Want to read Slashdot from your mobile device? Point it at m.slashdot.org and keep reading!

 



Forgot your password?
typodupeerror
×
Games Entertainment

Nintendo Confirms It Will Sue UltraHLE Creators 96

ewhac writes "Fastest Game News Online is reporting that Beth Llewelyn, PR manager for Nintendo US, has issued a formal statement confirming that Nintendo will pursue legal action against "Reality Man" and "Epsilon", the nom de plume of the creators of the UltraHLE N64 emulator. Says Llewelyn, "Nintendo is very disturbed that Reality Man and Epsilon have widely distributed a product designed solely to play infringing copies of copyrighted works [ ... ] We are taking several measures to further protect and enforce our intellectual property rights which, of course, includes the bringing of legal action. Emulators and ROMs are clearly infringing and damage not only 'larger industry players' such as Nintendo but hundreds of smaller companies who invest millions of dollars and thousands of hours to develop and program software only to have it stolen on the Internet." "

Flagrantly Biased Editorial: Once again, Nintendo is inventing intellectual property rights out of thin air. Miss Llewelyn states as axiomatic that emulators A) are illegal, and B) exist solely to permit playing illicit copies of games. This false premise leads them to a variety of flawed conclusions, such as the belief that Nintendo has the right to dictate what buyers can and can't run the games on. Regardless of what shrinkwrap "agreements" may say, it is my adamant position that once a product is released into an uncontrolled retail market, what the purchaser does with that product is entirely their business (within the confines of applicable statutes), and the vendor has no right after the fact to constrain use. Further, running a program under an emulator, despite Nintendo's fervent desires, does not constitute an infringing "derivative work" under copyright law. In fact, translating your personal copy of a copyrighted software program to achieve compatability with another platform is recognized as fair use, as Nintendo well knows. (Redistribution of the translation, however, isn't kosher.)

Nintendo's narrow position also fails to take into consideration that I'm seriously considering buying a copy of Zelda-64 now that I can play it on my PC. If, however, their principles compel them to forego my (meager) contribution to their revenue, I would be happy to oblige.

This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.

Nintendo Confirms It Will Sue UltraHLE Creators

Comments Filter:
  • by vertigo ( 341 )
    Right. Emulators are illegal? Hmpftt..
    HELLO Nintendo??!?!?!?! Wake up you bunch of sad fascists!!!

    How do they DARE to appeal to my moral values while they persue nothing but profit on base of some imaginary intellectual property infringement, ruining the lives of a couple of innocent programmers in the process?! While i find the whole concept of intellectual property to be somewhat doubtful, the statement that emulating a computer in itsself is an infringement on this intellectual property is ludicrous! Their behavious is inexcusable, especially since this ultrahle was clearly a hobbyist project!! This is WRONG. I don't care if the law is on their side. If it is, the law is _WRONG_.

    And these people should have my respect?
    Forget it. They just gained another enemy.
    In the years of following the computer and software industry my moral stand on so called software piracy has been shifting slowly but steadily. A couple of years ago it was "its not the right thing to do".

    Every time i read a story like this it goes more toward "I don't care if they go broke from illegal copying, they are maffia-like rats anyway. Fsck them. Copy like hell, and lets screw them over the best way we can." I know this doesn't sound civil, nor mature. But if these arrogant software companies are to be considered civil and mature, i'll pass my share in that. I'm infuriated by this ongoing "patent this" and "intellectual property infringement that" bullshit driven by nothing but greed.

    ps: i know this is an inflammatory comment. i'm really pissed off by this, but i don't feel like counting to 10 at the moment.
  • Something along the lines of this caught my eye in the back of the Mario 64 manual the other day:

    Backup copies of this software are strictly prohibited. Copies are unnecessary to protect your software.

    Comments?

  • Posted by The Mongolian Barbecue:

    For nintendo to do anything. Maybe that is why the code was released in the first place- just to make it obvious that Nintendo would accomplish nothing by suing the original creators. Anyway, I will of course continue to pirate nintendo games in order to make a political statement against the lawsuit. It is my duty as a citizen =)
  • Posted by Lord Kano-The Gangster Of Love:

    Who says that every clause in a license agreement is valid, legal or enforceable. If M$ decided to add a clause to the EULA that states
    "Using this product implies that the user agrees to forfeit all financial and tangible assets in said user's posession to M$."

    Would that be valid? Of course not. Neither is the "No backup" clause.

    LK
  • IANAL, but I don't think that that clause is legally enforceable.

    In any case, there is at least one other clear use for the emulator that wouldn't be illegal: N64 software development. I would imagine that it would be usefull even to Nintendo's in house developers (that is, assuming they don't already have their own emulator)
  • Well, an emulator for those who don't want to pay Nintendo for one. duh.
  • Truth of the matter is that emulators are inherantly bad for proprietary game consoles (Playstation, Nintendo *, SEGA * et al). It hurts the people making the games by cutting into their revenue and "intellectual rights." I'll be the first to admit, I think its cool to be able to test out a game first before buying, but I've gotten past my days of downloading rom's and onto renting them from Blockbuster (or your other favorite video rental location). That said, I love playing my games on my PC. I actually do have legal copies of certain game console although I don't own the console. I downloaded a rom of the game and play it on an emulator (okay - I bought Pokemon... I like the TV show - sue me!).
    ------
  • I wouldn't be suprised of articles come out with those titles. If nintendo thinks that they can just bully around people who are good programmers, then I think we need to boycott nintendo.
    'nuff said.

  • What i dont understand about the emulator issue is I thought that sony and nintendo sold their hardware at a loss, one so people will buy their system over any others, and two more systems=more people buying software, which is the real momymaker. So now wouldnt emulators be good (esp the playstation one because you can play the actual disk) by enabling people to buy the softare without the console. I may be wrong, but i thought i rember reading somewhere.

    cristiana
  • Hate to tell you this, but they could be right.

    Presumably Nintendo have a clause in the license agreement to their software that prohibits making ROM images or reading the ROM on anything other than a Nintendo console (sort of like reverse-engineering clauses). If this is the case, then UltraHLE may have no purpose other than to play illegally copied games or software read in violation of the agreement. As such, with no legal use, UltraHLE would clearly be illegal.

    They'll need all the luck they can get stamping it out... it'll no doubt be on the offshore data havens with all the mp3s and Microsoft Office copies.
  • this will change nothing, ultraHLE is everywhere and you can find ROM of gb/nes/snes/n64 or whatever, everywhere on the net...
    it's a pity Nintendo do this anyhow.
    --
  • sure, you can find emulator for almost everything, ZX81, ZX Spectrum, Commodore 16/64/128 and vic20, Amstrad CPC464/664/6128, AppleII, Macintosh (there's even commercial one), BBC, and console like gameboy, nes, snes, genesis, master system, playstation, etc etc etc.

    for "old" computers (i have a ZX81, an Amstrad 6128 both real and emulator) almost every games are free because companies that made it does not exist anymore or agree to give them for free (so it's legal), for "new" systems you can find games in store and buy it, and? gameboy is still alive even in color and there's emulator for dos/win/unix and hundreds of ROM since years!!! and nintendo did nothing against it!
    i really hope Nintendo will lost.

    --
  • ? the only console i have had in my life was in black & white with pong and things like this...
    i prefer a powerful PC! i don't like console, there's no keyboard and prompt!
    --
  • not with Amstrad games, you can (almost) find everyone of them on free public anonymous FTP mirrored everywhere in the world
    --
  • When somebody shoots your sister, you don't get angry at Smith & Wesson. You get angry at the shooter.

    I think this is a perfect analogy to show how silly this whole thing is.

    --
  • It's simple: I'm not paying $100 for a game-only system with half the resolution, half the rendering capabilities, and a fraction of the memory, of my $1000 general purpose computer.

    I will, however, pay $70 or whatever outrageous amount they're charging for Zelda 64 if I can then grab the ROM off the net and play it on UltraHLE/Wine (or even just on Windows).

    Nintendo's just pissed because they crippled their system by using cartridges instead of CD-ROMs, adding $25+ to each game's manufacturing costs and cutting game data size 10-fold, all to prevent game reproduction; and they still can't believe that they failed totally (and were even counter-productive, since the smaller ROMs are more pirate-friendly over the net than Playstation CDs).
  • 3DO finally switched to all software development and dropped the hardware side.


    ...And some of us who helped develop both that machine and the never-released 64-bit follow-on, M2, are still pretty cheesed about it. But that's another flame...

    Schwab

  • The cartridge loader on my NES went bad long before the SNES came out and I moved on. To get it to work now you have to spend half an hour jiggling the cartridge and console to get all the proper connections made. And my experience was not unique. That's why none of the machines since have the same slide in and press down system.

    I use an emulator now to play my NES games (legally) too, and I ain't going to apologize for it, either.
  • I mean, let's face it: mario 64, Zelda 64, NFL Blitz, Goldeneye -- that's all they have to show after over 2 years of existence? I've owned a N64 for over a year, and only own 3 games for it(Goldeneye, Zelda, Blitz). I've owned a Saturn for 1 1/2 months now, and haev purchased 6 games for it. Nintendo has been sucking hind tit for quite a while. They're just upset cause someone found a way to outdate their $150 piece of hardware for free (if you own a PC that can handle it)
    DrH
  • You are aware that Nintendo Company Ltd. is over 100 years old, right?

    somehow, I don't think that OSS has been out _that_ long. :-)
  • Just look at Mac emulators (commercial) that designed to emulate PC. As far as I know legal system in States is based on precendent, and once someone won case claiming emulation is illegal, it will be applied to all other cases. And "surely" all those poor dudes with Mac's use emulators to run stolen software like games.

    This case will lose in court for sure IF it gets there. IMHO, what Nintendo is trying to do is to scare to death two teens/20+ with their legal machine.

  • I saw plans once for an adapter to connect a PSX memory card to a floppy drive cable. The same sort of thing ought to work for N64 game cartridges. Nintendo could build something like this, bundle it with a good emulator (like ultra HLE), and open up a whole new market (people with computers but not an N64). If I didn't have to buy the damn console I would be playing Zelda 64 right now. The downside is this would make it easier for ROM pirates to save ROM images onto a computer (which *IS* legal, if you own the cartridge, despite Nintendo's assertions to the contrary)
  • I'm wondering whatever happend to freespeech. It's almost the same thing as when big companies sue people who have domain names with some words that the company registered. I think there should a petition to promote Freespeech to a higher level, to protect the people from all this nonsense.
  • Hi all,

    Hmm... personally, I think the authors of UltraHLE
    are great coders for creating such an emulator.

    However, I think their placing their code on the
    web where they knew people who could use it to
    run pirated roms DOES put them in a position where
    they should be held responsible for the
    repercussions of such an action. Just because
    they pull it off the web doesn't free them from
    responsibilities.

    While this doesn't put them in the same boat as
    warez users, common sense would suggest that
    any one in the emulation scene would know about
    pirating. But then again, who knows. One could
    be wrong.

    Nintendo, I think, is barking up the wrong tree
    at the wrong time. Attacking UltraHLE, who has
    already made a gesture of good faith in pulling
    their code only invites attacks on Nintendo
    itself. It shows a flaw in character and will
    probably hurt them in the peoples' perception
    of them and their products.

    As for the copyright issues, some things come to
    mind. First of all, Nintendo claims that UltraHLE's
    creation would have required bypassing of certain
    security features. Personally, I'm pretty curious
    as to what this feature is, exactly.

    If the security feature prevents any form of
    "personality" replication of components, subsystems,
    and rom images on the chips of the N64 units, and
    they can prove this, then they are right. UHLE
    may have broken US federal laws in circumventing
    copyprotection features.

    Rom images are another area. True, in the past,
    there was a precedent set. The emulation of one
    platform's hardware so that the software from one
    platform can be played on another hardware platform
    was deemed okay.

    However, how those rom images are obtained is
    something more of a gray area. :| For one thing,
    how exactly did someone get the image of the rom
    from the cartridge/circuit and into digital form
    for copying. If the cartridge had copyprotection
    on it to prevent direct reads/copies of the
    roms, then this may violate US federal law in
    regards to circumventing copyprotection methods as well.

    It just depends on how it was done and the means
    by which it was done.

    To be quiet honest, I believe the arguments of some
    are right in that emulators CAN increase sales of
    games of the platform being emulated. Whether it
    affects sale of the hardware is another matter.

    In the end, it all comes down to two things.
    Rights and Money.

    Emulators mean money. Selling software means money.
    And apparently, the right to that software is
    quite important as well.

    I'm sure that most people agree that warez trading
    and pirating does have an effect on a company.
    How exactly is probably where most people diverge
    in opinions.

    Personally, I think it DOES hurt a company when
    pirating happens. As for the thought that the
    lost sales due to pirating was not a sale which
    would have been made anyway, is just an excuse
    warez traders use.

    If there was no potential sale, then why is there
    a market for pirated goods? No, those goods ARE
    in demand. Just that when they are available for
    a lower price, in this case, heavily reduced
    prices, more people are willing to buy. This is
    simple economics. Lower the price and the threshold
    for purchases changes.

    In the end, though, it is the courts which will
    decide the issue's legality. But it will be the
    users who decide some of the more "messy" issues.
    More specifically, responsible users. Warez folk
    are getting a free ride while bootleggers and
    piraters are getting literally pure profits at
    the cost of legitimate companies who have spent
    countless hundreds of millions in research and
    marketing.

    Those who think that warez and pirating doesn't
    affect the industry, maybe it would help for them
    to start a company and see how much of an affect
    it would have when someone rips their ideas.

    Just another two cents.

    -


    - Wing
    - Reap the fires of the soul.
    - Harvest the passion of life.
  • How could they not think that they'd run into legal issues? I might not be smart enough to write an emulator, but I'm certainly not brainless enough to know that it would probably cause a lot of legal/financial troubles down the line.

    If it was just for the fun and challenge of writing such an emulator, they should have just distributed UltraHLE anonymously under an alias instead of posting it on their website.
  • They've been ripping the consumer off forever, and now that the consumer has a chance to fight back they get scared and sue.

    Has anyone from Nintento ever forced, coerced, or otherwise made you shell out $60 for a game? NO! This is the market, people, and Nintendo isn't to blame for this, the consumers are. Your suggestion here, that it's OK to rip off Nintendo because they've been "ripping off the consumer," is rediculous. If it's such a rip-off, don't buy the game. Anyone who claims that Nintendo is ripping off the consumer, and then turns right around and pirates the ROM in retaliation, is a complete hypocrite.
  • I can't help but wonder how far this IP crap can go. Where does someone draw the line. Could the makers of WINE be sued? What about SAMBA? Both products simulate (emulate?) a popular MS product which reduces the number of sales MS gets for their products. I can see it now, a few years down the road and the creators of sendmail get sued for

    A) interfering with the sales of MS Exchange(or whatever their crappy smtp server is called)

    B) patent infringement against the 1999 MS patent for transfering electronic messages across a computer network, based upon their patent for using a medium to transfer information between two devices, based upon their patent for using a form of communication to transfer information between two objects, based upon their patent for .....

    Let nintendo know how you feel.
    nintendo@nintendo.com
  • Why bother with an emulator at all. I'm not sure how the catridges in the nintendo are mfg but it seems that someone could post instructions via usenet for building a generic cartridge. ROM burners aren't that scarce. I'm sure a person could find someone to copy the ROM. It may cost the pirate a little more to get setup, but the net result is the same. Less sales to nintendo.
  • I haven't messed with WINE in quite some time. But I seem to remember that you could use files from your MS Windows install to provide some of the Windows functionality that WINE didn't support. It could be argued that people would be encouraged to pirate those pieces and not purchase a copy of Windows.

    I currently have several NT workstations use a CVS copy of SAMBA as their PDC. This PDC functionality is not a publicly available spec. The SAMBA team has, to the best of my knowledge, reverse engineered the protocol used by the PDC server while communicating with it's clients. Nintendo is claiming damages from lost revenue due to piracy. If they win this case it seems very likely that MS could claim the "emulation" of a NT PDC by SAMBA would encourge people not to purchase NT server. The API of Nintendo and the protocol used by NT PDC are both basically an interface to some service.

    The remark about sendmail was simply an exageration about how bad things could get once this "emulation is illegal" mentality take hold. But it really as far out as it seems. Take cascading style sheets for example. The W3C whose policy, from their own web page is "W3C is dedicated to creating specifications and software that are available to the public for any purpose and without fee or royalty." did a great deal of the grunt work on CSS technology, and MS, being the bottom feeding leeches on inovation they have proven themselves to be time and time again, patented the technology. Where does this leave the members of the W3C that helped create the technology? In violation of a patent, thats where.
  • Sony lost its suit against the people who made a commercial playstation emulator for the Mac, so
    I don't Nintendo will win its suit against people
    who made an emulator and aren't even charging
    for it.

    Now if Nintendo went after sites that distributed
    N64 Roms they might have a chance...
  • would the first amendment protect a source code release of the emulator ? I mean, the source certainly does note violate any copyright laws right ?

    It would be a nice "up yours nintendo message".

  • Hah! And ten years from now, when Nintendo doesn't exist or doesn't support the N64, and neither do the game manufacturers, and I drop my cartridge on the floor, where do I go?

    To my trusty CD-ROM backup and UltraHLE, that's where.
  • Sony & Nintendo are extremely stringent about what games are released for thier consoles. They can get away with this because they control the production medium.

    Should UltraHLE/SGS become a viable console alternative, I can now produce a game, and market the rom/game image w/o ever having to have Nintendo or Sony approve it, or take a slice of the profits. A plus for garage developers, a minus for the industry giants.
  • I for one am glad to see this lawsuit happen. With any luck Nintendo will lose and it will set a precedent for other emulator writers. I thought it was pretty damn sissy of the UltraHLE authors to pull their work rather than stand up for what they wrote. I think this, along with the Sony lawsuit, have a chance of setting some decent legal precedents.
  • It is funny that Nintendo thinks that the number one cause of N64 game piracy are emulators. They do not realize that there are devices being sold all over the world that will let you store ROMs into a Zipdisk and play the games directly from these copies.

    Nintendo 64 sucks anyway. There are no real role playing games that has been released in N64 that is as good as Final Fantasy VII or Final Fantasy VIII and Zelda 64 simply sucks. Maybe if they started releasing better games and spent their money on real talent instead of hiring stupid lawyers then they would probably do better in their business.

  • Emulators/ROMs are to game makers what mp3s are to the music industry: a paradigm shift that neither is willing to accept, regardless of profit potential, and a shift that both are helpless to stop.

    Once these industries are dragged, kicking and screaming, into the new marketplace, they'll conveniently forget that they didn't invent everything all by themselves. Hell, they'll probably try to patent it.

    -tak
  • We can't, for example, put turboshaft engines in our cars and drive them on the freeway,

    Depends on where you live. If you live in a place like California, this may be true. Where I live, the defacto rule is pretty much that if it has a place to screw a license plate onto it, it is street legal. We have no inspections, ever. No emissions checks, ever. Registration and licensing can be (and normally are) done entirely by mail. Licensing for kit cars, replicas, home built hot-rods, and highly modified production cars is not handled much differently, all you have to do is fill out a request for a title and pay a fee -- no inspection or appearance in person necessary.
    If you can build a car with a turboshaft engine that even comes close to sane sound levels, you would have no trouble licensing it or driving it on the freeway around here.

    or modify aircraft flight characteristics, etc.

    You haven't ever heard about experimental aircraft or ultralights then. I know several people who are into those hobbies, and they don't have to follow the same rules as for regular commercial aircraft. Ultralights in particular, hardly have to follow any rules at all.

  • This lawsuit is completely and utterly bogus, and will only serve to stifle the creativity of some obviously talented coders. Unfortunately, I think it may have a fair chance in court if Nintendo manages to convince everyone that emulators are illegal and exist only to play illegal, pirated games.

    C'mon Nintendo, lighten up. The thought that people are going to quit buying N64 games and download warezed roms for their PCs is absurd.
  • Haven't PC game developers been dealing with piracy for many years? Somehow PC games remain a multi-million-dollar industry, somebody must still buy them.

    I wonder what makes Nintendo and Sony think their software is so unique as a target of piracy. They seem to take it for granted that if they have a proprietary hardware platform, no one will ever be able to pirate their software.

    Time to wake up guys. Piracy happens, but it hasn't killed the PC software industry yet, and it surely won't kill you.
  • by Suburbs ( 17500 )
    Hemos point was not that his lack of a Zelda purchase would actually effect the Nintendo bottom line. It was, rather, that Nintendo could stand to sell more games by leaving emulation alone.
  • Sure. Ridiculous.

    That's like signing a Non-disclosure agreement that bans you from working for a competitor for a full year after leaving an employer, without compensating you for it. The law clearly holds (As far as I am aware) that you must recieve specific compensation for a moratorium like that.

    It's not a binding statement. How else are you supposed to protect your software? What if the software goes out of distribution? Oh gee.. we didn't think of that. At least with a backup copy you could have a new ROM burnt for you after Nintendo had given up that product.

    ---
  • The License agreement would then not hold up in a court of law.

    Again, there is nothing illegal about an emulator like this. It is designed to mimic the behavior of a N64 console. Nintendo suing these boys would be like Microsoft suing the creators of Wine. It doesn't matter WHAT Nintendo puts in their license agreements. Since the authors cannot be shown to have done this for the sole purpose of pirating software, then the case is almost non-existant. Their license agreements I am sure are as harsh as they can make them, but they will not stand up to the test of legal scrutiny.

    ---
  • The simple fact is that emulators, and the concept of emulators have been around far longer, and will stay here far longer than Nintendo will ever dream to be. The plain truth is that an emulator is designed so that software can be run on various platforms, much the same way different ports of software come about.

    If this was such a BIG deal, Macro$haft would have sued the developers of dosemu long ago, for the development of a MS based dos emulator.

    Nintendo, think about how ludicrous your accusations are. Your argument is the same as suing Smith & Wessen for selling guns that kill. How can you sue someone for making the information available, it is up to the end user to abide by the license agreements.

    --nuff said
  • The following is an email conversation with Nintendo's online manager. BTW, kudos and honor to whomever can get me the email addresses for Nintendo's legal and execs.


    I'm sure you're well aware of the potential for abuse of an Email address
    (spam, etc). Plus, sending a letter takes a little more thought and
    effort. For these reasons, I'm not at liberty to release Email addresses
    for Nintendo's legal department. If someone feels strongly enough about
    this issue, I would encourage them to write a well-thought out letter. I
    know it's the 90's but people do still send mail the "old fashioned" way!

    Also, please be aware that because I am not a member of Nintendo's legal
    department, all of my statements should not be taken to be official
    responses from Nintendo on this issue. Thanks.

    DANO

    At 01:04 PM 2/12/99 -0500, you wrote:
    >Hey,
    >
    >Thanks for the snail mail address, but most of your customers have moved on
    >to this thing we call the 90s. Does your legal department HAVE email
    >addresses; do they LIVE in the 90s? Also, this message will be reposted on
    >Slashdot.org for your and your consumers viewing pleasure. Opinions about
    >your legal decisions abound there and Nintendo's position WILL NOT BE
    >TOLERATED.
    >
    >-----Original Message-----
    >From: Dan Owsen [SMTP:dano@nintendo.com]
    >Sent: Friday, February 12, 1999 1:01 PM
    >To: jeremy_huckeba@ypb.com
    >Subject: Re: EMULATION OF THE N64
    >
    >I'm not going to address your comments other than to say that in case you
    >didn't notice, Sony is taking legal action against Connectix in connection
    >with their Macintosh emulation. Believe me, companies don't take things to
    >court unless there is a firm, legal backing behind their arguments, and an
    >excellent chance at winning.
    >
    >Leave the legal wrangling to the lawyers. I don't have anything to do with
    >this. If you wish to address some comments to Nintendo's lawyers, write to
    >them at:
    >
    >Nintendo of America Legal Department
    >4820 150th Ave NE
    >Redmond, WA 98052
    >
    >DANO
    >
    >At 12:41 PM 2/12/99 -0500, you wrote:
    >>Nintendo
    >>
    >>It has come to my attention and to the attention of many of my hardcore
    >>Nintendo gaming fans that you are attempting to quash a LEGAL, let me
    >>repeat that, LEGAL, emulator of the Nintendo 64 for the PC. I want you to
    >>know that if you pursue this suit, myself and my gaming friends will make
    >>an Internet-wide call to all gamers on all gaming sites, to push for the
    >>source code of the emulator to be released. We will also rally together
    >>the Nintendo gamers against the greedy bastards at Nintendo that continue
    >>to pursue this futile attempt at forgoing the US legal system. In
    >>addition, we will call for third-party hardware developers to utilize the
    >>source code to develop a cheap, liscense-free version of the Nintendo 64
    >>and encourage game developers to write for that platform as it will be
    >>compatable with your product, thus allowing them to forgo your outrageous
    >>liscensing fees. In short, the laugh will be on you. If you continue,
    >and
    >>Sony doesn't quash you first, your loyal customers will. If the call is
    >>made it will be picked up almost immediately by CNN and other news
    >stations
    >>hungry to see another company flailing. Dont fuck this up, as you have so
    >>many things in the past. Your customers are waiting for you.
    >>
    >>
    >>EMULATORS AREN'T ILLEGAL AND WE, THE USERS OF THE PC AND THE N64, WILL NOT
    >>HAVE YOU TELLING US WHAT OUR RIGHTS TO THE PRODUCT WE PURCHASED FROM YOUR
    >>COMPANY ARE. CEASE AND DESIST THESE ACTIONS OR YOUR CUSTOMERS WILL TAKE
    >>APPROPRIATE ACTION AGAINST YOU.
    >>
    >>A former loyal customer...
    >>
    >>
    >---------------------------------------------
    >Dan Owsen
    >Nintendo Online Manager
    >www.nintendo.com
  • The creators of the emulator only intended it as an educational attempt to prove it can be done, but releasing the emulator to the general public was a huge and irresponsible mistake.

    The argument presented about the use of emulators to play previously owned material on your own computer is valid to a point, to expect every one who does own such an emulator to do this is niave in the extreeme.

    Most people who get these emulators are more intrested in playing the game then paying for it. They will grab copies of roms they do not own, and keep them as long as they like.

    Nearly all of those who wanted to grab the Ultra HLE did not want to see the result of 2 brilliant programmers hard work. They just wanted to be able to play the N64 games without paying for them.

    I personally cannot approve of the idea of emulating a console that the creators are still supporting. No one cares if the NES or SNES consoles are emulated today, as they are no longer seriously supported by either Nintendo or the Developers. But Nintendo is still supporting the N64. The loss of potential customers from people having emulators would put a large dent into the profitability of the console. That is why Nintendo is sueing.

    They have every right to protect themselves and their developors from the illegal distribution of the roms. It does not matter that the creators of the Ultra HLE will make no money from this. It matters that Nintendo will lose money from it.

    END COMMUNICATION

Anyone who imagines that all fruits ripen at the same time as the strawberries, knows nothing about grapes. -- Philippus Paracelsus

Working...