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Lawsuit Threat Shuts Down ROM Downloads On Major Emulation Site 'EmuParadise' (arstechnica.com)
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."
Shirley there is a torrent that contains all the emulation files for these early consoles. It can't be that big.
As long as IP lawyers can bill hours they'll happily continue to play whack-a-mole.
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.
See cat. See bag.
Notice how the cat is no longer in the bag.
In any case, I know there are private trackers out there for old games for emulators that have pretty much everything. They keep a very low profile because they follow the first rule of fight club.
Besides, most of this content is now floating about on thousands of pirate retropie boxes being flogged off on ebay
READY.
PRINT ""+-0
Screw Nintendo. They are ridiculously over-litigious. Come on, most of these games are forgotten and/or completely inaccessible otherwise. And if they honestly want us to believe that the emulation community is a threat to their hardware lock-in, walled-garden money machine, they're completely insane.
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To leave the Berne Convention, a country must first leave the World Trade Organization because the TRIPS agreement includes the terms of the Berne Convention. That would likely cause other countries to increase tariffs on that country's exports. Copyright thus holds not only culture but also commerce hostage.
https://www.eurogamer.net/amp/2017-01-18-did-nintendo-download-a-mario-rom-and-sell-it-back-to-us
If you download the Wii version of Super Mario Bros. using the Virtual Console, there's evidence to suggest Nintendo might have actually repurposed an illegally-copied ROM and then sold it back to us. Surely that can't be the case. Right?
Join me in the video below as we take a look for ourselves.
Yes, but in Nintendo's warped world view, when they do it, it's okay.
It's not pirated nor illegal.
It seems that in their world view, the only thing that matter is who is the owner of the IP rights.
- They own the IP rights on the Mario game, they can do whatever pleases them with the ROM of the cartridges, even fetching dumps online.
(Okay, that you can concede to them).
- You don't own the IP rights. So even if you own an actual NES console that you legally paid for, and own a cartridge of Maria that you legally paid for, you're not allowed to use the same bits that exist on the ROM on your PC to play a game that you already legally paid for.
(Which is what nearly everyone will find discusting in their behaviour).
But given the world view that they seem to have, for Nintendo to have downloaded one of these "Illegal ROM dumps" from the internet isn't incoherent.
"Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]
There a many more talented developers and designers out there then Nintendo has on payroll, many of whom dabble in game development. Just look at the sheer number of Minecraft clone projects people start. Most never finish but it shows they have the basics of graphics programming down.
So instead of copying a ROM let's just copy the idea of the ROM. Create new games that play like Mario or Donkey Kong but don't use the copyrighted (copywritten?) characters. Let's build an "app store" for old 8 & 16 bit style games that aren't custom written.
And if Nintendo or some other company tries to say their "idea" was stolen, simply point to Facebook and FarmVille that was copied.
Instead of kickstarter campaigns for the next big MMO that never gets delivered, how about one that compensates developers for delivering simple bit graphics games like these?
Depending on your jurisdiction, using a *downloaded* ROM dump, to play on you computer a game that you legally bought from a system that you legally own too, CAN BE ACCEPTABLE according to local copyright law.
You paid the game, you paid the system, you should be able to do what you want to do with them (<- in most jurisdictions. You paid it you own it)
And it should be acceptable for you to take the internet download short-cut instead of going through the technical hassle of dumping your own ROM chips your self ( <- acceptable in several jurisdiction, most often those that have a compensatory tax for private use on blank media. France being a court-tested example)
But Nintendo's point of view seems to be against the above two.
To keep with your metaphor it's the difference that is between a copyright license, that give authorisation ("license") to make and distribute (non-personnal) copies, and EULAs that would like to set what you are allowed to do or not with something that you bought and thus should own.
"Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]
I'd bet that Nintendo's recent pissing fest isn't because they suddenly care about the value of these old ROMs, but because retropie boxes made a mockery out of their Classic Edition consoles by having more features (online connectivity, easy loading of additional roms, bluetooth support) for a lower price.
So instead of copying a ROM let's just copy the idea of the ROM. Create new games that play like Mario or Donkey Kong but don't use the copyrighted (copywritten?) characters. Let's build an "app store" for old 8 & 16 bit style games that aren't custom written.
We already have one: Itch Direct. There's already a platformer inspired by Mario and Kirby titled Nova the Squirrel by Joshua Hoffman, distributed by its author as an NES ROM that runs in an emulator or on a PowerPak or EverDrive. If you like it, you may also like The Curse of Possum Hollow by Retrotainment Games (also on Steam) or Lizard by Brad Smith.
And if Nintendo or some other company tries to say their "idea" was stolen, simply point to Facebook and FarmVille that was copied.
Until the victim of this "copying" lawyers up in earnest. Then you get things like Tetris v. Xio (2012).
or any other evil corporation that profits from copyright corruption. It's a crime against the people and the public domain. The rich people are completely unethical and abusive.Their greed has turned this world into a cesspool.