Copyright/Piracy

[Koh]

When it comes to piracy, I'm a firm believer it in not being an issue for things that are no longer in production/discontinued and sold properly; if the only way to get a hold of them is through second hand purchasing (eBay, etc.), then there's no issue here. The companies aren't losing any money. Also if you've already bought the product already, but the physical thing is failing for whatever reason (CD scratches, dried up battery in the cartridge, etc.).

However, if it's something you can still buy legally, and the money will indeed go to the producers, then there's no reason to pirate it other than greed. Not having the money to afford something is not a valid excuse to pirate something; if you don't have the funds to do something, you simply can't do it.

Some people try to argue that you wouldn't pay for the game if you just played it at a friend's house, but that reasoning doesn't work. To begin with, that requires someone to have already bought the game. Secondly, when the game trades hands for use, it also trades availability; while your friend has the game, you don't have the game. Duplicating the game so that both of you can get it using one master version, which roms most certainly do, violates the copyright laws. Again, however, I don't think this is an issue if you've already bought it and need a new copy, or if it's something no longer properly sold anywhere.