Important Question Regarding BIOS Files (ATTN: MODs & ADMINs)
#1
So, on the Facebook group of yours, there is a post that is blowing up over the issue concerning BIOS files.

It's come to the attention that apparently, if you have more than 3 BIOS files, and you have a thread here on this website, your thread will be closed because; "Unless you can prove you own (X) Playstation 2's, you can not have multiple BIOS"

I have a MAJOR problem with this right now. For one, I own, legitimately, 12 Playstation 2's. Some I've bought from over seas and some from within the USA for my own personal use and reasoning. I have played games on the PS2 in every single language available.

So, when I post a picture with my BIOS file for my PCSX2 emulator, it will have that many BIOS Files, and quite frankly, I'm entitled to do so.

So, if I made a thread, and an ADMIN or MOD closed my thread, I would legit be ticked off. Now, you can say "you must prove you own said number of ps2's for us to approve this thread," but legally, you can not do that. It's an invasion of privacy to force someone to do something in that regard when not one of you are in a law enforcement position. And, if you were in that sort of position, you would have taken the correct route and requested a search warrant for copyright and piracy laws. That is the only way to get proof. I'm not stupid enough to take a photo of my home for others to view all over the internet. That's wrong to even ask of someone. Not to mention, I could just post a picture with 12 Playstation 2's side by side, and there is nothing you can say or do because you are unable to verify if it is my home or not, and you are not legally allowed to pass judgement on that. It, again, is invasion of privacy. So, as I said below, there are loopholes all around.

So basically, if it is a rule not to post a screenshot with more than 1 BIOS file, can you ADMINs add that to the Global Forum Rules so that we don't run into this anymore?

Otherwise, when I post a SS of stuff and all my BIOS stuff is in there, I will not be treated as such because of a loophole in the terms and conditions and guidelines of the site because this rule is not listed anywhere in public view.

Cheers~
Fusion
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#2
I have another question probably related to this.
If you have at least one legitimate bios,will a thread containing screenshot that shows more than one will still be locked.
Why does it matter how many bioses you have if you have at least one legitimate(all games work fine with any bios region\version(maybe exept JP 1.00))

Probably the reason is just to be on the safe side
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#3
Well here's how it is. Most people asking for help around here have pirated their BIOS or downloaded some BIOS pack that has like 10 BIOS images in it. I think we can agree that 99% of the cases that have more than 3 bios images in their folder are indeed piracy. Now for the other 1%, we may assume wrongly, but give the opportunity to prove it.

Even if you own 12 PS2 consoles (which I doubt more than a handful people do in the globe) why would you dump all 12 bios images? This additionally decreases the possibility of being legit and having such a huge list of BIOS images.

So with that said, yes we (correctly) assume that people with more than ~3 bios images on ther PCSX2 bios folder have them pirated and take an educated guess in revoking support for piracy. If you are in the other huge minority, just prove it with a pic. If you are so concerned about your privacy, you shouldn't have registered in a forum to begin with, since you gave out your email and IP address in doing so, which IMO is much 'worse' than taking a pic of your PS2 consoles. And yes you can prove it with a pic and your username on a piece of paper. If you photoshop it and go through all that trouble, oh well good for you, we'll take it.
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#4
Doing anything electronically can lead to your home.... Not just signing up with an email and IP.

No offense, but that is a very unacceptable response.

Just because the vast majority does pirate the BIOS does not mean you should pass judgement on 100% of the cases. I have my PS2's for electronic and engineering work. I tinker with them all the time. I own them and am free to do with them as I please as long as I don't copyright or make profit with the use of them. So I know my rights and the bylaws.

Also, a hacker and robber will attack your home much more if a picture of all your nice stuff is listed, rather than a simple IP address. Obviously, you should do a bit more research on that.

I never post here. I rarely come to the forums unless it's to find a resolution to a bug or error. But, when I saw this guy being a ***** to someone for simply posting a video of 60FPS gameplay, that really irritated me. Which led to this.

Simply put, you have your right to an opinion. You have your right to assume what you want to, however, you have no right to legitimately pass judgment on 100% of all these types of cases. That is completely unfair, and unbecoming of such an "Official Site." You guys got permission for this emulator legitimately. Good for you, now work on your communication skills, because if I was just a PCSX2 user, and had to come here like this, I wouldn't be thinking very well of your customer service, so to speak.

Keep in mind, I've been an ADMIN of over a dozen sites, created multiple sites, and have been doing engineering and programming for almost 12 years. I wouldn't be so upset with an issue like this if it was listed SOMEWHERE on the site, rather than be a background rule that only MODS and ADMINS enforce when it's risen up. Put it in the terms and conditions, so that there is no more issues, and it's blatantly in front of people's view.

Cheers.
Fusion

(11-15-2014, 02:49 AM)Bositman Wrote: If you photoshop it and go through all that trouble, oh well good for you, we'll take it.


Also, this is very unbecoming of an Official Legate for Sony's PS2. Regardless how many people use this emulator, for you to say that last sentence, makes this forum extremely unprofessional.
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#5
(11-15-2014, 03:00 AM)BioFusion Wrote: Doing anything electronically can lead to your home.... Not just signing up with an email and IP.

No offense, but that is a very unacceptable response.

Just because the vast majority does pirate the BIOS does not mean you should pass judgement on 100% of the cases. I have my PS2's for electronic and engineering work. I tinker with them all the time. I own them and am free to do with them as I please as long as I don't copyright or make profit with the use of them. So I know my rights and the bylaws.

Also, a hacker and robber will attack your home much more if a picture of all your nice stuff is listed, rather than a simple IP address. Obviously, you should do a bit more research on that.

I never post here. I rarely come to the forums unless it's to find a resolution to a bug or error. But, when I saw this guy being a ***** to someone for simply posting a video of 60FPS gameplay, that really irritated me. Which led to this.

Simply put, you have your right to an opinion. You have your right to assume what you want to, however, you have no right to legitimately pass judgment on 100% of all these types of cases. That is completely unfair, and unbecoming of such an "Official Site." You guys got permission for this emulator legitimately. Good for you, now work on your communication skills, because if I was just a PCSX2 user, and had to come here like this, I wouldn't be thinking very well of your customer service, so to speak.

Keep in mind, I've been an ADMIN of over a dozen sites, created multiple sites, and have been doing engineering and programming for almost 12 years. I wouldn't be so upset with an issue like this if it was listed SOMEWHERE on the site, rather than be a background rule that only MODS and ADMINS enforce when it's risen up. Put it in the terms and conditions, so that there is no more issues, and it's blatantly in front of people's view.

Cheers.
Fusion



Also, this is very unbecoming of an Official Legate for Sony's PS2. Regardless how many people use this emulator, for you to say that last sentence, makes this forum extremely unprofessional.

Wait, it's unprofessional because we give you a chance to prove it? How could we know that you Photoshopped it?

Anyway, it is listed on the site:

http://forums.pcsx2.net/Announcement-Global-Forum-Rules

Quote:1.
Warez talk is prohibited and frowned upon, to prevent legal issues. You may not post links or refer to any kind of BIOS, ROM, ISO, or game that has been illegally obtained or downloaded. If any post like that is found, the thread containing it will be closed and further support will be revoked until proven otherwise.

It's no different than when we see a thread with an emulog, where the isofile is something like this "God of War 2(NTSC-U) Ultratorrents.iso". Sure, anyone in the whole wide world could randomly name their ISOs with a torrent group name. But who really would?

Bositman is right, regardless. 99%+ of people who have a whole load of BIOSes got them illegally in one of the many BIOS packs floating around. I have closed many threads thusly myself, and do you know how many times I've had proof provided that they weren't pirated? None. Not a single one. And it's not because they write back "Well, I would show you the picture, but someone might rob my house." What they write back is usually along the lines of "***** you, I'll do what I want" or "My PS2 is broke so I had to." It's been proven time and again. And just because you are an "ADMIN" of many sites doesn't necessarily give you insight into how things work here. If you are, then surely you are aware that different sites function differently.

What it boils down to is this: People who have done nothing wrong have nothing to worry about. If their thread gets closed, and proof is provided, it will be reopened and an apology made. This has never happened with me personally with BIOS files as I said, but it has happened several times over games in the "Downloads" folder.

Lastly, I'm not sure I know what you mean by "Official Legate of Sony's PS2," but for what it's worth - we have absolutely nothing to do with Sony.
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#6
1.
Warez talk is prohibited and frowned upon, to prevent legal issues. You may not post links or refer to any kind of BIOS, ROM, ISO, or game that has been illegally obtained or downloaded. If any post like that is found, the thread containing it will be closed and further support will be revoked until proven otherwise.


This is not sufficient and descriptive enough to include what I'm talking about. I can get passed this via the loophole. Unless you have some underlining alteration clause(s).

It's just it seems to me, that the assumption of piracy, rules over that of legitimacy. This is not the 1500s anymore where the King said and did as he pleased in the courts....

IT just really pissed me off with that thread on FB. Should have been changed a long time ago. Re-worded as well.

Also, is it not true that you all got permission to create this emulator from Sony? Since they gave permission to use their product, that makes you a Legate, persay, of their software and products.
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#7
No, we do not require, or have, permission from Sony to make this emulator. Sony was not and is not involved in this project in any way.

That is the very reason the rules are as such. If we support piracy in ANY way, including accidentally or by assuming good faith too many times, they(Sony) could sue us or get the project shut down. This is the nature of things. Better safe than sorry.
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#8
Okay, that is where I was mislead. And I do apologize for that. I was told differently, and unfortunately, believed it.


It was just irritating all around. However, I do appreciate the time taken to respond to this thread. Regardless of my feelings on the matter, I do wish you would avoid that loophole, and just imprint an extra line or two to depict exactly what you mean. For instance, something simple and to the point:

1.A. - Any and all threads with listed multiple BIOS files will be presumed to be pirated, and therefore closed and removed from the site. Threads with proof of legitimacy will be re-opened and used for the public knowledge after sufficient documentation is achieved.


Something like that. I'm really big on avoiding loopholes on the sites I work with, that's why I was really shocked to see the loose content associated with the GFR and Terms and Conditions.
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#9
That's a reasonable request I think. We do like to keep our rules succinct to prevent misunderstandings, but I think it's feasible to get that worked in one way or another.

That will be up to Bositman though, as I have no direct control over that.

And yeah, that is the truth a lot of people simply don't know or don't understand. It's what I explain to those people who PM me after I close their thread(at least the polite ones). It's all about protecting the project and it's developers.

For what it's worth(and you may not know this since you said you don't spend much time here), we do assume good faith until proven otherwise. That's why it's against the rules to ask someone "Hey did you download that game?" or "Do you really own a PS2?" which is what is meant by this text in Rule #2:

Quote:Harassment includes what we call "Witch hunting." Witch hunting is going out of your way in an attempt to get another user to break rule #1.

But when someone makes it reasonably obvious that they are pirating, or might be, we have to err on the side of caution.
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#10
That is good to know. Good faith is what I was attempting to insist upon. Simply because you can never truly know the legitimacy or illegitimacy in anything unless it's right in front of you.

I have heard of Witch Hunting, and it's something that we also punish severely for on my other sites. It also correlates directly with trolling and spamming because a lot of people will do that on purpose and without cause just to get rid of someone.
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