Is this unethical or illegal?

[Prew]

My son's Homeworld CD became scratched and unplayable. So he borrowed his cousin's copy and installed Homeworld but used his own CD key- the one that came with the scratched CD.

I don't see anything wrong with this, but was wondering if I missed something.

[Iman74]

That's fine. As long as he paid for the license which is "his" key then there is nothing wrong with that.

[homer15]

would making a copy of the cousin's be illegal?

[Surge1243]

I don't think so as long as he uses his own CD key and not his cousin's. You're really only paying for the CD key which entitles you to play the game. So as long as he's using the CD key that he bought then it shouldn't matter what CD he's using.

[CaptTuna]

I always copy my game cd's any play using the copy. That way if I ever scratch or damage the cd I have the original to copy again.

[Prew]

I'm going to start doing that to- to avert any such problem in the future.

[Alienware_Dude]

Once my JK II: JO CD got ruined, and I contacted LucasArts; it was like $5 for them to send me a new CD, I just had to send the old disc to them. That sure beats buying a new game, and some games will not allow you to copy them.

[sleepypost]

i say you invest in a large HDD and just rip YOUR games to it. it will take a little time and effort but could save you big bucks.

[morriswindgate]

From all the panic on the web about the Patriot Act, I would say that , just for asking this question, your house is now surrounded by FBI agents and if you look out your bedroom window you will probably see John Ashcroft hidding in the bushes.

[Prew]

LOL, the neighbors are watching.

[Alienware_Dude]

Originally posted by sleepypost
i say you invest in a large HDD and just rip YOUR games to it. it will take a little time and effort but could save you big bucks.


I had to rip Deus Ex to my HDD and install it from there, or it would give me some error message.

[avx]

Tis a sad day when someone actually feels they must ask such a question.

Previous thoughts were right though, as long as he paid for the key, all is fine. That CD he has isnt worth the material it got scratched on...Its the CD key your really paying for when you bought that game.

Truly sad...I wouldnt want to be the first FBI agent through my door when they come after me:D

[Prew]

I asked the question because the answer would less clear if there wasn't a CD key.

[Xayd]

Originally posted by Alienware_Dude
I had to rip Deus Ex to my HDD and install it from there, or it would give me some error message.

Use CloneCD to rip and Daemon Tools to mount the image as a drive.

I use this method for "no cd" purposes and it works fine.

[Prew]

Alcohol 120% is good for ripping images also. It will also do the emulation for Securom 4.8.

[Alienware_Dude]

Nah, I just had to run the install from my HDD, and it worked fine. I don't need the CD to run it, either. To think, I nearly missed out on the perfecton that is Deus Ex!

[Garou]

I just wish they made CD's Tougher so they wont get scrathed.........