Not games about pirates. But when someone steals a game. Also applicable to music, I suppose. And I know this isn't really the intent of this forum but it's more fitting here than elsewhere.
A long, long time ago, I was a young black boy (and some of you are wondering if I actually was) and I had this game. Legend of Legaia for the original Playstation. At the time I was niave, and I allowed the disk to become damaged and forfeit the ending of the game. Now, I've found the old disk, and I've found that the PS3 will play it. But it's still damaged, and when I enter one of the first scenes it hangs up on the load screen and plays background music while it doesn't load the new zone. This is the same problem I had years ago, but on a different area.
So I swiped an ISO of it and an emulator. Why do I justify this?
1: I already bought the game (or my mother did for Christmas or something), so it's not as if I'm playing without paying.
2: Even if I wanted a new copy, it's nearly impossible to find anyways.
3: Even if I did find a copy, I wouldn't be supporting Contrail/Sony. They've released the game and sold and shut it down. If I bought a copy now, I'd be support Joe Schmoe Ebay by buying a used version. Even if I DID buy it again, the developing company wouldn't get any profit off it.
4: This game is of such age and such popularity that it's basically abandonware. Roller Coaster Tycoon or Sim City 2000 are similarly aged, but are still of such a franchise that they could still turn a profit. Legend of Legaia is a tad less popular and wouldn't even show up on GoG.com.
Is this justified, and when is it 'ok to pirate'?
Apologies to Toady for when he has to lock this thread because it's discussing illegal activities.
And apologies to any black people for my earlier comment. Also apologies to any boys or any young. Just cover all the bases.