"All Emulation Is Illegal" article

[Onji]

interesting article, although i dont agree with everything it says:

http://curmudgeongamer.com/article.php?story=20050126125510986

[SirPeale]

He's seriously misinterpeting the law there.  "For archival purposes only" doesn't necessarily mean copy it, then stick the copy somewhere where you'll never use it. 

[crashwg]

When I hear "for archival purposes" I interpret it as storing the original and using the copy.

[Thenasty]

When I hear "for archival purposes" I interpret it as storing the original and using the copy.

thats what I do w/my kids cd-games. No way in hell I let them used the original.

[Shape D.]

When I hear "for archival purposes" I interpret it as storing the original and using the copy.

Thats what I do with all my cds now. It doesn't make sense anymore not to. new cd $15  vs. new blank disk $0.50

[crashwg]

Another thing I see being argued on that site is that it states in the documentation of all games and media that copying is prohibited.  What about the fact that you can not read that information untill you open the product and after you open it you are not able to get your money back?

I could give a fark less if it's illegal or not, as long as I'm able I will continue downloading copies of games and copying rented/borrowed dvds/cds!  Screw game manufacturers, artists and actors alike, I hate you all and will not be giving you my $$$ any time soon!

[missioncontrol]

right on crashwg

[MrTroy]

I'm sorry but with the exception of Nintendo... I believe companies are looking for the cheapest stuff that has less of a life spand as possible. Think not. Think about how easily CDs scratch and stop working. Or think about how the PS2(for most of us) stopped reading a certain color disc.

When I worked in Gamestop I seriously heard peopel come in and ask me "Can I get a PS2 that reads the Blue disc? No no I have one that can read the silver ones I just want to play game X."

People were blinded by the fact that this is why so many of the systems sold. Most people don't want to wait the 6 weeks for Sony to fix their system. It's easier for them to just bite the bullet and buy a new system. So screw all of them. And with the next gen of systems using less Durable yet more "expensive" media... I hope they bootleg games two days after they come out.

I'm more of an original man myself. But no one has space for so many machines in an apartment as small as mine .

[lucindrea]

here is my take on it , it's illegal when the orginal owner spends the $$$ to go to court and make it illegal , if that owner is still around of course , after all , 90% of law is written by those who can afford to change it.

untill then , anything i spent my $ on i will make my own copies of , i'm not going off selling it and making a profit off somone elses work ( leagaly and moraly i belive that to be wrong ) , but i paid to use this in my home as i see fit , and i'll be damned if i'm gona let a $60 cd get scratched.

[Mameotron]

Another thing I see being argued on that site is that it states in the documentation of all games and media that copying is prohibited.

[shmokes]

When I hear "for archival purposes" I interpret it as storing the original and using the copy.

Thats what I do with all my cds now. It doesn't make sense anymore not to. new cd $15  vs. new blank disk $0.50

Mother of god!!!!  You are OVERPAYING for blank media.   

[SirPeale]

It makes me want to post the CD key on every gaming forum I can find.

Take it back to another store.  State the game is defective, and you would like a replacement copy.

Wait a couple days, take it back (sealed) and state you'd like your money back.

[danny_galaga]

It makes me want to post the CD key on every gaming forum I can find.

Take it back to another store.

[SirPeale]

Normally I wouldn't advocate such an underhanded manuver, but in such cases it's necessary.

[Patent Doc]

My god is this guy way off on the interpretation of archival copies.  And really is StarROM a legal authoity.  The guys is trusting the interpretation of ...not an attorney, but a retailer of games.  This board has and the Project Arcade book have had far better descriptions of the state of copyright law and emulation.

I agree with you here.  For christmas my wife bought me a copy of War of the Rings for my PC.  Before I opened it up, I carefully checked the specs listed on the box.  My hardware DOES meet the minimum specs listed.  So as I'm installing it, I get the error message that my system does not meet the minimum specs, and the installation aborts.

I'm screwed.  The store won't touch it because I opened it already.  I explained my problem to the dept. manager, and even took my problem to the store's general manager.  I'm screwed.

Actually I love Peale's idea though it isn't exactly ..umm honest.

One option (admittedly not a fast one, but an option) is to contact the distributor for the game.  If the specs on the box don't match the actual minimum requirements they might take it back.  You can argue that when they misrepresented the requirements to operate the game, they made any contract future contract unenforceable (the legal reasoning is a little more in depth, but that's the jist).  Anyway, that's one argument. 

I'm tapped out of solutions beyond that.  Really Peale's idea has the greatest success for working, but I can not recommend this for legal reasons

[Mameotron]

Peale, you're a genius.  I never would have thought of that!!

Well, actually, after my wife put up with my rantings for a few days she told me to go out and buy a new video card, so everything works now.

Still, the whole principle of the thing has me really ticked off.  I agree that the distrubutor (Sierra) probably would help me get a refund, but I envision that as taking about as long as the next ice age.

[crashwg]

It makes me want to post the CD key on every gaming forum I can find.

Take it back to another store.  State the game is defective, and you would like a replacement copy.

Wait a couple days, take it back (sealed) and state you'd like your money back.

I've done that a few times.  One time I can recall was this kid owed me money but didn't have any so we brought a game of his to sears and said the game wouldn't play right, they gave us a fresh copy which we brought right over to wal*mart and got a store credit.  I'm such a bad person... 

Oooh oooh, and this one was actually not my fault nor planned but I ended up getting a free Diablo 2 CD key...

I bought the game, went to install it, entered the cd keys and all that junk then mid-installation it failed.  I pop out the disk and see it has a crack....    I bring it back to the store and get me a new copy, go back home and continue the installation and it didn't ask for a CD key, it's still using the broken disk's woohoo!

[Harry Potter]

It makes me want to post the CD key on every gaming forum I can find.

Take it back to another store.  State the game is defective, and you would like a replacement copy.

Wait a couple days, take it back (sealed) and state you'd like your money back.

damn good idea!! of course we shouldn't have to but that's not a bad way of sticking it to the man 

Or do what a friend did (which was very naughty). Buy the games/DVDs, copy them, then take them to my workplace to be re-shrinkwrapped and voiala, instant un-opened product. Downside is you need a shrinkwrapper. 
A few weeks after this, the Large Unnamed store must have caught on cause they began using shrink material with their logo embossed on it. Now my friend has a copy of Wing Commander he never wanted in the firsplace 

[jbox]

Does anyone actually know of a court case where someone who did own a copy of the software was sued because they didn't use it exactly the way the 'license' required? eg. emulator, daemon, etc... I would be extremely surprised if any of the big companies ever risked doing that in Australia, since such a case would be more than likely to really tick the ACCC off. 

And IANAL (nor do I play one on TV), but most of the 'old-school' laws tend to talk about paying back (triple) *actual* damages. One copy of a piece of software being run under an emulator would amount to a staggering $200, which is probably what you pay each time a lawyer's secretary picks up the phone. If they don't catch you sharing their software, it costs them a stack of money to go after you. If enough gamers were willing to get caught misusing their own copy of the software, we could probably put the software company out of business...

Otherwise, we're just upset that people who have broken the law and are *flaunting* it are getting caught right?

[shmokes]

Who needs a shrinkwrapper?  When I was a kid I used to shrinkwrap my own SNES games to "trade-in" when I was done with them.  All you need is one of those little sealers with the vacuum that you can seal food in for putting in the freezer.  You can pick them up at Wal-mart.  They're really cheap.  Then, you get that plastic that's made for weather-proofing windows.  The stuff that you stick up and then take a blowdryer to to shrink it down and get out the wrinkles.  The stuff is sold by the mile (slight exaggeration) so it's BY FAR cheaper than anything that's marketed specifically for sealing up your food.

Just wrap up your game, seal it up, blow-dry to shrink it down to a nice, tight fit.  Now, you'll notice that your seams are kind-of chunky and unprofessional-looking.  Just take a pair of scissors and open them just a tiny bit and slide them along the seam.  It will shave it down and be indistinguishable from the original shrink-wrap.

voila.

[paigeoliver]

In the case of arcade games it is going to be darn near impossible to pin down ANY actual damages.

Ooops, I emulated Ms. Pac-Man and Namco sued me.

Namco does not currently offer the software I was emulating, although they do offer a SIMILAR (but different) product. Matter of fact, Namco NEVER sold the software I am emulating, as there never was a Namco version of Ms. Pac-Man for the arcade, only a midway version.

Now here is the fun part. I know Namco sued the rights to the Ms. Pac-Man character ETC off Midway, but they never sold it for the arcade (Class of '81 is a totally different software revision with features the original never had), so WHERE IS THE DAMAGE?

Hmmm, how about if I had a copy of Pooyan. Lets see, arcade version not available since 1983, although there was a new revision included in some various expanded software packages available in the 1990s.

No court in the land could possibly hold that Windows 95 and Windows XP PRO were the same thing, nor could they hold that bootlegging Windows 95 would have the same impact as copying Windows XP Pro.

It is the same thing with the arcade games. Even when they DO rerelease (for that 1 percent of games that got rereleased), it is always a new software version.

Then of course there is the very sticky wicket that the original machines were not sold with EULA's of any kind.  Which makes it tough to define what rights the companies REALLY have 25 years later.