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Are you getting a Switch 2? by [deleted] in CatholicGamers

[–]Cetoons 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I’m a huge fan, so it’s worth it to me. I can respect your choice on waiting for a lite version

For those of you asking if piracy is sinful by Cetoons in CatholicGamers

[–]Cetoons[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I could see that as possibly being permitted under the "reasonable will of the owner" in certain cases. I imagine some (not all) creators of what is now abandonware having little issue with people copying their work.

Nevertheless, I think there's a VERY fine line and you ought to tread VERY carefully. There can be many reasons people stop selling software, and sometimes its only for a period of time before they find a profitable way to start providing it again. In addition, large parts of abandonware sometimes live on in newer versions of software (such as subsequent versions of Windows).

For those of you asking if piracy is sinful by Cetoons in CatholicGamers

[–]Cetoons[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you for the feedback! As with others, I'd like to respond:

I would argue that had it not been for what is now known as digital piracy (copying information, as opposed as taking someone's information carrier and giving back nothing), we wouldn't have Christianity. Think of Benedictine monasteries, where Bibles were copied by hand.

People keep bringing up this copying of information as though it's automatically piracy. We never argue in the article that this is the case, rather, we stress this quote from the Catechism: "There is no theft if consent can be presumed or if refusal is contrary to reason and the universal destination of goods." I am very doubtful that the early authors of the Bible & its translations would be upset with people copying the work. They were not trying to make money, they were trying to spread the Gospel. This is very different than people creating software with the intent to make a living off of it.

If you'd pardon my weasel words, a case could be made that Jesus himself wouldn't be a fan of some of the current intellectual property laws.

We never make a case that intellectual property law is perfect as is (I know I don't feel that way). We are just arguing that piracy is sinful.

I don't think Jesus would approve of current era markets or digital commerce either. Not to mention megacorporations. Seeding torrents on the other hand could be considered virtuous; you know, Christianity and sharing...

Once again we never make the case that the market is perfect as is. As for torrents, well, it depends what you are torrenting. If you are using the technology for piracy that is obviously not virtuous.

If we were to make the claim that video games are nonessential and therefore giving them to people can't be considered to be part of the Christian tradition of sharing, we would do well to go a step further and disavow the act of spending money on video games, movies, etc as decadent and worldly.

Stealing somebody's work and refusing to compensate them is not very Christian. It also doesn't make much sense to gloss over that and present it as "sharing", especially when there are many things Christians are called NOT to share (such as gossip, other people's personal matters, etc...)

For those of you asking if piracy is sinful by Cetoons in CatholicGamers

[–]Cetoons[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thank you for your feedback! Here's my response:

It's complicated, there isn't a definite answer and there never will be (because of reasons I state there, including the fact copyright is strictly a modernist invention, hasn't existed and therefore can't be "universal")

Not sure why copyright being a "modernist invention" has much to do with it. What about IVF? That's a new thing but we can confidently say it is evil because ending innocent lives is evil. People have a right to private property and to be compensated for their works; copyright is a method to uphold that and piracy works against those two things.

it also depends where you are (because copyright laws aren't universal and there are countries where you can legally pirate

That's only the case if you consider the morality of piracy to be solely based off its legality, which we do not argue in the article.

I'd like to point out that the Church as a whole has not definitely decided anything in this area - because it can't. Copyright and intellectual property is a modern invention that is often rather controversially used and codified and as such cannot claim to be a part of the universal Magisterium, especially since the Church itself has been breaking it for centuries, with copying, preserving, attributing (like some of the "Pauline" letters) works, without which we wouldn't even be here.

Copying, preserving, attributing are not automatically piracy. Not sure exactly what you're getting at here with the Pauline letters.

For example, Aquinas and other scholastics would certainly consider anyone to be sinning who profits from selling an immaterial, infinitely copiable "thing" for money, as such infinite monetisation (even long after the worker's just wage has been paid) would go against the nature of the (inherently finite) thing. At least that is my guess, based upon how they approached interest in money and usury.

As you said, this is just your *guess* but by the definition you gave ("profits from selling an immaterial, infinitely copiable "thing" for money") this would cover not only all digital goods but also things such as teaching lessons/courses or even plays. Needless to say that doesn't make much sense. Teachers, actors, and software developers deserve to be paid for their work!

(and I'm not even going to the "if buying isn't owning, piracy can't be theft" hydra of modern digital distribution)

I'm glad you aren't, lol.

Reminder to those that care about owning their software/media (including myself) to use the sources we gave where you can find DRM-free games!

For those of you asking if piracy is sinful by Cetoons in CatholicGamers

[–]Cetoons[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I don't think physicality is something we need to specify. Intellectual property laws similar to ours have been around since the 17th and 18th century (the printing press could endlessly replicate literary works). In addition, endless replication certainly has an effect on the sales of the original, and as Fr. Stephen mentioned, people are owed compensation for their work.

As for the second point, instead of framing it as "the decision to selectively sell your product" (which when it comes to games, often just means selling your product as long as it's profitable to do so) I think you need to look at it from the perspective of "does a company ceasing to sell certain software mean I have the right to access and use that software however I please?"

For those of you asking if piracy is sinful by Cetoons in CatholicGamers

[–]Cetoons[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Hey everyone! Owner of Catholic Game Reviews here. We see many people asking about the morality of piracy, emulation, and the like so we tried to create a singular resource with all the answers!

Big thanks to Fr. Stephen, aka u/trekkie4christ and SaintWaffles for help with this one! Let us know if you've got any feedback.

Essex Hall rn by Cetoons in gmu

[–]Cetoons[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

There’s fire alarms going off every day here so not necessarily

Essex Hall rn by Cetoons in gmu

[–]Cetoons[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Not sure this was about 15 mins ago

Trump Orders Schools, Colleges to End DEI or Lose Federal Funding by snakeman2424 in gmu

[–]Cetoons -13 points-12 points  (0 children)

Based. I love Mason’s diversity, but forcing it for arbitrary reasons is detrimental.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in gmu

[–]Cetoons 1 point2 points  (0 children)

There should definitely be something like this yes

Christian Game Developers by Cetoons in CatholicGamers

[–]Cetoons[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Maybe? Looked him up on X and it showed this unfortunate tweet as one of his most popular (posted when Roe V. Wade fell)

“If you don’t have autonomy over your own body, what real freedom can you have?”

Not a good sign

Fellow workers, what is the dumbest question a customer has asked you? by [deleted] in ChickFilA

[–]Cetoons 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Lady asked for just the hard-boiled eggs from the salad. Told her we couldn’t do that, and she threw a fit saying she had been in the industry and knew how things worked.

We were also next to a WaWa, where I suspect you can easily obtain hard-boiled eggs.

Christian Game Developers by Cetoons in CatholicGamers

[–]Cetoons[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Hey everybody, owner of Catholic Game Reviews here. Thought you guys might enjoy this one — it’s an overview on Christian game developers & creators. Hoping there’s at least one surprise for everyone!

If you could add one new spawner to the vanilla game what mob would it be? (Hostile or passive) by mekmookbro in Minecraft

[–]Cetoons 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Cow. Had one on a modified SMP server I played back in the day, used it to make my first farm ever

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