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Lilwolf:
btw, the ultracade 'solution'.  Its actually MUCH cheaper to buy boards on ebay.  Then there are multi jamma connectors to allow 5-10 jamma boards onto one machine.

Owning the board doesn't always allow you to run it on other hardware.  But morally I think its ok.  (ie, if you have all the boards your running in the cabinet it should be ok... trouble with that is its NOT ok with MAME... so you would have to write an emulator to do it).

I tried to get a solution with mame a while ago.  A friend owned a few arcades and he had rooms of old boards laying around that got convertered.  He was hoping to build up a few mame machines that only ran 10-30 games and he was willing to store the original boards in the machine itself as 'proof' and even to create his own roms (he had all the chip readers).  But it was a no-go on MAME side.  And that made it just a no-go no matter what.

Havok:

--- Quote from: Adeptus on August 10, 2005, 10:55:53 pm ---I think because emulation is still relatively obscure (though it seems to be becoming more mainstream & popular all the time) and maybe also because most people who play arcade emulators would never buy the genuine cabinet/PCB anyway (ie no loss of potential sales), the arcade manufacturers haven't been enforcing their copyright as much as the music, movie, & home software companies have been.


--- End quote ---

Quite a few of these ROMs fall under the relatively new law that defines software that is not sold or supported by a company as obsolete software, and no longer subject to copywrite protection. Titles that are actively being sold\supported are not covered under this law, so PacMan for example is definitely out. However, a large number of them are "safe" for the moment. Hooray for the little guy!

saint:
I'm fairly certain that is incorrect.

The DMCA prohibits circumventing copy protection techniques. However, an exemption was granted a year or two ago for obsolete technology. The important point is that allowing the circumvention of copy protection techniques is not at all the same as voiding the copyright itself. Copyrights are still measured in decades (70 years or so I think for our purposes, but I don't have my research in front of me).

The results:

MAME, which circumvents copy protection in a variety of ways, is legal under these terms. Obtaining a copy of a ROM that runs in MAME that has not been purchased legally (or that has not been released by the copyright holder) is not legal.

--- saint



--- Quote from: Havok on August 11, 2005, 09:37:57 am ---
--- Quote from: Adeptus on August 10, 2005, 10:55:53 pm ---I think because emulation is still relatively obscure (though it seems to be becoming more mainstream & popular all the time) and maybe also because most people who play arcade emulators would never buy the genuine cabinet/PCB anyway (ie no loss of potential sales), the arcade manufacturers haven't been enforcing their copyright as much as the music, movie, & home software companies have been.


--- End quote ---

Quite a few of these ROMs fall under the relatively new law that defines software that is not sold or supported by a company as obsolete software, and no longer subject to copywrite protection. Titles that are actively being sold\supported are not covered under this law, so PacMan for example is definitely out. However, a large number of them are "safe" for the moment. Hooray for the little guy!

--- End quote ---

Crazy Cooter:
Long story short:

* STARROMS are licensed for home use only and must be "registered" in the end users name.  Contact both STARROMS and the MAMEdevs if you want to sell cabinets that have it installed and running.  That way you will be 110% legal.  [disclaimer: I'm not associated with STARROMS, but they totally rock!]

* ULTRACADE has two systems.  One for home use only called "Arcade Legends" and one for a commercial (meaning money generating) setting called "Ultracade".  Their ROM licenses are expensive because they paid for this "extra" license use.  If you plan on using their system in a commercial setting, you need the "right" system from them.  [disclaimer: I have serious issue with these guys and will never, ever do business with them.]

* ROM burners that sell DVD sets are in the grey area of the law.  Internet sites also fall in this grey area.  Some say it's legal, some say it's not, most agree it's undefined.

* The best way IMO to set up a cabinet in a commercial setting is to just use jamma boards.  Cheap, easy, & effective.

SirPoonga:
What saint said
Copy protection does not equal copyright!

The law says it is legal to break protection, like encryption techniques.  Copywrite still applies in that you have to legally own it.

http://www.copyright.gov/1201/

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