Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Lawsuit Threat Shuts Down ROM Downloads On Major Emulation Site 'EmuParadise' (arstechnica.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the cease-and-desist dept.

Following Nintendo's recent lawsuits against ROM sites LoveROMs and LoveRetro, a major ROM repository called EmuParadise announced it will preemptively cease providing downloadable versions of copyrighted classic games. While no lawsuits have been filed yet, the site's founder, MasJ, writes in an announcement post: "It's not worth it for us to risk potentially disastrous consequences. I cannot in good conscience risk the futures of our team members who have contributed to the site through the years. We run EmuParadise for the love of retro games and for you to be able to revisit those good times. Unfortunately, it's not possible right now to do so in a way that makes everyone happy and keeps us out of trouble." Ars Technica reports: EmuParadise will continue to operate as a repository for legal downloads of classic console emulators, as well as a database of information on thousands of classic games. "But you won't be able to get your games from here for now," as MasJ writes. Since founding EmuParadise in 2000, MasJ says EmuParadise has faced threatening letters, server shutdowns, and numerous DMCA takedown requests for individual games. Through it all, he says he was encouraged by "thousands of emails from people telling us how happy they've been to rediscover and even share their childhood with the next generations in their families."

1 of 79 comments (clear)

  1. Oh look, copyright holding culture hostage ... by UnknownSoldier · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Many of these ROMs are no longer even sold -- the original developer and publisher are LONG gone from the market.

    This is a classic case of copyright holding culture hostage due to greed.

    The fact that people WANT to download these old ROMs shows there is a demand, even if minor. The _financial_ value is INDEPENDENT of this.

    Can we stop trying to make everything about money and just let people enjoy the classics already instead of copyright holding every fucking thing of culture hostage?

    No one gives a fuck if some kid downloads a game that has been out of print for 20+ years except parasites, aka, lawyers.