Post editing and "piracy" information

[constellanation]

well ripping an opensource os to be used on another device is not piracy. and in certain circumstances this can be done to other os's legally, in that matter that it can be used on x number of devices owned by the original purchaser of the product. o.k. done nitpicking htc g1, also we try not to link to other sites information that is available here, to cut down on that very reasoning to some extent.

[Fare]

Quick question -- What's the point of "backing up" applications when you can easily re-download the apps you paid for at no extra charge?

as someone with a bit of computer savy, I'd rather take actions into my own hands when securing an investment. If I buy a product (cd, DVD, game), I want to make sure I will not lose the $15-60 I spent and back up my investment. With android apps, I would rather back up my purchase on my own than to put it in the hands of google, where a plethora of problems could arise (server going down, account "lost"/"stolen"/"hacked", device FUBARS...).

The Flip side: I imagine that more people use backing up for piracy than legitimate "backing up"**. Places like the xbox-scene uncovered ways to back up xbox games onto new-and-bigger HDDs. GREAT! Except, now it taught everyone how to torrent games for free...

conclusion of useless post: ???



**Don't actualy know this for a fact, pure speculation

[tokyomonster]

Biggest advantage of backing up that i can see?

Not having to search out and redownload all the apps you have or to have to reconfigure them. This goes for paid and free apps.

That being said, I don't back anything up.

[DaYuMu6ft7]

Loving the "open source" debate..

[HTC-G1]

well ripping an opensource os to be used on another device is not piracy. and in certain circumstances this can be done to other os's legally, in that matter that it can be used on x number of devices owned by the original purchaser of the product. o.k. done nitpicking htc g1, also we try not to link to other sites information that is available here, to cut down on that very reasoning to some extent.

i wasn't being specific to android, there's a crap ton of cooked roms and other hacked/ripped ones over on that site as well as other downloadable files people don't pay for

i'm saying linking anything or making post that have to do with that site is breaking the "we don't do piracy statement" you're trying to make...

you even have blogs that include info to that site. so i don't wanna hear it from you...

[f4phantomii]

I'll agree....making a backup for *personal* use falls well within the "Fair Use" clause of the DMCA and earlier copyright laws.

Obviously that got abused pretty heavily as more and more digital products came into use. Thus the DMCA attempted to address this abuse by making it illegal for a person or entity to "reverse engineer" digital protection schemes in order to allow copies.

So it's OK for me to make a true backup copy for personal use, AND it's OK for the OEM to engineer protections that directly prevent this.Clearly these two provisions are in direct conflict with each other, thus the reason the DMCA has been so vigorously challenged both in and out of court.

In the end, I can think of numerous use cases where having an on-board or offline backup capability is pretty critical. Ask me how I know! I've had similar apps on previous PDA's that made an utter perfect backup of the entire device, and in the event of a catastrophic event would put it back exactly the way it was within minutes disconnected from everything.

Yes, you can re-sync contacts and calendars. Yes, you can re-download software. You could always do that with Palm and Windows devices too. But you weren't always in a position to do it immediately as you could with the SD Card backup. I know I've had such an ability absolutely save my bacon several times....particularly with a quirky device that tended to hard-reset itself, causing you to lose absolutely everything.

I've seen this sort of stance taken by other forums before. And as several people here suggested, if you don't like it, go elsewhere. I can tell you from experience that is usually *exactly* what happens.

I feel it's perfectly legitimate for posts to be edited or removed at the judgement of the moderator....after all....that's what they are there for (and one of the many reasons they are appreciated!). But I'd strongly recommend caution on taking an overly aggressive position on such a policy. It tends to unreasonably discourage useful discussion and tends to drive members elsewhere.

As for the backup apps on the market....if it's within the skills of their respective devs, they could certainly store those backups in a closed/encrypted/proprietary format or database to discourage unintended use of their apps. Unilaterally squashing such discussion is not helping anyone.

Bottom line....I support the forum and the mods to regulate the discussions and weed out innappropriate material....but I urge them to consider the policy carefully. In this instance I feel they've probably defined the line a little too far to the right.

[constellanation]

in an effort to not overshadow f4phantoms very well said post

you even have blogs that include info to that site. so i don't wanna hear it from you...

what would you like to hear from me?
how about what the site chooses to do is their choice. if you don't like it i don't care. my blogs (which i've been meaning to get rid) of point to direct sources that answer the topic at hand if anyone wants to continue searching for other things thats their choice. and these arguments with minor exceptions are extremely childish. like people who yell at employees at walmart because kmart sells a product they don't.

[HTC-G1]

f4phantom did say it well...


but i still don't wanna hear what you have to say...or read it for that matter.
so i'll be moving on now.

[*susan*]

but i still don't wanna hear what you have to say...or read it for that matter.
so i'll be moving on now.

We are trying to have a respectful, intelligent conversation here. Would you do us the favor of keeping your comments respectable as well, please?

Thank you.

[gbk1]

So if someone else posted

You can open your phone, put compressed air on your memory chips, pull it out and extract it's contents. A nice way to back things up. But you can assess if this post is worthy of "modding" and "banning".

on a stretch...

http://androidcommunity.com/forums/f...-finally-8933/
but a 14 page thread on the topic of porn (with links) still exists.

then again what happens outside of AC's domain is not AC's problem, so feel free to visit those pages little boys.

How do you set a rule without explaining the very thing you're trying to filter?
I understand the environment that moderation based on human judgment is necessary rather than having to throw posts through a written evaluation process. Exploiting loop holes is an insurance thing -_-

the Terms of Use link is broken -_-

Please don't pull a Facebook;