Just a thought. It might be stupid.

[chemistrycourtney]

So If this is pure idiocy on my part, I'd say sharkbait away, and I'll not make this kid of posting mistake again.  *promise promise*  

I was watching TV the other night, and I saw a comic talking about piracy in relation to burning movie DVD's instead of buying them. How at the beginning of movies, it has the anti-piracy ad that says you wouldn't steal a car.  
His response was no.  I wouldn't steal a car, but if a friend of his called and said, Hey, I just bought a car, would you like me to burn you a copy, he would most likely say yes to that.  And everyone in the audience completely lost their minds with clapping and giggles.  

Which made me wonder, if there was some way to post outside of here, (at some site like thesims2.com) and say I have that hair/shirt/bed, etc.  that you like but haven't paid for, would you like a copy of it?  I'm sure that a lot of people wouldn't go hey that's stealing, but say, hey, thanks for sharing with me.  
I've seen a lot of people at sites say things like:  I saw this hair on a model in a story, and someone else say, "Yeah, that's *insert paysite here* hair, and you have to buy it." and the original poster say, oh.    ok.     and that's that.  If i could then say, oh, but if you really want it, I'll give it to you, with a link to it in the booty, I think people would maybe say thank you instead of BLARG OMG!!! tHat's STEALING!!!  and if they said thank you, maybe they would tell a friend, etc.  

Does what I'm saying make sense to anyone?  Is it a full thought only inside my mind?  

on a tiny sidenote, anyone else know about Helaene's forum she made called house of Helaene?  She posts up new creations there for people to freely download, such as eyebrows and things.  I never even knew she was a paysite.  How long ago was that (Courtney asks, confusedly, and obviously out of the loop.)?

[Hecubus]

It's called Sims File Vault.

[Bigtruckgirl]

I happen to liken the train of thought to sharing a candy bar with my children. I paid for it, I have the right to share it and NO if I share it, it is not illegal, nor is it stealing.

I just so choose to "share my candy bars" that I have bought with everyone on the net. I'm not selfish, nor am I a thief.


This is what we all do here on PMBD, we share "candy" that at some point we have "bought" with others.

[Quinctia]

On the topic of music, Prince has decided to distribute his new album free of charge to all subscribers of the Sunday issue of a particular UK newspaper--the UK division of his label has gone batshit, apparently, and they said they're not going to distribute his album to stores in the UK now.  And record stores over there are whining, too.

Most artists are up for sharing.  A local Pittsburgh singer/songwriter came all the way out near where I live, in the Chicago area.  I'd heard him when I was in college in the 'burgh, and I went to see him.  I bought an album of his, and since I'd mentioned earlier that he'd played my favorite song of his, he GAVE me the other CD he was selling, which had that song on it.  

Sharing is caring when it comes to music.  My BT ratio on the latest album of my favorite band was over 200:1.  I only downloaded it because I wanted to keep an existed torrent seeded--I had the album on preorder.  I would've never gotten into them if I hadn't downloaded one of their albums in the first place.

[chemistrycourtney]

It's called Sims File Vault.

see, up until about 2 days ago, I'd never heard of such places as simsfilevault.  When I offered to purchase a "donation" set for to be added to the booty, was the first time.  I knew I could buy it, I knew you all could have it, but I didn't know the inbetween.  Computer or Web (or a little bit of both) Illiteracy is a terrible thing.  I just know that I'm not the only one that is/was clueless about these sorts of things.

[Clementyne]

If you see someone asking about a payfile on another site, pm them with booty info.

[Silver Arrows]

I happen to liken the train of thought to sharing a candy bar with my children. I paid for it, I have the right to share it and NO if I share it, it is not illegal, nor is it stealing.

I don't think this argument really holds water to be honest. I can't see the comparison between physically sharing an object, and making copies of something and sharing it.

Just say, I legally purchased a copy of the latest Harry Pothead book. If I cut the book in half and shared that half with a friend, then, though its a stupid thing to do, legally I'm doing nothing wrong. If I photocopied all the pages and 'shared' those copies with a friend, then I'm in breach of copyright and could be sued.

Okay. Let's take a real example. The installation of the sims base game on my pc belongs to my sister. but the nightlife EP was purchased by me. when i move out I'm taking the CD with me, meaning my sister could then not play it on this pc. If I made a copy of this and 'shared' it with my sister so she could continue to play, is that okay? If EA sued me for it and I used the excuse that 'I paid for it, I have the right to share it and NO if I share it, it is not illegal, nor is it stealing' do you reckon I'd have a leg to stand on?

There is more of an analogy to this than to sharing a candy bar.

I would say there is a big difference between physically sharing a thing, and making COPIES and 'sharing' the copies.

So I think the argument that 'I paid for it so i can do what i like with it' is fatally flawed and may backfire. The best and strongest argument we have against paysites is EA's Eula coupled with their statement that sharing CC, whether paid or not, is legally acceptable. Just my 2p worth. Hope it made sense.

[Zazazu]

Most artists are up for sharing.  A local Pittsburgh singer/songwriter came all the way out near where I live, in the Chicago area.

Yay! More Chi people. City or wannabe?

[Quinctia]

Horror of horrors, I'm actually in Indiana, but the rest of the state ALSO shuns our little NW corner where we've always had a real timezone.

Close enough to have no peace, far enough away to make the fun stuff a pain to get to, basically.

[Lilyroseisapirate]

how did this become a shit spun argument about legality and sharing? Courtney my dear, you have my full permission (although that means nothing) to fucking blast PMBD and the booty and the Site that must Not be Named all over the friggin universe. some people will get pissed at you, some will praise you. if you belong to a site and you advertise the booty just make sure that you know that you MAY get banned or put on "restriction" from your account, or you can plead the 5th and act like you are innocent and say it was a newbz mistake. however it is better to contact people via a PM, things dont get into public as easilly with them.

[Bigtruckgirl]

Okay. Let's take a real example. The installation of the sims base game on my pc belongs to my sister. but the nightlife EP was purchased by me. when i move out I'm taking the CD with me, meaning my sister could then not play it on this pc. If I made a copy of this and 'shared' it with my sister so she could continue to play, is that okay? If EA sued me for it and I used the excuse that 'I paid for it, I have the right to share it and NO if I share it, it is not illegal, nor is it stealing' do you reckon I'd have a leg to stand on?

No, I think you really missed my point. I was referring (and I apologize for not pointing that out, because my post was more of a -grin-type post to Hecubus) to another thread. You can read that post one Hecubus' site http://www.freewebs.com/moneybetterspent/sharedorstolen.htm and sharing the links to the things we paid for in the first place, "the candy" (custom content).

It has little to do with you sharing or buying the actual games (as your example showed, which is a little flawed also, but we won't get into that) and more to do with just the files we are accused of "stealing" and the ELUA.


So in the end, my point in my original post was to freely "share the candy" (custom content"  all over the net if she wants. Of course Lily brought some good points to that it may mean a little "smack down" if the OP does.

[Silver Arrows]

It has little to do with you sharing or buying the actual games (as your example showed, which is a little flawed also, but we won't get into that) and more to do with just the files we are accused of "stealing" and the EULA.

I do get the point you're making, but I just think it can be used by the paysite owners against you. I did read the original post (I've read all the pages on hecubus's site) but I just think, here:

Simple fact of the matter is that you are right, all the things in the booty were paid for and it is the right of the person who paid for it to share it if they wish.

If I buy a candy bar and want to share it with my children, I can. Same concept as the booty.

I don't think the concept is the same in this case. That's just how it looks to me, sorry.

(Note: I'm not in favour of paysites, I am very much anti-paysite, especially anti-tsr, but personally I wouldn't use the sharing candy bar argument myself. I can just imagine TSR knocking me down with that one. For me, the EULA and EA's statements would be harder for them to argue against - probably why they delete any mention of it on their site)

It's called Sims File Vault.

It's as hard for me to get into that site as it is to extract an honest answer from Thoma$. Is it just me, or is their server very slow?

[Bigtruckgirl]

OK really did not want to get into this, because all the OP was doing is asking for advice on sharing, BUT....

It has little to do with you sharing or buying the actual games (as your example showed, which is a little flawed also, but we won't get into that) and more to do with just the files we are accused of "stealing" and the EULA.

I do get the point you're making, but I just think it can be used by the paysite owners against you. I did read the original post (I've read all the pages on hecubus's site) but I just think, here:

Simple fact of the matter is that you are right, all the things in the booty were paid for and it is the right of the person who paid for it to share it if they wish.

If I buy a candy bar and want to share it with my children, I can. Same concept as the booty.

I don't think the concept is the same in this case. That's just how it looks to me, sorry.

I really don't give a rat's ass if they attempt to knock it down. Their website "agreements" can't usurp an ELUA (which in turn can't usurp federal law. It is called a "chain of command" if you will).

You are attempting to compare apples to oranges. The ELUA of a copy written piece of software is much different that a paysite's TOS. I have not one doubt that their web site agreement would not hold water in any court, when placed against a corporate ELUA.

Your example of a disk and these files that we share, are two different things. One is a fully protected piece of software, the other is a violation of law. Your example could be just as flawed, in the sense of a comparing a paysite's content and the EA disks. By your example, if my son wanted to play the Sims and I wanted to load all the custom content I bought to share with him, I could not. Also, In your example of your sister having the program on her computer and you owning the disk and also using it, may very well be illegal anyway.In the ELUA also it says...

Electronic Arts Inc, and its subsidiaries, affiliates and licensors(collectively, "EA") grants you a non-transferable non-exclusive license to download and/or install and use one copy of the software tool ("Tool") and/or materials ("Materials") (collectively the "Tools & Materials") solely for your personal noncommercial use in connection with EA's products...

Many software companies have this section and in theory they want you to buy a licensed copy for each computer in the home. Bottom line as with paysites, it is all about the money.


You don't like "candy" so let's used my "Song of the South" movie that was only released in the UK. I have it in PAL format, but had it converted to a NTS DVD format, so we could play it here. By your comparison because my son took it to his Grandmother's to watch (and it stays there 100% of the time), we are committing piracy, which is not true. I bought it, I had to have it converted legally, I own it (and have the original copy in my firesafe). If my son wants to take it out of the house, he can, just as if I want to take the custom content from a paysite out of my files and place them somewhere else, I can, as long as I don't sell them because under both the ELUA THAT is illegal. They can not tell me that I have committed an illegal act because their rules can't usurp EA's ELUA, which in turn can not usurp federal law.

Let's put something else "semi tangible," and a bit more proprietary in the candy bar's place. Take iTunes, which is a bit different, but proprietary all the same. If I purchase an iTune and want to place it on as many different mobile music players as the program will allow me to, I can (we have 4 here). If I want to load it to a different player on my PC, such as Music Match, I can... I bought it, I own it, I can not however sell that file.

Another example, say I have purchased for a friend an iPod and to be nice I am adding some songs they enjoy and I give them that iPod, are they a thief? Am I, simply because the iPod no longer resides in my home where the music was downloaded from or because the files still live in my iTunes? Of course not. I don't even think that their ELUA addresses situation like this, but then again I don't know. It has been ages since I read it, as I don't use iTunes any more.

My point to this long winded post, you can place just about anything that you purchase legally into the "candy" slot and make the same point that what they are doing is 100% illegal. I was making the point that the paysites like to use "steal" because it sounds bad. It sounds as if we are no better than those that may mug someone on the street. Once labeled a thief, you are seen as a thief and people have a hard time seeing that the real thief is the one they just gave their money to.

[Zazazu]

Horror of horrors, I'm actually in Indiana, but the rest of the state ALSO shuns our little NW corner where we've always had a real timezone.

Close enough to have no peace, far enough away to make the fun stuff a pain to get to, basically.

Yeah, they get DST, then they bitch that they picked the wrong time zone...which I could have said in the first place. Who cares about stupid Michigan? I'm originally from Elkhart, and they wanted to change to Central but stupid South Bend wouldn't do it.

[chemistrycourtney]

OK really did not want to get into this, because all the OP was doing is asking for advice on sharing.

That's true.  I was just seeing if anyone had an opinion on the best ways to say Hey, I know where you can get that, in the spirit of sharing and community, and maybe you have something you'd like to share too.  Without starting a sharing is just code for stealing argument places.  I figure starting an argument (accidental as it may be)  about sharing v. stealing, who's right, who's wrong, etc, is probably not the best way to let people know that sharesites are actually a good thing. And no one stole it, it's been purchased to be shared, etc.  As now, I'm having troubles figuring a way to properly word this so that i doesn't sound like I'm asking for people to confront a hidden issue.  

Another poster a little further up, the one that gave me permission to blast about news of PMBD (sorry, i've forgotten your sn  :oops: )  I just wanted to say that I have no concern about being banned from a site for saying what I think.  If I get banned from a place for speaking my mind, while keeping it respectful of my fellow human beings, then it's not a site I want to be at anyways.  

Everyone has their own take on paysites vs. freesites, and what the line is for acceptable, and how far is too far to argue your point.  And anyone that has an opinion on this has a very strong opinion, which I guess is why it can so quickly disintegrate to arguing.  This is what I'm trying to avoid, see?  Not so much here, since all of you already know about things like the booty, but other places.  You know?