Does this bug anyone else?
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I think I'd be disturbed if one of my players physically stole a book because "real" money is being lost (no IP arguments please). The only time I've been annoyed by a PDF user was someone who had a couple CDs worth and hadn't bought anything. My usual players at least all have the PHB and splat books for their characters. If they're using a PDF it's probably for some OGL feat they need to min-max a character. I do have a player who is really cheap and won't use PDFs even for a reference (when I own the actual book) and I find that almost as annoying.
buzz
Adventurer
Give me a break.
So, you're an "ends justify the means" sort of fellow, then.
No wonder I don't agree with you.
Well, this thread is about D&D books, and D&D books are not necessary for life, and you have no right to them. RPGs are essentially a luxury item. If you can't afford them, it's not WotC's fault. Consequently, they don't deserve to be ripped off.
So, as long as you conscience is clean, you justify anything? E.g.,
"I don't feel a bit sorry about forcibly hacking off his hands and feeding them to his cat, so you can't judge me because my conscience is clean."
That's just great.
Okay, but we can assume you have access to one. If you also have access to a printer, you're golden.
Hopping Vampire said:
So, you're an "ends justify the means" sort of fellow, then.
No wonder I don't agree with you.
Hopping Vampire said:
Well, this thread is about D&D books, and D&D books are not necessary for life, and you have no right to them. RPGs are essentially a luxury item. If you can't afford them, it's not WotC's fault. Consequently, they don't deserve to be ripped off.
Hopping Vampire said:
So, as long as you conscience is clean, you justify anything? E.g.,
"I don't feel a bit sorry about forcibly hacking off his hands and feeding them to his cat, so you can't judge me because my conscience is clean."
That's just great.
Hopping Vampire said:
Okay, but we can assume you have access to one. If you also have access to a printer, you're golden.
Buttercup
Princess of Florin
Janos Audron said:
(I was in the middle of posting a response to this earlier, when my internet connection crapped out. But I wanted to respond.)
Janos, I'm glad I don't know you in real life. Your moral bankruptcy is a sad, sad thing. But I don't pity you, because you are choosing your own path.
Utrecht
First Post
Like many others on the discussion I feel that piracy is moraly and ethically wrong.
When I was in college - I used to have more than my fair share of "gold-edition" software - using the justification of:
1) I am poor and can not offord it or
2) If I like it I will buy it later (which 90% of the time never happened)
After univeristy I got a job at a software company - and that is where it hit me how wrong this practice is - since it DIRECTLY affects an organization's bottom line. We would regularly catch people and companys stealing the software (using the same justification as above).
Now fast forward a couple of years. I have changed companies, but I still work for a software product company whose lifeblood comes from 2 sources of revenue.
1) New licenses
2) Software Maintenance
Now when people steal software, they not only take money money from my company this year, but for the next five......
What is the impact - Well every day I go into the office I see it. Two years ago, there were 42 people in my office. Now there are 4 - yes 4 people representing a 90% reduction in force. Now I will be the first to agree that not all of this is due to theft - but a fair portion is (I do not have the exact figure in front of me, but for us theft represents a 1 - 2 million dollar a year problem) - after all with a larger cash reserve companies can keep people longer.
So the bottom line is while it may seem victimless - just wait until your Spouse, your Mom or Dad or Best Friend is laid off - they just became a victim and I would love nothing better than to have every intellectual property theif apologize to the 38 people that have gotten laid off in my office - and again justify that they are not hurting anybody!!!!!!
end of lecture....
When I was in college - I used to have more than my fair share of "gold-edition" software - using the justification of:
1) I am poor and can not offord it or
2) If I like it I will buy it later (which 90% of the time never happened)
After univeristy I got a job at a software company - and that is where it hit me how wrong this practice is - since it DIRECTLY affects an organization's bottom line. We would regularly catch people and companys stealing the software (using the same justification as above).
Now fast forward a couple of years. I have changed companies, but I still work for a software product company whose lifeblood comes from 2 sources of revenue.
1) New licenses
2) Software Maintenance
Now when people steal software, they not only take money money from my company this year, but for the next five......
What is the impact - Well every day I go into the office I see it. Two years ago, there were 42 people in my office. Now there are 4 - yes 4 people representing a 90% reduction in force. Now I will be the first to agree that not all of this is due to theft - but a fair portion is (I do not have the exact figure in front of me, but for us theft represents a 1 - 2 million dollar a year problem) - after all with a larger cash reserve companies can keep people longer.
So the bottom line is while it may seem victimless - just wait until your Spouse, your Mom or Dad or Best Friend is laid off - they just became a victim and I would love nothing better than to have every intellectual property theif apologize to the 38 people that have gotten laid off in my office - and again justify that they are not hurting anybody!!!!!!
end of lecture....
How does open gaming lisence fit into this?
The following is an actual question, not a cheap rationale for piracy. I geniunely don't know the answer to this.
It is my understanding that certain materials in every d20 book are public domain, that is, the author makes no claim to copyright ownership. Typically, these are the "crunchy bits" spells, feats, classes, etc. This is delineated at the beginning of the manuscript.
If you download the PDF (say from Kazaa) and then keep only the "open" material (and even perhaps distribute this material to your group along with the Liscence) have you violated any laws? Would it be legal to download PDFs, create your own campaing book of crunchy bits, and then send this (along with the liscence) to whomever you chose?
The following is an actual question, not a cheap rationale for piracy. I geniunely don't know the answer to this.
It is my understanding that certain materials in every d20 book are public domain, that is, the author makes no claim to copyright ownership. Typically, these are the "crunchy bits" spells, feats, classes, etc. This is delineated at the beginning of the manuscript.
If you download the PDF (say from Kazaa) and then keep only the "open" material (and even perhaps distribute this material to your group along with the Liscence) have you violated any laws? Would it be legal to download PDFs, create your own campaing book of crunchy bits, and then send this (along with the liscence) to whomever you chose?
Fast Learner
First Post
The oft-repeated "stay out of other people's business" defense is, of course, nonsense. We live together in a society, of which we are all members. When other members of the society are doing something which negatively affects us in the aggregate, it is our responsibility to get into each others' business, most especially in situations where the law of the land cannot realistically see the crime being committed or do anything about it.
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