None of those can be enforced in practise. I honestly belive they are stating it because a) they are required to inform their customers. And b) because in the unlikely event of taking legal action against a party that caused them damages, GoG would need some form of agreement that states what is allowed and what is not.Brilliand wrote:...I think the most common boilerplate forbids selling/giving away, examining its inner workings, and modding...
Selling and giving away are impossible when no physical copies exist. Digital distributors cannot keep track of intangible stock and it would be too easy to hurt their sales by selling on or giving away. GoG's entire catalogue is available for download illegaly, and pirates who buy their games recoup the money via filesharing. This is a fair restriction in my opinion. Yes you will be stuck with the game forever and can't sell it on, but the price of digital distribution is lower because there are no manufacturing or physical distribution costs. Not to mention the convenience of having up to date installers available for download at any time.
Reverse engineering and dissasembly are allways refused but never prosecuted unless there is enough evidence of creating a derived product and screwing GoG and the copyright holders out of their money by selling it. In practise though, unless there are damages to be sued for, the point is moot because dissasembling the game and modifying it is both harmless and undetectable.
Modding games in particular is generally encouraged because it helps popularity and sales. Officially, modding is usually illegal, but overlooked.
As mentioned above, you can't sell, lend, or give it away because it doesn't exist physically, and because GoG never removes the purchased game from your account. The download links will allways be there.Brilliand wrote:I don't think they've actually put their normal practice in their EULA; by all appearances, this is their most ordinary, boilerplate EULA, and all it says is that I can use the program, but can't [big list of things that I boiled down to sell/lend/give/modify] it. Maybe their terms of use says something about it... Nope, that's the same deal; a big list of rights I don't have and responsibilities I do have, with a bunch of stuff about how super important and enforceable it is.
I can see how the "infinite number of copies" policy might make allowing sales of the software tricky; I can see how someone might cause a lot of trouble by selling their copy of the game, then downloading another, then selling that, etc. I don't think that would actually work, though, because the understood agreement is a specific amount of money for a copy of the game; at worst it could make things more confusing for the judge.
Modifying i don't understand. I don't understand what they mean by modify. You are not allowed to modify the inner workings of the game because only the developers have that right. But that is too obvious, and even if you did modify the game, you would have to release the modified product, claim copyright over it, then distribute it as your own and make money from it.
I think it's a fair enough point. The code, game engine and all the artwork are part of the download and part of the game you play. It's fair to state that it belongs to the authors and not you. That does not mean you are not allowed to play mods or create them. Only that you are not allowed to both modify and distribute original game parts as your own work. Mods listed on the forum are distributed without original game data and require the use of an unofficial Mod Manager. This tool then re-packs game files and a modified game can be played. The legal status of this is in limbo. Technically it's illegal, but unofficially it is a fun and creative way to enhance the game and the developers are not against it as long as original game data is not distributed by mod makers. It would be very difficult to put that into legalspeak, esp. by GoG.
It's only really neccesary to make such analy specific contract terms because of cheaters and abusers. You are not one of them, you should not take offense. Some EULAs take advantage of the fact that people don't read them, and some in the past have made ridiculous restrictions on fair users (and those restrictions were completely ignored by pirates). The responsibility for abiding by the terms of the agreement is entirely up to you. I can't imagine you'd have any unpleasent experiences after agreeing to those GoG terms, except that you cannot sell the game.
It's taken a while to write this post. Been writing it on and off with several interruptions. My apologies if parts repeat or end up preachy.
