Free or piracy?

[LancerNZ]

I was really glad to find this site, as the Telecom service for a phone I recently purchased has zero games available for my (fairly recent) R6 model on the new "XT" network they're trying to sell everyone in New Zealand. Free games are very welcome.

Looking at the games I see here, I'm wondering how many are really free though. I saw one game had a watermark on its preview image...
h ttp: // ww w. mobiles24. com/static/previews/downloads/default/109/P-7045-7FJ90Juqws-1.jpg

Following the link to h ttp: // html .masyaka.ru/ the site is Russian, and get beyond reach of DMCA etc, but the games, if not they have not officially been released as "free" would after all still be piracy... wouldn't they?

I googled for whether there is a known piracy issue with Mobile Games, and found h ttp: // ww w. russellbeattie. com/notebook/1005247 .html which was pretty disturbing reading for me. I myself am a computer animator who has not managed to find work after quitting my previous job and forking out for nearly $10,000 diploma in Animation (not including a further $10,000 in living costs).

So yeah, there's my question. Googling this forum did not bring any answers to me, neither did a quick skim through the site FAQ.

...is downloading from this site legal?

P.S. Excuse the lack of images & proper links... forum newbie restriction apparently... get rid of spaces.

[captainjackwww]

legal or illegal............... who cares...
just download them and start enjoying.......
i mean FBI... aint gonna bust u for downloading games from websites like thzz........

[Bazza21]

It's Legal, if you look at the upload rules, mobiles24 has guidelines on what games can be uploaded to mobiles24 galleries. Some brands such as EA are copyright, and they aren't permitted in the gallery.

[Mark]

It is completely legal to download from Mobiles24. Our TOS explains our policy regarding copyright content.

[Joshua_pohan]

I think the ones in the public gallery are legal,but not the ones in the forum. Games made by gameloft, EA, Dchoc, etc are copyrighted so they're probably illegal. That's why people use external links here.

[bet0]

well... even if it illegal... so what? game created for fun. game distributed for everyone to play... . lol

[RaulRey]

I think the ones in the public gallery are legal,but not the ones in the forum. Games made by gameloft, EA, Dchoc, etc are copyrighted so they're probably illegal. That's why people use external links here.

The complete list of forbidden vendors (Digital Chocolate not listed here):

http://forum.mobiles24.com/showthread.php?t=2896

[diluencheong]

Yes. It is completely legal on the website but not from other sources.

[viktor_schwarze]

totally legal, sure thing...whenever a copyrite protected game`s attached at this site it must be done by using an external file hosting web site, "lol"...if U wanted it 2 B illegal, then "dèsolé"