Hi Hotdog, the point that BuBBy and myself are trying to put over is that even though it is possible to reinstall quite a few giveaways after the 24 hour period via various means, including using the registration codes that are often supplied with the giveaway on the day, or searching the registry for registration codes (very time consuming), the rules state that it is not allowed. If you do this you are breaking the contract you made when first installing the software and you are then running 'bootleg' illegal software; whereas if you are still running the software three years and longer after the event from the original installation, that would be considered legal.
There is no policing of illegal software in England, but according to my Brother in Law who run a translation business in Poland he said that he could never run any bootleg software on his business computer because they have inspections in place that allow a government department to check what’s on your computer. If they find any boot leg software which the above scenario would count, you are libel to prosecution.
In any event, it's down to the individual to decide whether they want to be totally legal or not. Maybe one day there will be a form of inspection across the globe, but that is probably way in the future and wont concern me.
I know that most software’s given away end up on torrent sites soon after they are given away, but hopefully the developers who are kind enough to offer up their software each day make a profit out of it through community members purchasing software from them. I’ve certainly bought lots of titles over the past four and a bit years since the inception of this fantastic project. Some of these developers have been extremely generous; for example, one developer I purchased from gave me another of their products after I'd made a mistake when purchasing a software (I'd ticked the wrong box and ended up with a registration code and download link for a different package, when I contacted them about the mistake they quickly sent me a new registration code and download link for the one I'd originally intended to buy and said that I could keep the one I'd bought by mistake. I contacted another developer recently asking if they would do a discount on a particular giveaway that was given about three years ago. They had increased the price of the software by almost 50% since the original giveaway and I wasn't able to afford the new price, but I was impressed enough with the software to pay the original price. The answer I received was very surprising, and very generous. they supplied me with a registration code and download link for the latest incarnation of the software for free. The moral of both these stories is that it pays to be honest because many of these developers can be very generous if you are willing to take the time to contact them). I’ve not mentioned the developers because I wouldn’t want them inundated by many requests similar to mine, lol. :) It’s really down to whether you really need or want a particular software.
One of the things BuBBy mentions above reminds me of myself when the project first started. I used to download every software without fail because it was free and I thought maybe I’ll need it sometime in the future. That didn’t work out in the end because I usually format my HDD’s regularly (resulting in the loss of all of the giveaways) because I’ve always been a download whore anyway, usually downloading all the mods and extras for the many games that I play (e.g. I have well over 600Gb of mods and maps just for one game called Battlefield 2). The down side of downloading so much is that my hard drives get clogged up very quickly even though my main computer has five separate HDD’s plus five external drives amounting to several Teerabytes. I have to regularly work through what's on them to delete duplicates and get rid of stuff that I think I’ll probably not use. (This is a relatively new habit of mine as previously I wouldn’t delete anything). Please excuse my off the point ramblings, I easily get sidetracked. :)
