Jaleco Borrows PocketNES Emulator Source Code

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."

Comments

So... what's the story?

[Anonymous Coward]

Emulator author releases source to public domain. Company takes advantage of his generosity to use public domain source. Emulator author pleased that his source is being used. Everyone happy except fanboys who don't know what "public domain" means.

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

Re:So... what's the story?

[Bitsy Boffin]

the author knew he didn't have a leg to stand on

No, the author is completely happy because this is what he intended in the first place, anybody can take the source and use it for anything they want.

Re:So... what's the story?

[joshholm]

"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. ;)

Re:So... what's the story?

[olimar]

GPL + controversy = guaranteed Slashdot headline. Shocking!

Personally, I'm a bit suprised Nintendo doesn't license out their emulator (used in the "Classic NES Series") to other companies. Nin's own emulator is in many ways superior to PocketNES (this is loopy from the article, btw, so I'm allowed to bag on my own software :)

Loopy's okay with it as article says

[Anonymous Coward]

I know Loopy, and this is what he always intended. There is nothing wrong with the company doing this. I agree with Loopy that prohibiting commercial use is selfish a lot of the time, but I wouldn't say *always*.

Melissa

As far as I've noticed,

[kyz]

Public Domain is where coders often put "abandonware" stuff they're not particularly interested or proud of, or they'd likely get into legal hot water for asserting their ownership. (Or, alternatively, they're US Government employees who were funded by the US taxpayers).

I'm not saying they don't value their own software -- clearly they do, like any coder does -- but they don't care enough about it to ask people even to assert their authorship.

Given those set of values, I can easily understand the coder here.

Re:As far as I've noticed,

[Mmm coffee]

.....Or the author could be releasing it into public domain as an act of good will, freeing it in the most extreme sense of the word in hopes that it will benefit others? 'Cause, that's what just happened.

Throw this guy your support!

[vslashg]

I followed the link to the PocketNES site, and sent the author a small cash contribution, just because it's so refreshing to see somebody act and respond so magnanimously.

Things here worked out brilliantly. The PocketNES folks put out a great piece of free software that many people enjoy, video game fans get to legally play some old classics, and Jaleco employees get some cash.

Those people who champion the GPL because they believe proprietary software is inherently wrong, I have respect for. (Though the subset of those champions who make their living writing proprietary software, well...) Stallman's plan certainly worked; look at all the excellent GPL-licensed software out there. It's a huge codebase that will never make its way into closed-source software -- mission accomplished. And it certainly was a clever plot to use copyright to keep software open.

But I'm not so politically motivated. Public-domain-style licenses are just fine for most open-source purposes. This situation was a perfect example why. Nobody gets hurt! Like I said above, things here worked out great for Jaleco, for PocketNES (which certainly gets more respect and attention for this), and for the Japanese video-game-playing public in general.

The only "injuries" are that Jaleco is selling more closed-source software, and that the PocketNES author doesn't get a cut. But the author knew full well this could happen, and he didn't care, because it didn't hurt him! He wasn't motivated by greed.

So the only remaining "injury" is that the body of closed-source software has once again grown. Again, for those of you who think this is a Bad Thing, I respect you and your views. But I disagree, and I suspect many of you do, too. GPL is overkill, most of the time.

Re:I don't understand his thinking

[black mariah]

If he thinks the GPL has strings attached, what does he think of the ropes and chains on his software now?

What ropes and chains, moron? You can't take something out of the public domain once it's there. Public domain means that nobody has ownership and nobody controls it. Then again, you're too stupid to comprehend the fact that he doesn't care that Jaleco used his code, despite quoting him saying so in your own post.