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Jaleco Borrows PocketNES Emulator Source Code

Posted by simoniker on from the all's-fair-in-thing-and-thing dept.

Thanks to Waxy.org for its story discussing Jaleco's apparently legitimate use of the public domain PocketNES emulator in a Game Boy Advance game without explicit permission, explaining: "While the emulation community was outraged, the emulator's programmer felt a bit differently." The article notes: "Like the recent Classic NES Series, Jaleco Entertainment's Jajamaru Jr. for the Gameboy Advance is a nostalgic reissue for the Japanese market... [that] includes five different emulated classic NES/Famicom titles from Jaleco's library: Ninja Jajamaru, Jajamaru's Great Adventure, Exerion, City Connection, and Formation Z." Although "Emulation fans were upset, with cries of copyright infringement", the emulator's author responded: "Yes, PocketNES is public domain... I wanted it to be public domain. This 'Jaleco incident', in fact, is the very reason I wanted to make it FREE (as in public domain) rather than 'GPL free' (strings attached). I'm not a fan of the GPL, I think it's selfish."

3 of 102 comments (clear)

  1. Re:So... what's the story? by joshholm · · Score: 5, Funny

    "Am I missing something, or is there basically no story here?"

    I think the real issue is the emulator author's blasphemy against the glorious GPL license. We, as honorable /. group-thinkers, must get out our torches and pitchforks and find this heathen. ;)

  2. /. effect by sqrt(2) · · Score: 2, Funny

    Ha, their site must be hosted on a gameboy adv...what the...it's still up?

    --
    If you build it, nerds will come. Soylentnews.org
  3. Some jokes ... by evslin · · Score: 2, Funny

    ... deliver their own punch lines.

    Emulation fans were upset, with cries of copyright infringement.