Is it Illegal To...

[Windows Sniper]

Download Software from a Torrent Site, If you have purchased the Full Product But Broke the Cd/dvd for the installation?


Not Saying i have i was just wondering

 

[StalkeR]

I don't think so. Using torrents is treated as crimial as I know.

 

[Schroff87]

Some would throw a fit but if you have a valid license/key ... go ahead!

 

[Windows Sniper]

Some would throw a fit but if you have a valid license/key ... go ahead!

Haha i did say, Its not for me

This was more a Discussion about would it be considered illegal?

What would companies think?

 

[seavixen32]

Providing you have proof of purchase and have kept the product key, vendors will probably supply a replacement disc at a reasonable price if you ask nicely.

Better still, burn a copy as soon as you buy any new software. It'll save you a lot of grief in the long run.

However, unless there is a law banning torrents, how can they be illegal?

 

[Schroff87]

Haha i did say, Its not for me

This was more a Discussion about would it be considered illegal?

What would companies think?

Companies would hate it if you take away from them to nickel & dime you 'nuff said about them! lol!

 

[pparks1]

Companies from a legal standpoint will usually approach the torrent site directly and legally push on them to get the torrent removed directly. They aren't usually going to go after the end user who downloaded it.

However, I strongly discourage the use of torrent sites for any commercial software of any kind. I simply cannot trust that the software wasn't tampered with and thus leaving me open for a security breach. Also, you can sometimes run into strange and wacky error messages caused by the manipulated code (which is often changed to bypass activation, etc). With the plethora of good free and open source software, there are always alternatives if you cannot afford to pay for the commercial version.

 

[Wishmaster]

Legality aside ..

How do you know if what you downloaded is legit?
What was removed or "added" to it?

Most software can just be re-downloaded from the official source.
In some cases, going to the official site and downloading the latest trial version works too. Just apply your key and it unlocks to a full version.

If its legit, why not go this route? You know 100% for certain what you are getting. That can not be said for the same thing downlaoded as a torrent.
Also, if its legit license, there is no reason what-so-ever to download a pirated copy.
Worst possible scenario you'll need to contact Customer Support and they will help you.

Or as mentioned, you can just request a disc version sent to you, for a small fee.

Any software I purchase & downlaod gets burned to a DVD/CD, along with the keys, reciept etc and stored away. That way I always have a copy.

 

[Darryl Licht]

Most license agreements allow you to make a backup copy of your disc... I always make a physical disc and create an iso (just in case) I also copy the reg key into the folder where I store iso file.

My main concern with getting a copy from a torrent site is that the copy may have a little extra something-something you do not want! :sarc:

 

[EvilOzzmess]

Absolutely not. You bought the license (or 'lease') and technically not just that copy of the software itself. Go for it. I do it all of the time, because to be frank, ripping a copy off of disks that I've bought is too time consuming and stresses out my system too much to do it, especially in the case of movies, (and yeah, even with 4GB RAM and Core 2 Duo), so I torrent instead to speed up the process. I've never had a problem. Up to you of course, but I really do not think that they can go after you on any grounds if you have the product key/license.

As for ripping copies as soon as you get the new software/disks etc.: this isn't always possible because of the spyware security crap they lace into the disks. It takes more experienced people to crack that and get rid of it and to then unlock the contents so they can be copied and whatever else you want to do with them (ESPECIALLY software and movies). This is reason No. 2 that I personally torrent instead of rip as well, because I'm not a programmer and can't do it.

Oh, and FYI... the FED's predominately only go after people who are moving a heck of a lot of data over Torrents (we are talking over 100GB's in a week or more here). Pretty sure you will be safe with this bit of software.


This all said, be smart and DO NOT download torrents that have little or no information, and always check the feedback or comments on them to make sure its legit and that there aren't any 'extras' in it!

 

[boohbah]

i would think you could download a trial version from the software manufacturer and activate the full version using the legit activation codes .no need to torrent it.

 

[panais]

Legality aside ..

How do you know if what you downloaded is legit?
What was removed or "added" to it?

Most software can just be re-downloaded from the official source.
In some cases, going to the official site and downloading the latest trial version works too. Just apply your key and it unlocks to a full version.

If its legit, why not go this route? You know 100% for certain what you are getting. That can not be said for the same thing downlaoded as a torrent.
Also, if its legit license, there is no reason what-so-ever to download a pirated copy.
Worst possible scenario you'll need to contact Customer Support and they will help you.

Or as mentioned, you can just request a disc version sent to you, for a small fee.

Any software I purchase & downlaod gets burned to a DVD/CD, along with the keys, reciept etc and stored away. That way I always have a copy.

Very good point!

""How do you know if what you downloaded is legit?
What was removed or "added" to it?""

I totally agree with Wishmaster!!

 

[seavixen32]

Most software can just be re-downloaded from the official source.
In some cases, going to the official site and downloading the latest trial version works too. Just apply your key and it unlocks to a full version.

Good point.

It's exactly what I did for my copy of Adobe Design Premium CS4. I paid £10 to have Adobe send me the trial DVD set, which installed without a hitch and activated with my serial number.

This way, the original discs are untouched, while the trial discs saved me the aggravation of burning copies of the originals.

 

[Darryl Licht]

...because to be frank, ripping a copy off of disks that I've bought is too time consuming and stresses out my system too much to do it, especially in the case of movies, (and yeah, even with 4GB RAM and Core 2 Duo), so I torrent instead to speed up the process.

...As for ripping copies as soon as you get the new software/disks etc.: this isn't always possible because of the spyware security crap they lace into the disks. It takes more experienced people to crack that and get rid of it and to then unlock the contents so they can be copied and whatever else you want to do with them (ESPECIALLY software and movies). This is reason No. 2 that I personally torrent instead of rip as well, because I'm not a programmer and can't do it...

OP is talking about SW not movies... RIGHT???

Ripping a disc takes longer than a download from a torrent??? Somethings wrong with your system then... seriously wrong! I can rip an entire DVD in 7 minutes, to download a movie an hour on average, and I have same DL speed as you.

 

[Wishmaster]

I honestly believe that some software, and games for that matter, get a bad reputation due to reviews of the pirated versions.


Now, dont get me wrong. I do understand some may have tried a certain software and simply did not like it, or had legit issues. Nero is a big one, as some love it, some hate it.
And that is perfectly fine, everyone has a right to thier own opinion.


Im simply saying, I think some software and games get a bad rap due to pirated versions that are badly cracked, or other issues that were included with it.
I've never had any issue out of my software, but mine are all legit.


If you think about it, how many time have we seen someone with issues running a game or the game causing loads of problems?
Only to find out later its torrented copy.



As far as the movies go, yea .. it doesnt take long to rip one.
A BluRay disc will take about 30-45minutes to rip, and they take much longer than DVD. And thats 35-50GB of DATA.

Not only that, but pirated versions of movies use really poor encoding settings IMO.
Your better off, if the intent is to recode to file, doing it your self.

By the time you download a poorly encoded video, you could have ripped, recoded a high Quality Version of it, and be half way through watching it.
Why settle for mediocre, illegally, when you can have much better quality, faster, and legit?

I do apologize, and I do understand everyone has thier own opinion on things.
But no matter how hard I try, I can not find any justification at all for torrenting anything.

 

[EvilOzzmess]

...because to be frank, ripping a copy off of disks that I've bought is too time consuming and stresses out my system too much to do it, especially in the case of movies, (and yeah, even with 4GB RAM and Core 2 Duo), so I torrent instead to speed up the process.

...As for ripping copies as soon as you get the new software/disks etc.: this isn't always possible because of the spyware security crap they lace into the disks. It takes more experienced people to crack that and get rid of it and to then unlock the contents so they can be copied and whatever else you want to do with them (ESPECIALLY software and movies). This is reason No. 2 that I personally torrent instead of rip as well, because I'm not a programmer and can't do it...

OP is talking about SW not movies... RIGHT???

Ripping a disc takes longer than a download from a torrent??? Somethings wrong with your system then... seriously wrong! I can rip an entire DVD in 7 minutes, to download a movie an hour on average, and I have same DL speed as you.

I was stating all of that as a FOR-INSTANCE and a FYI kind of a thing to cover all the bases, not just specifically for the OP. But hey, maybe you're right... maybe there is something wrong with my system because it takes a good two hours for me to get the .ISO all put together no matter what it is... or maybe it's the program. Either way, don't know and don't really care. Torrents have saved my rear end dozens of times when my older game disks crapped out before I even figured out how to rip them myself (it isn't easy straight off and there's piss poor instructions out there for this type of thing, it's all trial and error). And way to blow right over the fact about security spyware crap making it almost IMPOSSIBLE to make a backup copy of most software and games today. So yeah, torrents come in handy and I personally see no problem with utilizing them if you've already paid for the content you're downloading, and I certainly don't consider that stealing under those circumstances and I don't think a Federal Court could either if you procure the proof - a disk and a serial. You may disagree, and that's fine. But that's my take on it and I'll be sticking to it.

 

[Wishmaster]

Software discs generally are not copy protected.
In most cases Internet activation or a legit key is required to activate, otherwise it reverts to trial or stops working all together.

 

[Schroff87]

I honestly believe that some software, and games for that matter, get a bad reputation due to reviews of the pirated versions.


Now, dont get me wrong. I do understand some may have tried a certain software and simply did not like it, or had legit issues. Nero is a big one, as some love it, some hate it.
And that is perfectly fine, everyone has a right to thier own opinion.


Im simply saying, I think some software and games get a bad rap due to pirated versions that are badly cracked, or other issues that were included with it.
I've never had any issue out of my software, but mine are all legit.


If you think about it, how many time have we seen someone with issues running a game or the game causing loads of problems?
Only to find out later its torrented copy.



As far as the movies go, yea .. it doesnt take long to rip one.
A BluRay disc will take about 30-45minutes to rip, and they take much longer than DVD. And thats 35-50GB of DATA.

Not only that, but pirated versions of movies use really poor encoding settings IMO.
Your better off, if the intent is to recode to file, doing it your self.

By the time you download a poorly encoded video, you could have ripped, recoded a high Quality Version of it, and be half way through watching it.
Why settle for mediocre, illegally, when you can have much better quality, faster, and legit?

I do apologize, and I do understand everyone has thier own opinion on things.
But no matter how hard I try, I can not find any justification at all for torrenting anything.

Lol @ the bold part, I remember that for Batman : Arkham Asylum & Crysis 2 (partially though)!!

 

[Darryl Licht]

... And way to blow right over the fact about security spyware crap making it almost IMPOSSIBLE to make a backup copy of most software and games today.

We arent suppossed to speak of those things in this forum... but if there's a will... there's a way! ... and I know a guy named Will! LOL!:roflmao:
If you want details PM me...

 

[Schroff87]

You need Magic to create an ISO of discs these days