Last Word

[I REALLY HATE POKEMON!]

You can lock/delete this but on grounds of fair play, emulation is technically not illegal for the purpose of having them as back-up. On a side note, Metal Mario, who was a great Mod, never had a problem with the mere discussion of ROMs. Infact, last time I made a similar topic he actually contributed to the discussion; he was infact quite helpful. Don't freak, just thought I'd inform those who may not know.

[1-up Salesman]

I'm with him. Here's a good reason why emulation isn't illegal. Before Nintendo
released the Wii, it was going to be called the Revolution. And for the Revolution, it was also going to let you download games also, for free.FREE.
while it wasn't emulation, they were still going to let you download their games for free.

[I REALLY HATE POKEMON!]

One thing: Laws exist for a reason, as do rules. If it is deemed "against the rules" then that's fine, I just got mixed signals on this topic.

[Metal Man]

The problem is it's a gray area, legally. Although with Nintendo selling their old games again, it becomes stealing.

Although no place I've gone to which has not openly denied or otherwise prevented ROM discussion has been sued, so... does anyone really care anymore?

[Typhlame]

Originally Posted by 1-up salesman

I'm with him. Here's a good reason why emulation isn't illegal. Before Nintendo
released the Wii, it was going to be called the Revolution. And for the Revolution, it was also going to let you download games also, for free.FREE.
while it wasn't emulation, they were still going to let you download their games for free.

[CaptHayfever]

^^It's not my place to take that chance, because it wouldn't be my butt on the line: It would be Shane's & whoever brought it up's butts.

Here's a good reason why emulation of copyrighted games without direct consent from the copyright holder is illegal: Because there are laws against emulation of copyrighted games without direct consent from the copyright holder.

Obviously, if you downloaded a Nintendo game through Virtual Console, it's legal, whether it's free or not, because it's the copyright holder providing it to you. That, however, does not magically make any downloaded copy of that game legal.

That "legal as a backup" thing is entirely untrue. I know some (if not most) developers & retailers offer some kind of reimbursement/replacement warranty to "backup" their products.

Metal Mario was an excellent mod. He also left office (& for the most part, left VGF) before the tidal wave of copyright litigation hit this country. We have to cover our butts more carefully now.

If you guys have a legal (read: original) ROM game to talk about, go ahead & start a thread about it in whatever forum you feel most appropriate, from Misc to Ninty to Sports. But a full-on ROM Forum would be far too likely to be dominated by discussion of illegal ROMs, which could very well get this site shut down if the wrong people saw it.

And remember, "I'm-a Luigi, number one!"

[I REALLY HATE POKEMON!]

I guess I agree, a dedicated ROM forum could be potentially harmful to the site, which I would like to avoid. But to be completely taboo seems extreme.

[Metal Man]

Originally Posted by I REALLY HATE POKEMON!

I guess I agree, a dedicated ROM forum could be potentially harmful to the site, which I would like to avoid. But to be completely taboo seems extreme.

It's a liability thing. Shane and co. pick their level of potential ROMage. They picked 0. Nothing we can do about it.

'Sides, no reason to mention them here when there's elsewhere.

[I REALLY HATE POKEMON!]

Well that's fine, there are places that are for it, you're right. And if anyone knows a place, if it's not against the rules, PM me. Google just gives me 10,000 pay sites... >_<

[CaptHayfever]

Like I said, there are original ROM games out there; we're more than happy to encourage discussion about those.

And remember, "I'm-a Luigi, number one!"

[Ace Mercury]

...That being said, just how much discussion nowadays is about games at all?

[heh]

Originally Posted by Metal Man

The problem is it's a gray area, legally. Although with Nintendo selling their old games again, it becomes stealing.

Although no place I've gone to which has not openly denied or otherwise prevented ROM discussion has been sued, so... does anyone really care anymore?

You can't get old nintendo game roms off the internet anymore, they've been forcibly removed by nintendo, so its a non-issue.

In short, the only games nintendo cares if you emulate you can't emulate anymore. And other companys just don't care.

EDIT: not that this matters, hurrah for not reading the entire thread

[I REALLY HATE POKEMON!]

If they can remove ROMs, why are they everywhere?

[CaptHayfever]

Because people who already have copies of them keep reposting in other venues.

And remember, "I'm-a Luigi, number one!"

[Kargath]

^^It's hard to empty a lake by buckets when in the rain.

[Metal Man]

Originally Posted by That Guy

You can't get old nintendo game roms off the internet anymore, they've been forcibly removed by nintendo, so its a non-issue.

Hahahahaha no.

Even if they wanted to remove them all, they can't touch sites in countries without copyright laws related to that.

Additionally ROMs are everywhere not because they magically spilled onto the internet, but because copier devices have been made by the thousands. As long as one functioning cart of any game is in the hand of a person with a copier,therefore, no amount of 'forcible removal' can remove it. Additionally, once the image is on the web, it is downloaded by many people...

Again, making it nigh-impossible to remove.

Additionally, as this topic hasn't been locked, I assume the reason the first one was locked was the rom-specific request goin' on. This one's just talking about the subject.

[heh]

oh well sure i guess you could find some foreign site.

didn't think of of that.

And by forcibly removed I mean "If you run a site with certain ROMS you will get shut down". Obviously you can still get them from people directly and such. And foreign sites.

[I REALLY HATE POKEMON!]

So I could legally acquire foreign ROMs?

[PK FIRE!]

Is a foreign ROM going to be in Englsih? It also depends on how much grey you like inbetween your black and white.

- You Stupid dog!

[I REALLY HATE POKEMON!]

Ha, a shade of grey can't hurt right?