is it legal to dl games??

[AngryGir]

He asked can he download a NTSC version legally, if he owns an original PAL version. The short answer is no. PAL region is different than NTSC, so it is not a copy of the game he bought. If he asked if he could download a PAL copy, the answer might be different.

Now into the legal grey areas of internet downloading...

When Nintendo started sueing people for sharing the roms of classic nintendo games, who did they go after?

They people who were sharing them on their websites.

Why?

Because the owner of the website was sharing illegally protected material.

Was the downloader breaking the law?

Short answer no. He had no way of being 100% sure that the webpage was not properly being freely shared by the website in a legal manner. Therefore the intent to break the law was the intent of the owner of the websites in question.

But I agree one hundred percent with the person that said, something illegal in the cannot be made legal again. So this is kind of grey area in law. For example, if you stole a gun, you could not sell it to a gun shop, and that the gun shop could sell the gun legally. To show that you are on the right side of the law you would need to find specific cases where the trail judge had ruled one way or another. These are the kind of questions that keep lawyers busy in court.

[J_A_C_K]

It pretty much depends where u live. If u live in the US u are breakin' the copyright laws, but if u live in a country like me u are just downloading a legal backup of your game.

I remember my old bizz teach' laughing at the Microsoft license that came with Windows 95. It was filled with these "u must not do this and that" under copyright laws, but since I dont live in US those (C) and (R) didnt mean didlydoday (absolutely nothing).

Dont get me wrong tho' , my country does have strickt laws about rights of ownership. Some are preatty weird tho like : It ok if I borrow a audio cd from a friend and make a copy and keep it when I return the original. But if I make a copy of the copy its illegal as hell
Another funny one: If I borrow a game/audio cd from the library and make a copy ... its ok if i keep the copy when i return the original

In some countrys u probably get your head chopped off if u even look at a copy of somethin' (like China or Tibet) poor bastards.

If u are in Spain u are pretty lucky... I belive u can share like an insane on the net there.

So if your country's laws says it ok to download a backup of somethin u paid for it ok. Technically a ntsc and pal games isnt the same so I guess it wont be legal in your country. Then again who wound know about it ... just make sure u dont share the download with others because THAT is illegal pretty much anywhere.

So your disc is broken... did u keep the bill/bought-paper(s)? In my country u if return a broken or faulty electronic device (like a games dvd) the shop must replace the broken one with a new .... and if they cant they MUST pay back the full price if broken within 3 years (No im not kiddin').

Same goes with shoes/boots. If my boots break within 6 month of purchase the shop must replace or compensate ... im on my 7th pair of shoes and I havnt paid more than once. It pays off to know the law (just remember to keep those bills)

U might wanna check your local laws too... U never know if u might break a laws or somethin... like its forbidden to see deer or moose to have sex in public (no... im not jokin').

[Thinkdiff]

And what country is that? I'm moving to it tomorrow

[ashmufc]

LOL, me too!

[J_A_C_K]

Denmark!

I believe the "no live Pr0n-animals" thingy is from Canada tho (I read it somewhere else )

The "shoes/cd/dvd/electronics"-break thinky is all Danish, just remember to be stubborn and quote the "Law of buyers" if the clerk is givin' you a hard time

I do think they are lookin' at the copyrights thingy in the good ol' EU-parlament. But nobody really cares. Its just like if I have to travel out of the country, I have to get a doctor to write a "ok"-note on every parmaceutical I bring along (accordin to the EU). So like they did a checkup last year on what countrys followed the "ok"-note thingy .. and none did (doh! )