can you get in trouble for having source on your computer but deleting it? beta too.

M

mtbaird

Guest
i had source but deleted it, and i have beta, can i get in trouble


i was just curious asbout them and never intended to use them for anything at all.
 
Yes you can. You can sued for $million plus dollars. If you aren't licensed to have it, you gonna get nailed. It's like what the RIAA is doing now.

Edit: Don't think you can get nailed for the Beta though.
 
depends on where you live... in europe you probably won't have any problems. in amerika i don't really know you'll probably get of with a warning or a small fine since it's more like a misdemeanor.
 
Source- As long as you don't distribute it, modify it, or use it.

Beta...well that's just as long as you don't distribute it.
 
Originally posted by silent
If you aren't licensed to have it, you gonna get nailed.
Click to expand...

More like, if you aren't licensed to have it, There's a slight possibility that you could possibly get nailed, and then have a suit for $Million+ dollars, settled to around 1000.

But, more importantly, there's no reason to have the source, as theirs nothing that you can do with it, if you're just a curious netizen looking for a playable.
 
you'll be fine
just shut up and say no more of it
 
im not because its allll gone, i really dont wanna get involved in this any more than i am
 
Originally posted by RedHat Assassin
you'll be fine
just shut up and say no more of it
Click to expand...

Think about the poor people supeoned by the RIAA.
 
just download it again you'll be fine :D <== was a joke
 
relax you'll be fine. you are not worth Valve's time.
 
Originally posted by silent
Think about the poor people supeoned by the RIAA.
Click to expand...

That's because they distributed the music. That's were damages come from.
 
hehe, theirs a LOOOT of new headcrabs around.. Yeh can tell the real green forumers by the fact they don't have an avatar... Usually the ones that at least have frequented other forums, like to have that tiny red x in the white box lol.
 
Maybe I don't have an avatar, because I don't want to put excess load on the server, ever think of that?
 
Originally posted by penguinPHP
Maybe I don't have an avatar, because I don't want to put excess load on the server, ever think of that?
Click to expand...

That's B.S. dude.
 
Originally posted by silent
That's B.S. dude.
Click to expand...

Nope, I support HalfLife2.net, by not having an avatar that uses bandwidth.

What does an avatar accomplish? About as much as downloading the HL2 Source.

Sure, it looks cool, and you can show it to your friends, but what does it DO.
 
Originally posted by penguinPHP
Nope, I support HalfLife2.net, by not having an avatar that uses bandwidth.

What does an avatar accomplish? About as much as downloading the HL2 Source.

Sure, it looks cool, and you can show it to your friends, but what does it DO.
Click to expand...

In a forum with 10,000 users, it helps users recognize people that they want to recognize. So much easier.


I know D33, |CC|Hudson, etc. all of their avatars, and I instantly know who they are just by seeing their avatars.
 
The illegal act is downloading the source, because it's a copyright violation. If you could make the case that you didn't know it was improperly distributed, you would not be liable, but you obviously knew that it was not an authorized copying. Technically, they could bust you for copyright violation under the DMCA and fine you $500K and put you in the clink for 10 years.

That's the worst-case scenario. Realistically, if you downloaded it, realized that that was a dumb thing to do, and deleted it without distributing it further, they're probably not going to bother you.

In all seriousness, I'd ask a lawyer. We don't know how Valve is going to deal with the hackers or the people they distributed it to yet.
 
It is against the law, obviously, to have either the source or the beta. Both are stolen property, and you know they are (the important part). Legally, it's not much different than a guy bashing in a store window as you watch, stealing a Tv, and handing it to you. You can't argue that it's okay just because you weren't the one who stole it. You knowingly took possession of stolen property.

Damages, however, are much lower than you'd think, because for you, this is stealing just one copy of a game, and the value can't be claimed to be much more than 60$. So it's petty theft. The person who stole the source, however, could see damages well into the millions if they are caught. Since they probably wouldn't be able to pay the damages, they'd basically be in debt forever.

You probably, of course, won't be caught. However, how do you know that the people who created the beta remembered to take out the part of the game that sends information back to Valve about your IP and so on when you play it? For all we know, Valve could know exactly when and where anyone fires up the illegal beta, and track each and every person down.
 
Valve could know exactly when and where anyone fires up the illegal beta, and track each and every person down.
Click to expand...

Highly improbable. It would get too messy. Just how many of the people that fired it up an downloaded it could be in Russia or China? How many could be in the U.S. and be minors?

They won't spend the time and money to hunt down potentially thousands of people.
 
Originally posted by Apos
It is against the law, obviously, to have either the source or the beta. Both are stolen property, and you know they are (the important part). Legally, it's not much different than a guy bashing in a store window as you watch, stealing a Tv, and handing it to you. You can't argue that it's okay just because you weren't the one who stole it. You knowingly took possession of stolen property.

Damages, however, are much lower than you'd think, because for you, this is stealing just one copy of a game, and the value can't be claimed to be much more than 60$. So it's petty theft. The person who stole the source, however, could see damages well into the millions if they are caught. Since they probably wouldn't be able to pay the damages, they'd basically be in debt forever.

You probably, of course, won't be caught. However, how do you know that the people who created the beta remembered to take out the part of the game that sends information back to Valve about your IP and so on when you play it? For all we know, Valve could know exactly when and where anyone fires up the illegal beta, and track each and every person down.
Click to expand...

Well - not if you have a firewall blocking the game.
 
*Golpeo ligeramente mi pie*

I'm not an established member, and never will be here, I'm just here to read about the source drama--Therefore your recognition of me matters not.

Mark my words, NONE of these people are going to court--It's going to be settled if anything. Also, I haven't (nor attempted) downloaded the source/beta, and I highly doubt they can get me for googling "hl2 beta screenshots".

I was kidding about the avatars Btw, the only reason I don't have one, is because I'm just a stupid headcrab. That said, there's some serious elitism here, but Its sorta written off as normal.
 
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