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MAME and the law.
ark_ader:
Copyright violation is not criminal. Civil action definitely, but you could not go to jail for having illegal roms in your house.
You could not go to jail for having a mame cab in free play in a Wimpy Burger Bar.
Jump in here any time Haze..... ;)
Well you might want to ask Mr Foley........ Hey whats up with him lately?
bradx:
its illegal but who cares? no different than downloading mp3s and millions of people do that guilt free, so i dont think theres an ethical problem. shoot, i am a musician myself and make my music available as high quality downloads for free right when its released to prevent poor quality rips from circulating. a cd or a record or video game cab or video game disc are things, downloaded material is like the wind. most of these games are orphaned works, meaning they have not been available legally in a long time. it is the copyright law that is way off base in this case, in my opinion. the term of copyright lasts much longer than needed. unless they are actively selling the games they should be legal to download for nonprofit use.
so now we get to the coin door question. my cab has a credit button and a coin door. i use it as a piggy bank, and usually have a stack of quarters sitting next to it. if someone plays some games and wants to voluntarily donate a couple quarters thats ok, it will never come close to adding up to the time and investment i have in the thing in work and parts. i will be an old white haired man long before a couple quarters here and there ever add up to a profit.
WhereEaglesDare:
--- Quote from: ark_ader on May 28, 2010, 01:59:22 pm ---Copyright violation is not criminal. Civil action definitely, but you could not go to jail for having illegal roms in your house
--- End quote ---
It is a federal offense. It is also one of the few powers the federal government was afforded in the Constitution. This is why many cabs have a FBI warning sticker on them somewhere, mine did.
Next question, has anyone been punished for roms? I heard Nintendo sued the hell out of some guy recently over some Pirated Wii Torrents.
DaveMMR:
--- Quote from: WhereEaglesDare on May 30, 2010, 06:25:46 pm ---
--- Quote from: ark_ader on May 28, 2010, 01:59:22 pm ---Copyright violation is not criminal. Civil action definitely, but you could not go to jail for having illegal roms in your house
--- End quote ---
Next question, has anyone been punished for roms? I heard Nintendo sued the hell out of some guy recently over some Pirated Wii Torrents.
--- End quote ---
Okay so we're talking MAME Roms now. Most people who download them belong to a relatively small group of people who are arcade enthusiasts and have them for personal use (not counting the unscrupulous fellows who put them in a public cab). It's illegal, sure, but it's a relatively minor blip on the game publishers' collective radar. Most casual computer users know not of MAME or would be immediately turned-off by the program being not so "user friendly". "I have to read instructions? Nuts to that!"
Additionally, MAME Roms are for games not readily available in stores in their current format (i.e. arcade accurate). You can say Centipede is available to purchase for various formats, but not so much in its original form found on the chips in a genuine machine (especially now that Star Roms is defunct).
The Wii Torrents, OTOH, is something Nintendo will come down hard on you for providing to the public for download. Same for Microsoft, Sony, Activision, EA, etc. with their game properties. These are games that are new, available in stores and will be making money for publishers for quite some time. Downloading these games is clearly just wanting "something for nothing" and, as its in direct competition with legitimate outlets, sharing them for others is a serious offense.
As an aside, I always read about those who pirate all their PC games and then complain that new releases are getting priority releases on consoles or go overboard with DRM. So they "teach them a lesson" by pirating the new games. That cycle continues until PC gaming is neutered and verging on extinct.
So yeah, we've all downloaded MAME Roms but I don't see it as a catalyst for lost profits for any of these companies. When it's a moral dilemma for me, I try to patronize the publishers and will purchase their new releases (or, in the case of Nintendo - even their VC releases).
I know it's all just justification to rationalize something that is illegal, but at least we're all trying to be good, even when it's not entirely possible.
Vulgar Soul:
Lol, well uh goin back to my original concern...I'm not sure how many people here actually put working coin doors on their cabs or just scrap it since it's "questionable" to even use it anyway. But if you put one on your cab - of course first and foremost for personal use and authenticity - considering either written law or your own personal ethics; would you never, ever under any context allow people to put a coin, or even alternative tokens or something, in it?