hi, I was looking on the internet at a few Ngage sites and this one site had a modded version of red faction which used the same graphics and game engine as the original version but had completely different levels. The person who made the game named it Blue faction and is distributing it on the internet as freeware. Is this legal or not?Thanx.
Legal Issues!
Wirelessly posted (Nokia N-Gage: NokiaN-GageQD/1.0 SymbianOS/6.1 Series60/1.2 Profile/MIDP-1.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.0)
As a general rule-of-the-thumb, if he (the code jockey behind "Blue Faction"😉 used any of Red Faction's source code without getting the developer's permission, it's illegal. At the very least, it's in the grey area... Do yourself a favour, stick to Red Faction.
Wirelessly posted (Nokia N-Gage: NokiaN-GageQD/1.0 SymbianOS/6.1 Series60/1.2 Profile/MIDP-1.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.0)
There is a clause in the law which states something to effect of if the developer of modded software doesn't take any form of payment for his work, he can't be prosecuted for piracy (of course, he may be guilty of other charges, such as theft of the source code). I think you'll find that this is the reason this code jockey is distributing "Blue Faction" as freeware and not accepting payment...
Wirelessly posted (Nokia N-Gage: NokiaN-GageQD/1.0 SymbianOS/6.1 Series60/1.2 Profile/MIDP-1.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.0)
Then there's the ever-present risk of viruses... Downloading pirate and/or modded software could potentially infect your game deck with a virus; what appears to be a game, could in fact be a virus downloading to your game deck!
I see 😉 thanks for the help CybaCowboy 😃