cdbeck
Posts: 1374
Joined: 8/16/2005 From: Indiana Status: offline
|
Ok, so I got very curious about something and I wanted to know a bit more about it. I don't want anyone to think that I am planning anything nefarious, or that I am some sort of "pirate" (at least not of the software variety... yaaargh), so keep that in mind. I have seen, here and on other sites, people trading and selling digital download versions of games that they have bought. First off, how does one do this? Lets say, for instance, I bought a game here from Matrix called "My Little Pony at War." I did not get the boxed version, and got the digital DL only. Say I either played it completely or just didn't get caught up in it. How does one sell, trade, or gift something that does not have a physical presence and whose serial number has been assigned to me? If I want to sell "MLP@W," is this strictly legal if I erase any copy and install file after I send the file to the buyer? Lets say I want to trade "MLP@W" to a buyer for another game "He-man in the Trenches" that he himself bought from DDL? Do we just swap install files and serial numbers and call it a day? How can I differentiate this from outright piracy, where a person buys or cracks a game then distributes it? Now I realize that one could simply burn the install file to a CD, along with a word doc with the serial number, and send it to the buyer/receiver. However, is this valid and legal? Would the buyer have trouble using that serial number (I am only talking about Matrix's system ATM, as I know on Steam or other DDL sites this could be an issue)? Is this some strange middle zone about copyright and ownership? I ask because I know that there are game trading sites out there that trade digitally downloaded games, and I do know that people gift and sell these things all the time. I just don't understand the process and the trust system needed, as well as the legality of the process. I myself have a copy of C:EaW that I would not mind giving a new home, but breaking the law, being ethically questionable, or borderline dishonest is not worth the coin I might gain in selling. So is there a "right" way to do this sort of thing, or with the laws about ownership of digital assets and copyright prevent any transfer of these types of "goods?" Like I said, this is mostly curiosity here. Any thoughts? SoM
< Message edited by Son_of_Montfort -- 12/6/2007 8:04:36 PM >
_____________________________
"Neca eos omnes. Deus suos agnoscet!" (Kill them all. God will know his own.) -- Arnaud-Armaury, the Albigensian Crusade
|