9 ms·

I wonder if this will impact game archival efforts. Companies may be less likely to permit release of old source (or more likely to take action against those wh

I wonder if this will impact game archival efforts. Companies may be less likely to permit release of old source (or more likely to take action against those who do release source) knowing legal issues like this may be inside. Is there a statute of limitations here? Could the owner the violated code sue? What happens it they succeed, monetary compensation?

autoexec 7y ago
> I wonder if this will impact game archival efforts. Just one more area where piracy has our backs.
- dev_dull 7y ago
  How does piracy aid in convincing companies to release the source code for games?
  - simcop2387 7y ago
    It doesn't help in convincing them to release things, but the cracks and other things that the pirates develop help the archival purposes. Because a number of the DRM and other anti-piracy stuff that's bundled, once a company goes out of business it's nearly impossible to run some of these games if they had to call home to verify the copy of the game. People removing these checks helps preserve the game for future use once the company is no more. For a great example of this, take a look at City Of Heroes, and MMORPG that's had a relatively recent revival after someone, somehow getting a hold of the data/code for the server and managing to get it running again. https://www.pcgamer.com/a-fully-functioning-city-of-heroes-private-server-has-somehow-been-kept-secret-for-six-years/ https://www.pcgamer.com/a-fully-functioning-city-of-heroes-p... The company itself went out of business back in 2012, and otherwise the game itself was just gone.
  - autoexec 7y ago
    Problems with licensing can make it impossible to sell an artistic work. Even when it may be possible, it can easily be considered too costly in terms of time, money, and/or effort to be worth it to the company currently holding the copyright. In either case an artistic work and a piece of our culture is locked away forever from anyone who isn't interested in breaking the law. Even in a case like this where copies of a game were already released eventually the existing CDs will all be lost, degraded, broken, or unusable. Piracy solves this problem by maintaining playable copies and making them available so a creative work can delight, offend, and inspire indefinitely. In cases where a released work has to be modified to be legal to sell again and a company is willing to make the effort piracy can preserve the work exactly as the artists originally intended. Pirates can do the same in situations where changes are made for other reasons and only the modified works are officially made available. For a great example of that look at the incredible work fans did to restore the original Star Wars.
thristian 7y ago
"will"? This is why game archival efforts are difficult. Companies already know that this kind of thing goes on, and that's why so few games (or commercial software of any kind) get their sources released.
- lone_haxx0r 7y ago
  Thanks, RMS.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
microcolonel 7y ago
The most likely outcome is not a chilling one: they comply by releasing their code officially under a compatible license, and hope they don't upset anyone else by doing so.
- tyingq 7y ago
  Not sure there's a "they" anymore. THQ went chapter 11 and liquidated.
  - crankylinuxuser 7y ago
    "Someone" owns the rights. They too bought the burden of copyright violation.
    - tyingq 7y ago
      Assets do sometimes just go nowhere.
      - duskwuff 7y ago
        Especially when they're heavily encumbered assets, e.g. when they're part of a licensed game whose license expired long ago. (Like this one!)
        microcolonel 7y ago
        Well, the license to the publisher may have, but the license from the publisher to the consumer is perpetual, and subject to the first sale doctrine.
    - ralph84 7y ago
      That's not how asset sales work. The new copyright owner wouldn't be liable for the previous copyright owner's actions. And if the new copyright owner isn't distributing binaries that include the GPL code they haven't violated the GPL.

autoexec 7y ago

> I wonder if this will impact game archival efforts. Just one more area where piracy has our backs.

dev_dull 7y ago
How does piracy aid in convincing companies to release the source code for games?
- simcop2387 7y ago
  It doesn't help in convincing them to release things, but the cracks and other things that the pirates develop help the archival purposes. Because a number of the DRM and other anti-piracy stuff that's bundled, once a company goes out of business it's nearly impossible to run some of these games if they had to call home to verify the copy of the game. People removing these checks helps preserve the game for future use once the company is no more. For a great example of this, take a look at City Of Heroes, and MMORPG that's had a relatively recent revival after someone, somehow getting a hold of the data/code for the server and managing to get it running again. https://www.pcgamer.com/a-fully-functioning-city-of-heroes-private-server-has-somehow-been-kept-secret-for-six-years/ https://www.pcgamer.com/a-fully-functioning-city-of-heroes-p... The company itself went out of business back in 2012, and otherwise the game itself was just gone.
- autoexec 7y ago
  Problems with licensing can make it impossible to sell an artistic work. Even when it may be possible, it can easily be considered too costly in terms of time, money, and/or effort to be worth it to the company currently holding the copyright. In either case an artistic work and a piece of our culture is locked away forever from anyone who isn't interested in breaking the law. Even in a case like this where copies of a game were already released eventually the existing CDs will all be lost, degraded, broken, or unusable. Piracy solves this problem by maintaining playable copies and making them available so a creative work can delight, offend, and inspire indefinitely. In cases where a released work has to be modified to be legal to sell again and a company is willing to make the effort piracy can preserve the work exactly as the artists originally intended. Pirates can do the same in situations where changes are made for other reasons and only the modified works are officially made available. For a great example of that look at the incredible work fans did to restore the original Star Wars.

thristian 7y ago

"will"? This is why game archival efforts are difficult. Companies already know that this kind of thing goes on, and that's why so few games (or commercial software of any kind) get their sources released.

lone_haxx0r 7y ago
Thanks, RMS.
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]

microcolonel 7y ago

The most likely outcome is not a chilling one: they comply by releasing their code officially under a compatible license, and hope they don't upset anyone else by doing so.

tyingq 7y ago
Not sure there's a "they" anymore. THQ went chapter 11 and liquidated.
- crankylinuxuser 7y ago
  "Someone" owns the rights. They too bought the burden of copyright violation.
  - tyingq 7y ago
    Assets do sometimes just go nowhere.
    - duskwuff 7y ago
      Especially when they're heavily encumbered assets, e.g. when they're part of a licensed game whose license expired long ago. (Like this one!)
      - microcolonel 7y ago
        Well, the license to the publisher may have, but the license from the publisher to the consumer is perpetual, and subject to the first sale doctrine.
  - ralph84 7y ago
    That's not how asset sales work. The new copyright owner wouldn't be liable for the previous copyright owner's actions. And if the new copyright owner isn't distributing binaries that include the GPL code they haven't violated the GPL.