EULA - copying from friends computer not allowed

[MrHatMan]

So I wa perusing the EULA the other day when I noticed this:

"You are not permitted: (a) to load the Game on to a network server for the purposes of distribution to one or more other device(s) on that network or to effect such distribution;"

So I wrote support a ticket:

If a friend and I want to play Elite at the same location and I goto that location (lets say it's his place) and he has a more up to date version, if I copied his version instead of downloading(possibly gigabytes worth of) the update, I would be in violation of the EULA since technically my friend's computer would be a "server"?.

What about if I am at a LAN party and everyone has legitimate accounts but quite a few don't have the latest version?

Can exceptions be made on a case by case basis? Considering the support waiting times, waiting for permission for a month would be mighty annoying.

Their response:

If in doubt then it's best to be safe and follow the wording of the EULA. In the examples you have given I would say that you and your friends are obliged by the EULA to update each copy of the game through the launcher as intended.

I wrote back asking this line to be reviewed by whomever is in charge of the EULA.

Hi, thanks for your response.

If possible I would like this topic to be brought up with whomever is change of the EULA and ask that this line be reviewed.

If I had a friend over and he liked the game so much he wanted to play on his laptop right there and then, then he bought it online and created an account, and you are saying he would have to download it all over again, a few hours and download quota (for those countries that have it) later he'll have a copy, when I could have given him an exact copy over the LAN in a few minutes.

Not even Blizzard prevents this type of copying. See http://us.battle.net/sc2/en/forum/topic/3595674144 for an example of a support agent saying you can explicitly do that.

Not looking for a riot or anything, but if you are displeased with this as I am, let them know by making a ticket and asking that line to be reviewed.

 

[SuBSynk]

The entire game is only a few gig, updates are tiny.

Don't understand the problem with just updating your copy ?

 

[NettiWelho]

Don't understand the problem with just updating your copy ?

Depending on your network settings the launcher might fail to update or even install the game.

 

[Cmdr Andy B]

the only way you could attend a LAN party and have some of the clients be out of date is if they either hadn't played for a while or an update had been released on the day of the party. as that's the case i think you're fussing over nothing as this could only happen in very rare circumstances.

basically you would have to be really unlucky for it to be an issue.

 

[Kyudos]

The entire game is only a few gig, updates are tiny.

Don't understand the problem with just updating your copy ?

He's say its potentially several gigs of download - that matters to people with slow or limited connections

 

[SuBSynk]

Depending on your network settings the launcher might fail to update or even install the game.

If that is the case you'll also not be able to play the game i assume if the network is that unstable then playing as-well as updating would have similar issues surely?

- - - - - Additional Content Posted / Auto Merge - - - - -

He's say its potentially several gigs of download - that matters to people with slow or limited connections

The entire game is only about 2-3 gig...Updates are like 100 mb at most.

 

[NettiWelho]

If that is the case you'll also not be able to play the game i assume if the network is that unstable then playing as-well as updating would have similar issues surely?

The game works fine, the launcher just times out on file downloads unless I have a certain box unticked in internet explorer(!?) LAN settings.

 

[DeathDealerGod]

So I wa perusing the EULA the other day when I noticed this:

"You are not permitted: (a) to load the Game on to a network server for the purposes of distribution to one or more other device(s) on that network or to effect such distribution;"

So I wrote support a ticket:


Their response:



I wrote back asking this line to be reviewed by whomever is in charge of the EULA.



Not looking for a riot or anything, but if you are displeased with this as I am, let them know by making a ticket and asking that line to be reviewed.

so in effect say i backup my drive say the 200 gigs of steam games the 100 gigs of origin games and then the 50 gigs or so of stand alone games according to elites eula i can not back up my elite files for my new desktop lol welp im out was already getting bored of this games lack of player interaction now im not allowed to copy files for something that i have paid for without breaching the eula somethign that is on my machine

 

[Derath]

gotta say everyone ignores any part of an EULA that can't be enforced and thats the way It should be.

 

[Aszrayel]

LOL all the drama. Hell I am getting a new gaming rig in the next few weeks and I will just download the game again. No biggy. The same with steam etc, I'll download the games I currently play, not all of them.

 

[SuBSynk]

so in effect say i backup my drive say the 200 gigs of steam games the 100 gigs of origin games and then the 50 gigs or so of stand alone games according to elites eula i can not back up my elite files for my new desktop lol welp im out was already getting bored of this games lack of player interaction now im not allowed to copy files for something that i have paid for without breaching the eula somethign that is on my machine

No it means you cannot load your copy of elite onto a server and share it out to other devices. Or more simply put you cannot share it amongst friends by adding it to a network.

 

[Phier]

so in effect say i backup my drive say the 200 gigs of steam games the 100 gigs of origin games and then the 50 gigs or so of stand alone games according to elites eula i can not back up my elite files for my new desktop lol welp im out was already getting bored of this games lack of player interaction now im not allowed to copy files for something that i have paid for without breaching the eula somethign that is on my machine

People can become drama queens for the most insignificant reasons.

 

[Quineloe]

A lawyer wrote it, and nobody understands it now. And since the Lawyer apparently was paid by each word, he just added some garbage like that paragraph.

So much for doing things differently.

 

[Lasse B.]

Don't upload it to Torrent, FTP, filehosters and other publicly available networks, and don't download it from these sources. That's all there is to it.

Why do people interpret EULAs so strictly?

 

[SuBSynk]

A lawyer wrote it, and nobody understands it now. And since the Lawyer apparently was paid by each word, he just added some garbage like that paragraph.

So much for doing things differently.

Seems very straight forward to me. Please try not to speak for everyone when you really mean yourself.

 

[MrHatMan]

I wouldn't be surprised if this was one of those left overs from when the game was going to have an offline mode.

 

[Cmdr Andy B]

No it means you cannot load your copy of elite onto a server and share it out to other devices. Or more simply put you cannot share it amongst friends by adding it to a network.

exactly, but then again the EULA doesn't say anything about putting it on a USB key and manually transferring it between machines (at least not that i've seen)

 

[MrHatMan]

Don't upload it to Torrent, FTP, filehosters and other publicly available networks, and don't download it from these sources. That's all there is to it

Why not? You *NEED* an online account to make it work anyway.

Let everyone host it, saves Frontier some bandwidth and everyone can download it quicker. I don't know if Frontier launcher uses P2P but Blizzard (and some others) do.

- - - - - Additional Content Posted / Auto Merge - - - - -

Let me give you another example:

I have a PC and a brand new laptop. I'm going away for a week and want to play Elite on my laptop while I'm away.

Do I:
a) download the game on my laptop use up my internet quota and it takes me a few hours.
or
b) copy the game from my PC in a few minutes

 

[Quineloe]

If that is the case you'll also not be able to play the game i assume if the network is that unstable then playing as-well as updating would have similar issues surely?

I take it you're not really into this network stuff? It's entirely possible for a network to be configured to prevent the launcher from downloading the client, but at the same time the game is entirely playable - college dorm connections come to mind for example.

Seems very straight forward to me. Please try not to speak for everyone when you really mean yourself.

Ooh, this is rich, man.

 

[mandellorian]

so in effect say i backup my drive say the 200 gigs of steam games the 100 gigs of origin games and then the 50 gigs or so of stand alone games according to elites eula i can not back up my elite files for my new desktop lol welp im out was already getting bored of this games lack of player interaction now im not allowed to copy files for something that i have paid for without breaching the eula somethign that is on my machine

Look closely at the EULA there will be a section in it that says if any part of it is deemed invalid the rest of it continues..this is put in because a lot of software companies keep putting in clauses that are unenforceable and in some cases illegal..in the UK for example the law specifically allows for the backup of any computer software legally purchased,ED can yell and scream and stamp their feet but not really a whole lot else..denying people a legal right in the UK can result in some hefty penalties and some extraordinarily bad press.
Companies got into the habit of putting this stuff in,in the hope people didn`t know the law and they could get away with it.