A few months ago, I got into the practice of burning all my old PSX games onto my computer using a program and then replaying them on an emulator. That was kind of the gateway into other endevours. According to... ehrm... well, the internet, it is illegal to download and play roms from the internet "unless" you created the roms yourselves/delete it within twenty four hours. However, according to Nintendo's official FAQ on Rom legality, this is not the case. (I'm not sure what kind of tricks Nintendo has up it's sleeve, so just find the page on google if you want to read all of the details.) Basically, the site tells you flat out that even if you own the game and even if you ripped it yourself, it's still illegal because it's illegal to reproduce game data without permission from the copyright owner (something like that) and that the twenty four hour rule is a misconception. The site even gives you a link to report sites that harbor links to illegal roms so that Nintendo can disband them. And yet, here this site, among many other emulation sites, still stands, seemingly unscathed. My question is, if Nintendo and other video game companies feel so avid about ending emulation, if they feel that it is such a detrimental blow to their income, than what's with all the salutary neglect? Why is emulation still so seemingly undealt with?
it is not illegal to produce your own copy for backup purposes, regardless of what games companies will tell you. downloaded roms are quite simply illegal. There is no such law stating that it is legal if you delete it after 24 hours, or if you own the original. It is illegal, end of story. Emulation itself is 100% legal. emulation is used for developing games/software for platforms, as an alternative to actually possessing the development hardware, and in some cases alongside the development hardware (it's much quicker to test code by loading it into an emulator than to prepare it for a development unit. Additionally, a PC based emulator allows the use of debuggers and trace programs, which development hardware may not be able to. Nintendo will not want to end emulation; undoubtedly they use it themselves in their development process, as will the hundreds of third party developers. What they want to stop is the distribution of commercial rom images.
Fair enough, but what about this site? Doesn't it distribute free (although restricted) roms? Can they not be held accountable for the distribution of those rom images? And if so, then why does it seem as if nothing is being done against users who download and the distributors of those links? Okay, so emulation is basically a way of testing a game you made without having to reverse manufacture it as compatible with the development hardware (I guess that means the physical game system). But since most people who actually make games and test them with emulators usually only use existing Rom images to recreate/remix(hack) their own game, isn't it all the same in the end? And if Romulation distributes those rom images, can they be held liable? (I'm assuming not, since the site is still here)
this site is illegal yes, and we have been shut down on one occasion. (we received a DMCA notice, but after review we were informed that it wasn't enforceable due to a technicality, so we resumed service.) Companies are far more likely to go after the people distributing and hosting roms than the downloaders, indeed I am not aware of anyone being sued/arrested etc for downloading roms. you don't kill a wasp and leave the nest alone. This is not the case. well known developers (companies) use emulators all the time for testing their own roms (made from their code) as it is more efficient than loading onto the hardware every time. In fact, I would go so far as to say that the actual development hardware (a development version of the console) is used rarely until the later stages of the production process, by which point the code is by and large finalised, although use of a less than perfect emulator in this situation would cause problems. yes, we could be held liable, which is why we comply with takedown notices.
