It astonishes me that the statement in the title of this piece needs to be made, but apprently it does.

In my earlier piece I tried to focus purely on the ideas at issue in this revival of the great used game debate. But the more I read Tycho’s post the more I think language like this needs to be addressed:

“If I am purchasing games in order to reward their creators, and to ensure that more of these ingenious contraptions are produced, I honestly can’t figure out how buying a used game was any better than piracy. From the perspective of a developer, they are almost certainly synonymous.”

Here are descriptions of the situations Tycho seems unable to distinguish:

1. In a case of piracy, which is when illegal copies of a game are made and distributed, the creator has sold one copy but multiple copies exist and can be played simultaneously.
   
   
2. In a used game sale, the creator has sold one copy, one copy exists, and one copy can be played.

Can Tycho really not tell the difference between these two scenarios?

My question is, in what way are they equivalent?

The main similarity I see is that in both examples there may be a developer who wants money but does not get it. In the piracy scenario that desire is legitimate, and in the used game sale it is completely baseless.

If you cannot distinguish between buying used games and piracy, tell me this: is there a difference between buying a used game, and buying a new game once and playing it twice? In both situations a game is purchased from the developer, it is played once, and then it is played again. To suggest that some new harm to the developer is conjured by the fact that the second play is by a different person is bewildering.

Where would one draw the line?

• If I buy a new game, play it through, and then play it again, am I a pirate? If not, why not?
  
  
• If I buy a new game, play it through, and then my son plays it, is my son a pirate?
  
  
• If I buy a new game, play it through, then give it to a friend, and my friend plays it, is my friend a pirate?
  
  
• If I buy a new game, play it through, then give it to a friend, who gives me money in exchange, and my friend plays it, is my friend a pirate?

At what point on this continuum does the ethereal substance of “piracy” enter?

To suggest that the involvement of money suddenly changes the moral equation is magical thinking.  It attributes to legal tender some kind of supernatural power that is heretofore unproven.