Forked from DDI account sharing

[Witty Comeback]

Which of these situations would you consider immoral? Which of these would you consider illegal?

A friend likes the music you are playing in your car. Then you:

• Let him borrow the CD.
• Burn him a copy of the CD.
• Give him the CD.

You read Robert Frost's "Fire and Ice", and enjoy it. Then you:

• Write it down on paper and mail it to a friend.
• Make a copy and mail it to a friend.
• Call up a friend on the phone and recite it for them.
• Call up a friend on the phone and recite it for them slowly, so they can write it down.

You read "The Tales of Beedle the Bard", and enjoy it. Then you:

• Write it down on paper and mail it to a friend.
• Make a copy and mail it to a friend.
• Call up a friend on the phone and read it to them.
• Call up a friend on the phone and read it to them slowly, so they can write it down.

You subscribe to a website that allows you to watch videos and gives access to other "Premium Content." Then you:

• Invite friends over and watch the videos together.
• Make DVDs that include the videos and give them to your friends.
• Give out your username and password so that your friends can access the site for free.

You subscribe to the DDI. Then you:

• Download the CB onto your friends' laptops so that they can use it.
• Download the CB onto one friend's laptop so that they can use it. You later find out that he hacked your account and has accessed other content through your account.
• Give out your username and password to the other 7 Players in your group so that they can access your DDI account.

You get a new pdf of a splatbook, and want to use a feat for a PC. Then you:

• Print off the page with the feat and give it to your DM.
• Print out the splatbook, bind it, and share it around the gaming table.
• Give him an electronic copy of the book so that he can read it thoroughly; he deletes the copy after he reviews the feat.
• Give him an electronic copy of the book so that he can read it thoroughly; you later discover that he doesn't delete the copy and has a large collection of pdfs gathered in this fashion.

You buy a few pdfs with setting specific info, and you want to run a campaign. Then you:

• Type up a selection of relevant materials, print it, and hand them out to your group.
• Put the pdfs on a website where you gaming group (6 other people) have access to download copies if they know your password.
• Put the pdfs on an open website for anyone to download so that your group has access.

You're in a desert, walking along in the sand, when all of a sudden you look down and see a tortoise. It's crawling toward you . . . You reach down and you flip the tortoise over on its back. The tortoise lays on its back, its belly baking in the hot sun, beating its legs trying to turn itself over, but it can't. Not without your help. But you're not helping.

• Why is that Leon?

 

[Nagol]

Which of these situations would you consider immoral? Which of these would you consider illegal?

A friend likes the music you are playing in your car. Then you:

• Let him borrow the CD. Legal
• Burn him a copy of the CD. Illegal
• Give him the CD. Legal

You read Robert Frost's "Fire and Ice", and enjoy it. Then you:

• Write it down on paper and mail it to a friend. Legal (though I need to check public domain status... it should be there)
• Make a copy and mail it to a friend. Legal
• Call up a friend on the phone and recite it for them. Legal
• Call up a friend on the phone and recite it for them slowly, so they can write it down. Legal

You read "The Tales of Beedle the Bard", and enjoy it. Then you:

• Write it down on paper and mail it to a friend. Illegal
• Make a copy and mail it to a friend. Illegal
• Call up a friend on the phone and read it to them. Illegal (alternate form of performance)
• Call up a friend on the phone and read it to them slowly, so they can write it down. Illegal

You subscribe to a website that allows you to watch videos and gives access to other "Premium Content." Then you:

• Invite friends over and watch the videos together. Legal
• Make DVDs that include the videos and give them to your friends. Illegal
• Give out your username and password so that your friends can access the site for free. Illegal (almost certainly breaks TOU/TOS which guard your copyright access)

You subscribe to the DDI. Then you:

• Download the CB onto your friends' laptops so that they can use it. Illegal
• Download the CB onto one friend's laptop so that they can use it. You later find out that he hacked your account and has accessed other content through your account. Illegal
• Give out your username and password to the other 7 Players in your group so that they can access your DDI account. Illegal

You get a new pdf of a splatbook, and want to use a feat for a PC. Then you:

• Print off the page with the feat and give it to your DM. Legal (fair use)
• Print out the splatbook, bind it, and share it around the gaming table. Illegal
• Give him an electronic copy of the book so that he can read it thoroughly; he deletes the copy after he reviews the feat. Illegal
• Give him an electronic copy of the book so that he can read it thoroughly; you later discover that he doesn't delete the copy and has a large collection of pdfs gathered in this fashion. Illegal

You buy a few pdfs with setting specific info, and you want to run a campaign. Then you:

• Type up a selection of relevant materials, print it, and hand them out to your group. Possibly legal; needs clarification as to rights granted and material used
• Put the pdfs on a website where you gaming group (6 other people) have access to download copies if they know your password. Illegal
• Put the pdfs on an open website for anyone to download so that your group has access. Illegal

You're in a desert, walking along in the sand, when all of a sudden you look down and see a tortoise. It's crawling toward you . . . You reach down and you flip the tortoise over on its back. The tortoise lays on its back, its belly baking in the hot sun, beating its legs trying to turn itself over, but it can't. Not without your help. But you're not helping.

• Why is that Leon? Turtles are tasty

See above

 

[El Mahdi]

deleted

 

[Raven Crowking]

Speaking of potentially immoral situations, how about this:

You go into a bookstore or a game store and read sections of a new RPG book that you have no intention to buy at that store. You then go home and order it via Amazon.

You go into a comic book store to read the latest issue of Batman that you have no intention to buy.

You're in the grocery store, so you flip through the latest issue of Scientific American on the magazine rack, reading the interesting parts. You have no intention to buy.

All of these, IMHO, are immoral. Yet they are fairly common behaviours AFAICT. Certainly, most infringe the same "rights" as are infringed by "piracy".


RC

 

[Deset Gled]

I leave the question of legality up to the courts and license terms.

A friend likes the music you are playing in your car. Then you:

• Let him borrow the CD. - Moral
• Burn him a copy of the CD. - Marginally moral
• Give him the CD. - Moral

You read Robert Frost's "Fire and Ice", and enjoy it. Then you:

• Assuming this is under public domain, all are moral.

You read "The Tales of Beedle the Bard", and enjoy it. Then you:

• Enjoying this book is marginally moral to begin with. All options of sharing, less so

You subscribe to a website that allows you to watch videos and gives access to other "Premium Content." Then you:

• Invite friends over and watch the videos together. - If you've invited friends over for this type of activity, you're either much closer/experimental with most of your friends than I am, or a skeevy creep.
• Make DVDs that include the videos and give them to your friends. - If you're friends are under 18, this is highly illegal and immoral.
• Give out your username and password so that your friends can access the site for free. - Stupid. Many sites have a feature that cancels your account if you log in from multiple IPs at the same time to block this. I'm not going to risk my account for my friends.

You subscribe to the DDI. Then you:

• Download the CB onto your friends' laptops so that they can use it. - Moral. A big part of the DDI/CB is getting access to updates. Doing a one-time share for a game isn't a big deal.
• Download the CB onto one friend's laptop so that they can use it. You later find out that he hacked your account and has accessed other content through your account. - Immoral for the friend. If you're going to hack an account, don't hack mine
• Give out your username and password to the other 7 Players in your group so that they can access your DDI account. - Immoral

You get a new pdf of a splatbook, and want to use a feat for a PC. Then you:

• tl;dr

You're in a desert, walking along in the sand, when all of a sudden you look down and see a tortoise. It's crawling toward you . . . You reach down and you flip the tortoise over on its back. The tortoise lays on its back, its belly baking in the hot sun, beating its legs trying to turn itself over, but it can't. Not without your help. But you're not helping.

• Why is that Leon? - Leon has no roots.

 

[Witty Comeback]

The first, third, and fourth just seem to impractical for serious consideration.

"Fire and Ice" is like ten lines long. But, for Beedle, considerably longer.

Originally, I had "Paradise Lost."

Worst case: no loss, best case: new customer...besides the letter of the law, where's the harm in this?

Same as above.

Just tossing this out there: Does it matter to you that Robert Frost is dead and J.K. Rowling is still an active author?

 

[Witty Comeback]

If you've invited friends over for this type of activity, you're either much closer/experimental with most of your friends than I am, or a skeevy creep.

What if I was referring to sports, like NBA TV or something like that?

 

[El Mahdi]

deleted

 

[malcolm_n]

Give out your username and password to the other 7 Players in your group so that they can access your DDI account.

DDI only lets you update up to 5 individual IPs each month ; currently no questions asked.

This is good for my computer, my laptop, and my wife's computer in case mine craps out; which it does frequently enough to warrant it. My wife doesn't play D&D and will never have a reason to use it.

 

[Deset Gled]

What if I was referring to sports, like NBA TV or something like that?

Moral. This is the same as having friends over to watch a pay-per-view event or on-demand movie. I see nothing wrong with it, as long as it's a private event.

Legally, I believe this has been battled in the courts many times (at bars and such), and is perfectly legit as long as the owner doesn't charge for entry, and/or doesn't use trademarked names (i.e. Super Bowl or WWE) in advertising for the event.