Cheat Engine

Russell · Posted: Tue Jan 28, 2014 7:49 am Post subject: Legal or illigeal

is cheatengine legal or iligeal

Geri · Moderator Reputation: 111 Joined: 05 Feb 2010 Posts: 5627

Looking into your memory or debugging a software is hardly illegal. If you want to use it for multiplayer games, you will be probably banned (for obvious reasons), but it's still not illegal, it's just violating the EULA or ToS or whatever of the game and your rights to use the game will be terminated (permaban).

++METHOS · Posted: Tue Jan 28, 2014 1:14 pm Post subject:

Just to add to what Geri said...regarding online games, just because something may not be 'technically' illegal, doesn't mean that someone can't sue you for loss of revenue etc.

olala · How do I cheat? Reputation: 0 Joined: 17 Sep 2013 Posts: 8

Dark Byte · Posted: Tue Jan 28, 2014 10:19 pm Post subject:

Cheat Engine is just as (il)legal as Visual studio

You can make programs with cheat engine like you can do with Visual studio. It's up to you to decide what you make with it, and if the result is legal or not

ayesha · Posted: Mon Feb 03, 2014 4:37 am Post subject:

Looking into your memory or debugging a software is hardly illegal. If you want to use it for multiplayer games.................

Polynomial · Posted: Mon Feb 03, 2014 4:34 pm Post subject:

To provide a more detailed answer: it is possible to break the law by using Cheat Engine, but you'd have to be using it for something other than its intended use, and the tool itself is absolutely not illegal.

For example, if you were to use CE to cheat in a single player game, that's not illegal. If you somehow used it to cheat in a multiplayer game (it'd have to be a terribly written one) then that also isn't illegal, but it's probably a violation of the game's terms and conditions, and could land you with a ban.

Now, keep in mind that CE features a fully-functioning debugger and a whole bunch of stealth features. It's not hard to imagine someone using it to bypass something like DRM or anti-piracy restrictions on copyrighted media, e.g. a game. In many countries this is breaking the law because it falls under copyright circumvention clauses.

There's a good parallel here with security tools. One example is Burp Suite, which is a web application security analysis proxy. Arguably its entire purpose is to help the user break into websites by identifying and exploiting security holes. The tool itself, however, is not illegal. In fact, I couldn't do my job without it. That doesn't mean I can't break the law by using it, though - if I were to point Burp at a site that I didn't have prior authorisation to test, then used it to perform a bunch of invasive attacks (e.g. SQL injection) I'd be breaking the Computer Misuse Act.

So, as other people have said, it's not the tool, it's how you use it.

dharthoorn · Posted: Tue Feb 04, 2014 10:17 am Post subject:

Geri · Moderator Reputation: 111 Joined: 05 Feb 2010 Posts: 5627

Comparing CE to torrent sites is a very bad example. CE is a memory editing tool with a debugger. There are many similar programs (eg WinDbg is a debugger, made my Microsoft). It's a hundred times easier to do something illegal with a hammer than with CE.

Also, CE forum is specifically against warez content and you are not even allowed to link to warez sites so the connection between CE and warez is like zero.

dharthoorn · Posted: Tue Feb 04, 2014 2:57 pm Post subject:

Exactly my point that you are suggesting those 2 sites are warez sites. Since when is filesharing by definition illegal, by torrent or otherwise?

The fact that cracks are made with debuggers doesnt make CE illegal, even though you can use CE to do that.

Polynomial · Posted: Tue Feb 04, 2014 3:01 pm Post subject:

Geri · Moderator Reputation: 111 Joined: 05 Feb 2010 Posts: 5627

dharthoorn · Posted: Tue Feb 04, 2014 3:45 pm Post subject:

++METHOS · Posted: Tue Feb 04, 2014 7:24 pm Post subject:

Nothing wrong with harmless discussion. Maybe this thread should be moved, however.

Geri · Moderator Reputation: 111 Joined: 05 Feb 2010 Posts: 5627

There is nothing wrong with the original topic, though I guess the question was pretty much answered. CE in itself is rather harmless, but hey, Empress Elisabeth of Austria was assassinated with a needle file (not even a knife, just a simple tool). I would say that was pretty damn illegal and still done with a common tool. For someone with malicious intent, there are possibilities to commit horrible crimes with common materials, but that won't make those materials or tools responsible for the crime.