Zion LAN, is the topic of how strict we are to be concerning software piracy. It just seems common sense that a LAN party would be a perfect place to share music, software, movies, and do other reprehensible acts. However there isn't much, outside discouraging the act itself, that we can do to actually stop these things. One strong argument is that the legitimately obtained software we provide shares the same distribution method that the illegally obtained software does, and I wonder if this creates a double-standard far outside of any legal situation it creates. Another part of this also concerns our particular situation (our LAN is being hosted by a non-profit charitable organization), in that we'd be ethically remiss if we sat idly by and let such things happen, unmitigated. So, where do we stop passively caring about piracy, and when do we start cracking down? Are the circumstances of a LAN party such that trying to stop it is overambitious?"

Comments

Re:LAN party cds.

[HoneyBunchesOfGoats]

This is sort of like the old game Total Annihilation. The game came with two CDs, one was a "multiplayer disk" that you could give to a friend so the two of you could play against each other.

I also like the attitude of Epic Games; for UT2k3 and 2k4, it will let any number of people with the same CD Key play on a lan-only game, but a unique key is required to play over the internet.

Re:LAN party cds.

[Minna Kirai]

When you buy a game, you could get an extra "LAN party" CD that can be passed around and copied however you want.

Blizzard used to do this, at least in the era of Starcraft. They called it a Spawn install, and it was an installed copy that could only be used in network games against someone running the same CD which made this install.

Do what is ethical and moral for you

[Anonymous Coward]

Don't be a sheep, led by politicians, lawyers, corporations and pressure groups. (In either direction.)

You know what is right and what is wrong, and the limits beyond which right turns into wrong. Honour your personal code, and that's all that matters.

Re:Balance

[bigwayne]

And this is what it looks like it's going to be: a clever balancing act. Obviously theres going to be something going on, and while it's not particularly our responsibility, we are still charged with creating an environment that discourages "rampant open piracy", and thats what we're trying to do. We're not trying to play corporate cops.

I'm actually relieved that you translated this so well, and you know what we're looking at here. Thanks :D