What is illegal about using pirated software that someone else distributed to you, if you never agreed to a license contract?

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dotnet00 3 days ago | parent [-]

If you can show that the pirated copy was provided to you without your knowledge, and that there was no reasonable way for you to know that it was pirated, there probably isn't anything illegal about it for you.

But otherwise, you're essentially asking if you can somehow bypass license agreements by simply refusing to read them, which would obviously render all licensing useless.

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thaumasiotes 3 days ago | parent [-]

Why do you think reading the agreement is notionally mandatory before the software becomes functional?

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dotnet00 3 days ago | parent [-]

Most paid software generally makes you acknowledge that you have read and accepted the terms of the license before first use, and includes a clause that continued use of the software constitutes acceptance of the license terms.

In the event that you try to play games to get around that acknowledgement: Courts aren't machines, they can tell that you're acting in bad faith to avoid license restrictions and can punish you appropriately.

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thaumasiotes 3 days ago | parent [-]

>> Why do you think reading the agreement is notionally mandatory before the software becomes functional?

> Most paid software generally makes you acknowledge that you have read and accepted the terms of the license before first use, and includes a clause that continued use of the software constitutes acceptance of the license terms.

Huh. If only I'd known that.

Why do you think that is?

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dotnet00 3 days ago | parent [-]

How about you directly say what you're trying to say instead of being unnecessarily sarcastic?

	▲	thaumasiotes 3 days ago \| parent [-]
		If it's possible to use software without agreeing to the license, then the license really doesn't bind the user. That's why people try to make it mandatory. Why did you think it made sense to respond to the question "Why do you think X is true?" with "Did you know that X is true?"?