| Main > Main Forum |
| cant seem to grasp why mame is 'illegal' for commercial use |
| << < (10/29) > >> |
| CheffoJeffo:
--- Quote from: ark_ader on February 03, 2010, 08:48:50 am ---It does matter[/b][/i] and I would like Haze to reference those emulators that is using MAME code as his post suggests. Also again I ask Haze where is the agreement from Namco Bandai saying that it allows the Mamedevs to promote namco copyrighted software to be used in MAME. --- End quote --- I think the point is that the MAMEDevs don't promote this ... they've actually been pretty damned clear about it. People ---smurfette--- about how changes to MAME make some games unplayable and how the MAMEDevs don't care enough about gameplay. I expect that the reason is that they aren't at all interested promoting MAME in that manner. Check Youtube for Aaron's talk at a recent Cal Extreme. |
| ark_ader:
--- Quote from: CheffoJeffo on February 03, 2010, 09:07:06 am --- --- Quote from: ark_ader on February 03, 2010, 08:48:50 am ---It does matter[/b][/i] and I would like Haze to reference those emulators that is using MAME code as his post suggests. Also again I ask Haze where is the agreement from Namco Bandai saying that it allows the Mamedevs to promote namco copyrighted software to be used in MAME. --- End quote --- I think the point is that the MAMEDevs don't promote this ... they've actually been pretty damned clear about it. People ---smurfette--- about how changes to MAME make some games unplayable and how the MAMEDevs don't care enough about gameplay. I expect that the reason is that they aren't at all interested promoting MAME in that manner. Check Youtube for Aaron's talk at a recent Cal Extreme. --- End quote --- I agree completely, and I have seen Aaron's talk at CAX. Cool stuff. The point for the post above shows that in the past MAME was playing the games. That issue really is past now and at last count MAME plays over 4000 games. But there was no referendum with regards to games that were still available to purchase (saying that someone else would code it is not enough) and the recent dumps by Guru that duplicates are probably sitting in some arcade warehouse available to buy, doesn't cover the mandate given under the rulings of the DMCA. So when a person like the OP wants to put a Mspacman in his pizza shack, his options is to go to Ultracade, an arcade operator or Ebay. But with MAME on the scene the OP can divert from buying from legitimate places and get it for free. The Mame license should restrict anyone from playing the roms, as they have no permission to do so by the copyright holders (exemptions permitting). Namco Bandai sells MsPacman/Galaga units. Mame should not be able to play MsPacman or Galaga. Right? |
| SavannahLion:
--- Quote from: Malenko on February 03, 2010, 07:41:26 am ---Secondly , I was ASKING about the legality of using ROMs on software that doesnt have a license restriction. I, for example, have both KI1 and KI2 PCBs that no longer work. They are not back ups or bootlegs, they are the real deal PCBs that are beyond my repair ability (a lot of surface mount stuff). So I was just askin, if I had a PC inside a KI cab, right next to the KI PCB/HD and ran KI for the purpose of having it in a bar and I got all the valid permits and ran it on software that doest have a commercial restriction, would that be "legal" --- End quote --- In a nutshell. No. The issue goes back to the copyright on the ROM in question. With copyrights in place for 70 to 120 years or so, you'll likely run into legal issues if someone cares enough to go after you. Mind you, I'm not debating the technical aspects of it. If you're actually, physically using the KI HDD with the PC and not just sitting in the cab as you imply, then that might be possible. One would have to do further research into it. |
| CheffoJeffo:
--- Quote from: ark_ader on February 03, 2010, 09:25:03 am ---So when a person like the OP wants to put a Mspacman in his pizza shack, his options is to go to Ultracade, an arcade operator or Ebay. But with MAME on the scene the OP can divert from buying from legitimate places and get it for free. The Mame license should restrict anyone from playing the roms, as they have no permission to do so by the copyright holders (exemptions permitting). Namco Bandai sells MsPacman/Galaga units. Mame should not be able to play MsPacman or Galaga. --- End quote --- I see your point now. While MAMEDevs have been good in not trying to emulate current games while they are earning money for the makers and distributors, I haven't seen discussion about games that are already in MAME and then rereleased. OTOH, the barn door is already open on this and you are missing what is, by far, the most commonly used option for a situation like this -- the xx-in-1. It is used on route far more often than conventional MAME (I say conventional since the emulation is a direct ripoff of MAME). It's illegal and in violation of the MAME license, but it is everywhere and is the cheapest and easiest alternative. |
| Haze:
--- Quote from: CheffoJeffo on February 03, 2010, 09:07:06 am --- --- Quote from: ark_ader on February 03, 2010, 08:48:50 am ---It does matter[/b][/i] and I would like Haze to reference those emulators that is using MAME code as his post suggests. Also again I ask Haze where is the agreement from Namco Bandai saying that it allows the Mamedevs to promote namco copyrighted software to be used in MAME. --- End quote --- I think the point is that the MAMEDevs don't promote this ... they've actually been pretty damned clear about it. People ---smurfette--- about how changes to MAME make some games unplayable and how the MAMEDevs don't care enough about gameplay. I expect that the reason is that they aren't at all interested promoting MAME in that manner. Check Youtube for Aaron's talk at a recent Cal Extreme. --- End quote --- Agreed, no promotion is going on at all. If you look at the recent documentation that is provided with MAME you'll see this is being made perfectly clear, the examples used are all games which have been made freely available. MAME does what it does, it's a piece of software, which if provided with the appropriate game software will attempt to emulate the hardware required for that software to run. Promotion would be saying 'replace all your Pacman cabinets with MAME because it's better' If anything the opposite is done, you'll find the majority of developers promoting the restoration of the original hardware, and going out their way to help people who have issues with the hardware, often using what was discovered when emulating the games as a reference. FWIW most games aren't protected at all, and most MAME development isn't even done in the US. Existing court cases, such as the case Sony had against various PSX emulators have always ruled in favour of emulation being legal. MAME contains no material which could be considered under copyright of anybody except the development team, it simply knows what to do with the game software if provided. Anyway, this is separate from the issue being discussed which was simply 'Why can't MAME be used in a commercial setting' for which the answer is simply because the license that comes with MAME states that you can't. If you believe a significantly older version does not have such a clause then maybe (pending verification with the author who holds the copyright on it) such a version could be used but all recent distributions have an explicit license agreement which states they can't be used for commercial purposes. --- Quote ---So when a person like the OP wants to put a Mspacman in his pizza shack, his options is to go to Ultracade, an arcade operator or Ebay. But with MAME on the scene the OP can divert from buying from legitimate places and get it for free. The Mame license should restrict anyone from playing the roms, as they have no permission to do so by the copyright holders (exemptions permitting). Namco Bandai sells MsPacman/Galaga units. Mame should not be able to play MsPacman or Galaga. --- End quote --- If they want a legal option to operate MSPacman on location the only options they have is finding an official MSPacman board on ebay (not a bootleg) or one of the newer models. Ultracade I can't recommend at all due to the ongoing legal issues. MAME they definitely can't run if they want to operate it legally regardless of any permissions from Namco because the MAME license states as much, so no, the OP can't revert to getting it for free if they want to operate it legally, and if they don't care about the legality of it they have plenty of other options. (Chinese xx-in-1 bootleg boards, FGPA based boards, MAME, Ultracade etc.) This doesn't make MAME illegal, but the use of it in such a situation would be. It's like a knife, you can use it for cutting meat, or you can stab somebody with it. The other options like the xx-in-1 (and depending on the outcome of the court case Ultracade ) would definitely be illegal from the start as they're actively distributing and promoting the units as coming with games, and distributing the games without permission. MAME isn't doing this. The primary goal of the project, is, as it's always been, to figure out how things work and document them in the form of source code which can reproduce the behavior of the original hardware to a high degree of accuracy. The license and trademark restrictions applied help reaffirm this goal. If you want to operate a machine commercially then by all means use the information in MAME to restore the original hardware, or, if there are reissues of the games available on different hardware, buy and operate those. Also if you want to be absolutely sure that you're running legal original software, MAME recognizes a good number of known bootlegs, so if your 'original' hardware is identified as a bootleg you might want to reconsider the legality of it and not operate it on location. MAME isn't promoting or encouraging any other use and when used properly can be a very useful tool with many legitimate uses. |
| Navigation |
| Message Index |
| Next page |
| Previous page |