ID:182841
 Jan 16 2008, 3:35 pm
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Since emulators are in effect NOT illegal, but actually legal, for such outdated systems as SNES, and ROMS are legal so long as the game itself is no longer/never has been ESA protected (ie, the Zelda games are all ESA protected, however other games, such as Tales of Phantasia, are not and can be legally downloaded)
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Oh, sorry, that's what I get for trying to multi-task, lol. The post should have ended with :
why exactly were the other threads locked? Some would say it's due to the illegality of emulation, but emulation is not illegal in all cases xD | |
Jamesburrow wrote:
Oh, sorry, that's what I get for trying to multi-task, lol. The post should have ended with : The emulators themselves aren't illegal, but what they're typically used for is, and it would probably be better if it wasn't discussed here. http://www.nintendo.com/corp/legal.jsp#emergence Just a couple key points, namely, "it is illegal to download and play a Nintendo ROM from the Internet." | |
Jamesburrow wrote:
Oh, sorry, that's what I get for trying to multi-task, lol. The post should have ended with : I think it's mostly because these are not gaming forums, and so when we get into "grey areas" we'd rather just not go there. The GameFAQs forums are a better place for discussions like these, and there are many private forums dedicated to collecting and documenting ROMs and emulators if that's your cup of tea. This just isn't the place. | |
Erm.... am I the only one seeing the little thing that says "Gaming"
And the fact that this is BYOND... a site basically dedicated to games. | |
Jamesburrow wrote:
Erm.... am I the only one seeing the little thing that says "Gaming" Naturally, the forums are going to get some talk about games, and that is what this part of the forum is an outlet for. But when you look at gaming post traffic on these forums versus forums really dedicated to gaming and gamers, you'll see the difference. Like I said, check out GameFAQs. | |
Last time I heard, both Nintendo and Sega have both done some working in the legal system that made any software emulating Nintendo and Sega hardware illegal, but I don't recall where I read it either.
In any case, as far as I was aware, roms and emulation were illegal, no matter what the age or availability of the game. Really when you go into this sort of category, it is such a gray line in the law it isn't funny | |
Emulation isn't illegal at all. It's what you decide to emulate that could be illegal or not. I.E. a rom you downloaded when you didn't own an original copy of it before hand.
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Not correct, you are legally entitled to at least one backup of your cartridges. It even says so on the back of the SNES ones. It's just not trivial to make a cartridge and far easier to just put it on a computer. Downloading ROM's however is illegal, you have to make the copy yourself.
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There's no point in posting "as far as I know" opinions. The whole thing is clearly spelled out in the link at [link].
Bottom line: Downloading ROMs is illegal, and we don't need discussions about it here any more than we need discussions about which drugs are the best. If you want to discuss games, discuss games. But if you want to talk about piracy, take it somewhere else. | |
Bottom line is that even the Nintendo website itself only specifically mentions those games that are ESA protected, while most (legit) rom sites, such as http://www.romnation.net/ , which has removed titles from their site on more than one occasion, and provides a list of those titles that are protected.
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Foomer wrote:
There's no point in posting "as far as I know" opinions. The whole thing is clearly spelled out in the link at [link]. Everything I've read says it is not in fact illegal if you already own the game in question; the rom then is really just a backup for your original game. The same applies to MP3s; if you already own the song through means such as buying it on CD, you have every right to the MP3. In both cases though, distributing it is a different issue. There are also of course perfectly legal public domain roms, released by homebrew enthusiasts. Homebrew is hottest right now on the DS and PSP for obvious reasons, though you still see some GBA software pop up here and there. While Nintendo's view of homebrew has been "meh" and Sony's has been hostile, it is legal on any platform. (Homebrew for the iPhone has been popular as well. Apple's response has perhaps been the most hostile of them all, with their playing firmware bingo to try to lock out third-party programs.) Lummox JR | |
Baladin wrote:
As far as I know, having any kind of rom is considered illegal. If you own it or not. Man, you are a fount of misinformation. Owning roms in general isn't illegal nor is emulation illegal. The only thing illegal might be owning certain roms. (And yes, they're perfectly legal if you own the game.) I really don't see the point in weighing in on a thread if you know nothing about the subject at hand. Lummox JR | |
Jamesburrow wrote:
why exactly were the other threads locked? Some would say it's due to the illegality of emulation, but emulation is not illegal in all cases xD Emulation is not illegal in any case; it's the collection of roms that may or may not be. The other threads were locked because they kinda boiled down to "Which roms I am not entitled to own should I download?" If it'd been totally phrased as "What were your favorite SNES games in the RPG genre?" or some such, that's a different call. But this is really not the place for disucssing which roms to collect. That said, Foomer's gross oversimplification that emulation = illegal was quite incorrect. The problem was, you and the other guy were connecting illegal behavior to it. Lummox JR | |
Lummox JR wrote:
Everything I've read says it is not in fact illegal if you already own the game in question; the rom then is really just a backup for your original game. The same applies to MP3s; if you already own the song through means such as buying it on CD, you have every right to the MP3. In both cases though, distributing it is a different issue. Quoting nintendo.com: Can I Download a Nintendo ROM from the Internet if I Already Own the Authentic Game? Lummox JR wrote: There are also of course perfectly legal public domain roms, released by homebrew enthusiasts. There's exceptions to every rule, but the locked threats weren't discussing homebrew games. | |
The 24-hour thing is indeed bogus, but Nintendo's claims on the issue should not be trusted wholesale. They claim some of their works are exempt even from archival, while meanwhile it would be nigh impossible to press a legal claim saying downloading a backup copy of a game is illegal but making one yourself is not; any illegality rests with whoever distributed the rom, and then if and only if it was downloaded by an unauthorized person.
That said, the topics at hand were indeed about unauthorized collection of roms, and closing them was totally warranted on that basis. Lummox JR | |
Man back off, can't you see the conflicting amount of information to all of this rom stuff, some people say its illegal, others say it isn't. I don't care either way, but I was saying what I heard. And some people seem to agree to a point.
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The same applies to MP3s; if you already own the song through means such as buying it on CD, you have every right to the MP3. In both cases though, distributing it is a different issue. This is incorrect. Having battled a bit with IFPI and the record industry myself.. Depending on the country at hand - If you purchase a CD, what you're purchasing is a copy of a song. Which you, as the owner of said copy, have the right to make ONE copy of, yourself. Any copy obtained from someone else is illegal. The copy must be complete, and exact. If you own an album, you do not have the right to copy an individual song. In order for the copy to be legit, you must copy the entire album as-is. | |
Where's the question?