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Did a vigilante ROM leaker go too far to “preserve” a lost Atari ROM? (2019)

5 points by LaserDiscMan 4y ago

josephcsible 4y ago
On the one hand, a repair technician doing anything with anything other than what they're supposed to be fixing is wrong. On the other hand, boards don't last forever, and if you have a rare one for which no ROM has ever been dumped, and you refuse to dump yours, you're a selfish jerk.
- feet 4y ago
  >a repair technician doing anything with anything other than what they're supposed to be fixing is wrong. I don't understand this statement. Why is this wrong?
  - hansvm 4y ago
    It's not morally wrong per se. Consider something like trespassing, where one could easily imagine a cooperative society allocating parcels of land for certain activities rather than certain people, but the way our system is set up trespass is widely viewed as inherently wrong. This is a similar kind of thing where it's wrong just because everyone believes it's wrong: The problem is that you generally expect some amount of privacy and control with respect to your belongings. The fact that you've granted access for one thing (a repair) doesn't imply that you've additionally ceded other rights (copying a ROM) not reasonably necessary to the repair. Similarly, you wouldn't expect your mechanic to keep your car an extra day to lend to their family, your plumber probably shouldn't be snooping through your closet, and your phone technician shouldn't read your emails. Those activities _might_ not cause harm, but they're activities you ostensibly control, so other people should acquire some sort of permission before doing them. And yes, maybe physically stopping people is easier (locks on your closet, be home during repairs, camera and a gps lock in your car, password on your phone), but the physical capability of having your rights violated doesn't act as permission to violate them.
richardjam73 4y ago
Although I strongly believe in preservation I also understand that some things will be lost forever. Although we try to preserve as much as possible we cannot preserve it all. As long as we preserve the majority of software/hardware does it really matter if some things get lost?
- josephcsible 4y ago
  It's one thing when something gets lost because all copies were destroyed or lost before anyone knew it was worth preserving. It's another story entirely when someone has one, knows people want to preserve it, but refuses to allow it to be copied.

5 points by LaserDiscMan 4y ago

On the one hand, a repair technician doing anything with anything other than what they're supposed to be fixing is wrong. On the other hand, boards don't last forever, and if you have a rare one for which no ROM has ever been dumped, and you refuse to dump yours, you're a selfish jerk.

feet 4y ago
>a repair technician doing anything with anything other than what they're supposed to be fixing is wrong. I don't understand this statement. Why is this wrong?
- hansvm 4y ago
  It's not morally wrong per se. Consider something like trespassing, where one could easily imagine a cooperative society allocating parcels of land for certain activities rather than certain people, but the way our system is set up trespass is widely viewed as inherently wrong. This is a similar kind of thing where it's wrong just because everyone believes it's wrong: The problem is that you generally expect some amount of privacy and control with respect to your belongings. The fact that you've granted access for one thing (a repair) doesn't imply that you've additionally ceded other rights (copying a ROM) not reasonably necessary to the repair. Similarly, you wouldn't expect your mechanic to keep your car an extra day to lend to their family, your plumber probably shouldn't be snooping through your closet, and your phone technician shouldn't read your emails. Those activities _might_ not cause harm, but they're activities you ostensibly control, so other people should acquire some sort of permission before doing them. And yes, maybe physically stopping people is easier (locks on your closet, be home during repairs, camera and a gps lock in your car, password on your phone), but the physical capability of having your rights violated doesn't act as permission to violate them.

richardjam73 4y ago

Although I strongly believe in preservation I also understand that some things will be lost forever. Although we try to preserve as much as possible we cannot preserve it all. As long as we preserve the majority of software/hardware does it really matter if some things get lost?

josephcsible 4y ago
It's one thing when something gets lost because all copies were destroyed or lost before anyone knew it was worth preserving. It's another story entirely when someone has one, knows people want to preserve it, but refuses to allow it to be copied.