Lawsuit Threat Shuts Down ROM Downloads On Major Emulation Site 'EmuParadise' (arstechnica.com) 79
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."
Torrent (Score:3, Informative)
Re: (Score:2)
I would think so. And don't call me Shirley.
Nintendo have been selling pirated roms anyway (Score:1)
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.
Warped world view (Score:2)
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 lega
Not quite (Score:3)
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 you
Re: (Score:2)
It seems that in their world view, the only thing that matter is who is the owner of the IP rights.
It's not their world view, it's the law. Nintendo doesn't own some global blackops that flys around the world on an SR-71 bombing data centers that host ROMs. They go through the courts in a variety of regions.
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.
Can we not play stupid here. Almost everyone that downloads ROMs from these sites never paid for them. Fine, make your argument why that's okay, and how copyright laws are unfair, and so on. But don't build your argument through a ridiculous supposition we all know is invalid. That doesn't work in a c
Re: Torrent (Score:1)
Re: (Score:1)
You'd want a good well vetted digital signature to verify there.
Re: (Score:2)
Shirley there is a torrent that contains all the emulation files for these early consoles. It can't be that big.
There was at web.archive.org can't find it at the moment, it's a 36 Gig download; and comes with MAME.
Re: (Score:2)
Shirley there is a torrent that contains all the emulation files for these early consoles. It can't be that big.
There was at web.archive.org can't find it at the moment, it's a 36 Gig download; and comes with MAME.
Found it. Remembered it was a /. article that led me there https://games.slashdot.org/sto... [slashdot.org]
Re:Torrent (Score:4, Interesting)
I downloaded that giant torrent and even had to find a third party program to unzip the damn thing. The one built into Windows would have taken days. The Stupid part is MAME never had long filename support so you have 50,000 roms all in 8.3 file format. You'll never know what any of them are without a GUI front end.
Re: (Score:1)
They absolutely exist. Pirates are fond of packaging the least adulterated roms together (eg nointro sets) and then they destroy the work done by including translated roms with crappy and broken patches pre-applied.
At any rate yeah, anyone who is deep into console preservation has a sd-card based flash drive for each console and every game from every system and every version of the system on it already. Every SNES game for example can fit on a 16GB card, but if you want the MSU-custom patches you then need
Re: (Score:2)
Figures! (Score:2)
As long as IP lawyers can bill hours they'll happily continue to play whack-a-mole.
Re: (Score:2)
Two can play that game. Whatever. The files are available elsewhere. They want to waste thier time so be it.
Oh look, copyright holding culture hostage ... (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.
Re:Oh look, copyright holding culture hostage ... (Score:4, Interesting)
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?
Apparently not. There are plenty of ways a government could fix this, but there isn't enough interest among voters to make this a ballot-deciding issue.
I've seen a few proposals that wouldn't appear to facially violate the Berne Convention's prohibition of formalities:
Re: (Score:2)
I've seen a few proposals that wouldn't appear to facially violate the Berne Convention's prohibition of formalities:
Perhaps we should ask ourselves if the Berne Convention DESERVES to be facially violated.
TRIPS: Copyright holds commerce hostage (Score:5, Informative)
To leave the Berne Convention, a country must first leave the World Trade Organization because the TRIPS agreement [wikipedia.org] 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.
Re: (Score:1)
Honestly, I think the quickest, easiest, and fairest fix would be that if a company doesn't allow an IP or product to be commercially available at a fair price for 10 years, then it automatically becomes public domain.
That would make countless classics, things like Desert Strike for example public domain, and given EA isn't doing anything with that IP and that product then it's a completely fair thing to do. They can't claim lost revenue if that law is enacted because they're refusing to make money on it in
Re: (Score:1)
This requires a government of the people, for the people, by the people...This has never really existed in the Orient, or Asia, or Middle East...pretty much dead in the EU and dying in the US.
Re: (Score:2)
There are plenty of ways a government could fix this, but there isn't enough interest among voters to make this a ballot-deciding issue.
Voters have a dilute interest. Even understanding the issue costs more to an individual voter than any benefit leading to rational ignorance.
Special interests (like Disney) have a concentrated interest so they are acutely aware of the issue and invest overwhelmingly to control the politics.
Re:Oh look, copyright holding culture hostage ... (Score:5, Informative)
Wrong. By default, every creative work belongs to all people, to be freely copied and redistributed. "Intellectual property" is a temporary privilege granted under the notion that it would lead to the production of more works that would eventually return to the public domain. But if the premise is incorrect, and intellectual property does not contribute to the public domain, it has failed its sole purpose and must be outright abolished.
Re: (Score:3)
Exactly this.
With copyright terms so long, we will all be long dead before anything we remember falls into the public domain. It's also likely that no readable copies will even exist by the time copyright expires.
Re: (Score:2)
"No, this is the law."
You know what else is the law? Nintendo not having the rights to many of these games any longer (since they were made by 3rd parties like Broderbund, Origin, or Sierra, etc., not directly by Nintendo themselves) so many of their copyright claims are actually false, A.K.A. perjury!
Re: (Score:1)
And when I find you, I'll have my second strike. I don't give two flying fucks, boss. I'll find you just like I found APK.
Re: (Score:1)
No, this is the law.
The validity of the law is questionable.
Typically you grandfather in events happening before the law was written to avoid making people who were following the law criminals.
An example would be seat belts in cars.
When seat belts were made mandatory you couldn't just force everyone to just buy a new car. Old cars without seat belts got to follow the laws that were in place when they were made.
The same should have been done with copyright. When it was extended all works written before the extension should have
Re: (Score:1)
There is a PS3 emulator that is getting very good results: https://rpcs3.net/ [rpcs3.net]
Ni no Kuni is currently listed as "ingame", but not fully playable. Give it time and it will be.
Re: (Score:2)
No, they're still abandoned. Just as a mother screaming "Don't you touch my child" from a thousand miles away when she hears a bear over a cell phone does not qualify as protection, neither does sending out C&Ds for copying a game that is unavailable commercially qualify as proof of non-abandonment.
I fully agree with the folks who say that there should be a maximum rest period for copyrighted works. If compa
Re: (Score:3)
It's interesting that people are still buying the NES Classic and SNES Classic, even though they could download these ROMs for free. Seems that people are willing to pay for convenience and things like proper controllers and playing on their TV.
I'm sure a copyright lawyer would claim that Nintendo lost billions to ROM piracy anyway, but as ever the real solution is to provide a legal, affordable alternative. And to be fair to Nintendo, they have been pretty good about getting even obscure games on to their
Re: (Score:1)
It'd be great if they'd just make everything available for download. In my stupid naivety, when they first announced Virtual Console, I had dreams of buying the Wii and immediately downloading old favorites like Chrono Trigger, Secret of Mana, etc on day one.
I understand in some cases it's weird stuff about old publishers and copyright holders and etc that don't exist, so they can't get permission... but that doesn't change the fact that they drip fed stuff for years and then did the same (with even less) o
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Many of these ROMs are no longer even sold -- the original developer and publisher are LONG gone from the market.
Anything released on Nintendo is licensed through Nintendo. They have a financial stake in every (official) ROM released for their platforms.
And if the ROM sites weren't hosting any Nintendo games we wouldn't be talking here.
The fact that people WANT to download these old ROMs shows there is a demand
Your desire for a product doesn't obligate someone to sell it to you. We are talking about video games here. Not water, or health care, or electricity. Check yourself.
No one gives a fuck if some kid downloads a game that has been out of print for 20+ years except parasites, aka, lawyers.
You sure? Seems like Nintendo does. Yes, they use lawyers because you know, these are ultimately legal actions. I know w
Comment removed (Score:4, Informative)
Re: (Score:2)
I grew up with cats, and if you can't get the cat back in the bag it is usually because you're holding it wrong.
Re: (Score:2)
If you're holding either one, you're doing it wrong. Step 1: Place the bag in such a way that the bottom lies flat, with the sides piled up around it. Step 2: Wait for the cat to think that it is a box and squeeze between the vertical walls. Step 3: Raise the sides of the bag in a quick vertical motion.
If this does not work, try putting a small amount of cat food on the bottom of the bag.
Re: (Score:2)
Not only can the cat and bag each be held wrong, even the idea can be held wrong!
Gimme a break (Score:1)
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.
Re: (Score:2)
Nintendo has long had a stance about protecting it's own IP. That's part of why they had the "Officially Licensed by Nintendo" on their NES cartridges - complete with the locking chip. They bought the rights to the two adult film parodies of the Super Mario Bros so the films wouldn't be distributed. They issued a DMCA take-down to the developer of AM2R just prior to their release of Metroid: Samus Returns.
Sony, Sega and Microsoft have all used similar tactics to try to keep their IP within their walls. The
So stop buying Nintendo and make our own (Score:1)
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 b
Nova the Squirrel on Itch (Score:2, Informative)
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 [itch.io]. There's already a platformer inspired by Mario and Kirby titled Nova the Squirrel by Joshua Hoffman [novasquirrel.itch.io], 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 [3dcartstores.com] (also on Steam [steampowered.com]) or Lizard by Brad Smith [lizardnes.com].
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) [slashdot.org].
Nintendo is pissed... (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
...and actually able to buy them...
I remember how when they first came out they sold out quickly, and if you hadn't bought them right away, you were SOL.
I will never, ever, buy anything from Nintendo (Score:1)
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.