Question about legality of stuff

[jesalvein]

What if I owned a PS2, but it broke, so I torrented some BIOS.

Let's say I owned a game but the disc got too scratched to dump. So I downloaded an ISO from the Internet.

Is that still legal?

not for us.
you're not using the copy of bios/Game you bought but someone else's

[Nobbs66]

Nope that would be illegal.

[Blyss Sarania]

What if I owned a PS2, but it broke, so I torrented some BIOS.

Let's say I owned a game but the disc got too scratched to dump. So I downloaded an ISO from the Internet.

Is that still legal?

IMO in those exact situations, it wouldn't be unethical. But it would be illegal as others have said.

[KeepBotting]

IMO in those exact situations, it wouldn't be unethical. But it would be illegal as others have said.

That really blows because I've sadly resorted to doing both ... however what's the alternative? Just 'pack up and go home', as it were?

[Nobbs66]

The alternative is to buy a working ps2 and re-buy the games. Everything will be fairly inexpensive.

[KeepBotting]

The alternative is to buy a working ps2 and re-buy the games. Everything will be fairly inexpensive.

Seems quite counter-intuitive and even wasteful to me. Why even bother with PCSX2 if I'm forced to buy another console and even copies of games to legally use the emulator?

Might as well just play them on the PS2 all over again. It's simpler, more user-friendly and faster (in the case of my PC, at least) than emulating them.

In any case, using the 'legal' logic, someone in my situation always loses unless they resort to off-beat methods of acquiring BIOS/games.

[jesalvein]

Seems quite counter-intuitive and even wasteful to me. Why even bother with PCSX2 if I'm forced to buy another console and even copies of games to legally use the emulator?

Might as well just play them on the PS2 all over again. It's simpler, more user-friendly and faster (in the case of my PC, at least) than emulating them.

In any case, using the 'legal' logic, someone in my situation always loses unless they resort to off-beat methods of acquiring BIOS/games.

sure.
but at least, you know why you receive a warning for piracy

[KeepBotting]

sure.
but at least, you know why you receive a warning for piracy

Hmm, I'm afraid I wasn't quite aware that even discussing illegal content was disallowed here. I likely should have read the rules...

As ignorance of the rules is no excuse, I'll accept this warning and refrain from speaking about it anywhere else ... but I'd still like to discuss this further in a civil fashion.

What's a body to do, exactly?

[jesalvein]

Hmm, I'm afraid I wasn't quite aware that even discussing illegal content was disallowed here. I likely should have read the rules...

As ignorance of the rules is no excuse, I'll accept this warning and refrain from speaking about it anywhere else ... but I'd still like to discuss this further in a civil fashion.

What's a body to do, exactly?

discussing isn't a problem.
admitting piracy is another matter.

[KeepBotting]

discussing isn't a problem.
admitting piracy is another matter.

Putting that aside...again, my apologies.

During my childhood I owned over $1,000 worth of PS2 assets--the most me or my family has spent on any entertainment system apart from the $1,200 72-inch Aquos TV my parents recently bought.

This collection included but was not limited to two consoles (a fat and a slim), two ethernet cards, eight DualShock 2 controllers, two Multitaps, a plethora of 8MB memory cards and over 100 games.
We also had a small TV dedicated to the PlayStation 2.

And yet still, HYPOTHETICALLY speaking, if one were to accidentally step on and break his favorite game (or his console o_O), he could be arrested/charged for piracy, by downloading a backup copy (game dump/BIOS) from the Internet?

No, stop, because I know the answer is yes. This leads me to question the legality of PCSX2 itself. And how, if this is illegal, are the myriad of online ROM/game dump distribution sites allowed to exist, and offer direct downloads to illegal content?