5 ms·

>Meanwhile, people have been distributing roms for 25 years Almost exclusively illegally, hence the "fraught with legal issues." Downloading a ROM for a game y

>Meanwhile, people have been distributing roms for 25 years Almost exclusively illegally, hence the "fraught with legal issues." Downloading a ROM for a game you own on a cartridge violates US law. You need to create your own copy, where you very likely will face the issues they raise. Or you technically violate the law, which NPR likely doesn't want to condone for a puff piece.

asveikau 4y ago
> You need to create your own copy, It's funny because custom electronics are way more cheap and accessible than they used to be. In the 90s, I wished I could dump my game carts and saves. I saw someone posted PCBs to do it over ISA bus but I didn't have the skills or ability to do it myself. Recently, I found this open project that can dump that era: https://github.com/sanni/cartreader https://github.com/sanni/cartreader
- actionablefiber 4y ago
  One issue with dumping, even if you have the equipment for it, is that in some cases you will still need to patch it to defeat the copy protection.
  - asveikau 4y ago
    Those can be distributed as patches. This is typically how people distribute fan translations, for example.
jterrys 4y ago
We live in a world where the common notion of buying something and owning it has been completely violated. I don't "own" the movie, music, or digital media I buy, I am merely "temporarily renting it" through "licensing agreements". Yet every other physical good that I own, I perform a cash transaction of it and it is understood that it is mine. I can do with it what I want. I buy eggs at the store. I can cook and eat them or throw them out the window. Nobody cares. I own them. I bought them. Only when my purchase is digital am I suddenly combated with "distribution rights", "reproduction rights", "rights to modify", etc. The laws need to be changed, I tell ya!
- jonathankoren 4y ago
  We've been burned by this repeatedly. Remember several years ago when people "bought" Disney movies on Amazon Video, and then Disney pulled their catalog, and everyone's "purchases" subsequently disappeared? Good times. I thought that might be a catalyzing moment, but I've learned that literally nothing is a catalyzing in America. No matter the issue. No matter the act. Literally nothing changes.
  - mrguyorama 4y ago
    One half of politics makes "Nothing should ever change" basically their entire platform, and people LOVE it.
    - jonathankoren 4y ago
      This isn’t the time to politicize this tragedy. And it’s certainly not time to talk about the identical tragedy that earlier this year, or the identical one that happened last year, or the identical one that happened a decade ago, or the identical one that happened…
- mattl 4y ago
  I don't think that's strictly true though... if you bought a Beatles' LP in 1971 you can't do what you want with it. There are still rules about what you can and cannot do with the reproduction of it.
  - bentley 4y ago
    There are basic, fundamental things you can do with a physical LP that you can’t with “licensed” bits. For starters, you can resell an LP. Can you resell a music file?
    - mattl 4y ago
      Probably not from any of the big labels at least, so you couldn't resell your Beatles' album download. Physical media makes it easier to do things but those same things aren't without issues just because they originated on physical media.
CobrastanJorji 4y ago
One of the most fun small moments of my career was when I was working for a company that had licensed a bunch of old games. I had to download quite a few from shady warez/abandonware sites that put up a little "disclaimer" that said something along the lines of "unless you have explicit written permission from the copyright holder, do not download this file." I'm quite possibly one of the only people in history who clicked through on good faith, explicit written permission in hand.
jonny_eh 4y ago
> puff piece How was this article a puff piece? It's highlighting a large and growing issue around preserving our culture, often overlooked by the mainstream.
- boomboomsubban 4y ago
  "Puff piece" may not be the best term, but I'd bet this story was reporting on a YouTube video someone at NPR watched. A somewhat low stakes story that didn't want to dive into legal minutia.

asveikau 4y ago

> You need to create your own copy, It's funny because custom electronics are way more cheap and accessible than they used to be. In the 90s, I wished I could dump my game carts and saves. I saw someone posted PCBs to do it over ISA bus but I didn't have the skills or ability to do it myself. Recently, I found this open project that can dump that era: https://github.com/sanni/cartreader https://github.com/sanni/cartreader

actionablefiber 4y ago
One issue with dumping, even if you have the equipment for it, is that in some cases you will still need to patch it to defeat the copy protection.
- asveikau 4y ago
  Those can be distributed as patches. This is typically how people distribute fan translations, for example.

jterrys 4y ago

We live in a world where the common notion of buying something and owning it has been completely violated. I don't "own" the movie, music, or digital media I buy, I am merely "temporarily renting it" through "licensing agreements". Yet every other physical good that I own, I perform a cash transaction of it and it is understood that it is mine. I can do with it what I want. I buy eggs at the store. I can cook and eat them or throw them out the window. Nobody cares. I own them. I bought them. Only when my purchase is digital am I suddenly combated with "distribution rights", "reproduction rights", "rights to modify", etc. The laws need to be changed, I tell ya!

jonathankoren 4y ago
We've been burned by this repeatedly. Remember several years ago when people "bought" Disney movies on Amazon Video, and then Disney pulled their catalog, and everyone's "purchases" subsequently disappeared? Good times. I thought that might be a catalyzing moment, but I've learned that literally nothing is a catalyzing in America. No matter the issue. No matter the act. Literally nothing changes.
- mrguyorama 4y ago
  One half of politics makes "Nothing should ever change" basically their entire platform, and people LOVE it.
  - jonathankoren 4y ago
    This isn’t the time to politicize this tragedy. And it’s certainly not time to talk about the identical tragedy that earlier this year, or the identical one that happened last year, or the identical one that happened a decade ago, or the identical one that happened…
mattl 4y ago
I don't think that's strictly true though... if you bought a Beatles' LP in 1971 you can't do what you want with it. There are still rules about what you can and cannot do with the reproduction of it.
- bentley 4y ago
  There are basic, fundamental things you can do with a physical LP that you can’t with “licensed” bits. For starters, you can resell an LP. Can you resell a music file?
  - mattl 4y ago
    Probably not from any of the big labels at least, so you couldn't resell your Beatles' album download. Physical media makes it easier to do things but those same things aren't without issues just because they originated on physical media.

CobrastanJorji 4y ago

One of the most fun small moments of my career was when I was working for a company that had licensed a bunch of old games. I had to download quite a few from shady warez/abandonware sites that put up a little "disclaimer" that said something along the lines of "unless you have explicit written permission from the copyright holder, do not download this file." I'm quite possibly one of the only people in history who clicked through on good faith, explicit written permission in hand.

jonny_eh 4y ago

> puff piece How was this article a puff piece? It's highlighting a large and growing issue around preserving our culture, often overlooked by the mainstream.

boomboomsubban 4y ago
"Puff piece" may not be the best term, but I'd bet this story was reporting on a YouTube video someone at NPR watched. A somewhat low stakes story that didn't want to dive into legal minutia.