[DoubleHelix]

Does this site now also prohibit the discussion of ISO images including the downloading, creation, and definition? Legal boot disks and Linux distros are downloaded in ISO form, and if someone hasn't worked with the file format before, it's possible they may need assistance.

This seems to be something where legality should be obvious in the request in most cases, but it also seems unnecessarily adversarial to assume everyone who asks a question about an ISO file is committing piracy and must first be subjected to a series of probing questions.

[jtsquared]

I agree. Though, I've met very few people who downloaded a Linux ISO and then didn't know what to do with it.

jT

[Cerviperus]

I think, as you stated, it depends largely on the thread in question. For example, I use WinISO to make backups of several software and music CDs (to which I own) but don't want to risk losing in the case of scratches, etc.

-I would assume legal and alright to discuss-

As I'm typing this message, I'm downloading the ISO of Linux's distro KNOPPIX. I've never used it before, and at some point I may have questions about it's use.

-I would assume legal due to the nature of the ISO (distributed as open source)-

Now, if I were to ask about how to download a game's ISO and get it to run on my PC, burn on a CD, etc., this would definitely fall under the illegal (and thus not allowed on the boards) category.

Like you, I'd be curious as well as to how the admins of the board look at these type of threads.

[Elvandil]

There isn't anything inherently illegal about ISO images. I download them often from Microsoft. As pointed out, it is the contents of the ISO's that can lead to problems with rule violations.

By the way, for those who find it too difficult, don't have the software, or for whatever reason are having trouble burning ISO images, I found this nifty, small, standalone ISO burner:

ftp://terabyteunlimited.com/burncdcc.zip

[dvk01]

From my point of view it depends where the question is posted

If it's in games or multimedia I feel it's safe to assume that it's likely to be a non-approved download so I will close the thread & point that out

If it's in an O/S specific tborad or on general software I normally ask for more info before making my mind up

What you have to bear in mind is that we mods are human and do make mistakes but we try
We have to respond quickly though as Techguy has had a few orders served on us as have other large forums from copyright holders instructing us to remove the copyright material or links to it etc.

Google visits this site several times daily and it's suprising how quickly something posted here spreads on the net so we have to be proactive in moderating these issues rather than reactive otherwise it's too late in many cases

Hope this clears it up for you