4 ms·

> Generally, the manner in which game publishers and console vendors secure those promises are recognized by the law. So aren't you arguing for an exemption in

> Generally, the manner in which game publishers and console vendors secure those promises are recognized by the law. So aren't you arguing for an exemption in the DMCA since contract law already covers this? What is the need to prevent this using the DMCA if it can be prevented on a case by case basis using contracts?

tptacek 12y ago
I do think there probably should be some kind of limited, narrowly-tailored exemption, in the spirit of "interoperability", for restoring online functionality to titles whose online components have been decommissioned.
- Natsu 12y ago
  That would leave a large list of games lost to history and never again playable. There are quite a lot of titles that were protected by dongles, anti-emulation code, etc. in addition to those where the servers have been taken down due to the publisher making no profit off of them and the existing proposal is quite reasonably tailored to preserving works that would otherwise be lost with little impact on works that are still commercially viable. If anything, keeping old works alive helps boost the inevitable remakes, e.g. how I just bough Elite: Dangerous the other night because of what I knew about the original Elite.
  - SixSigma 12y ago
    You can still buy a BBC Micro on ebay and play the original. I still play mine, 30+ years & going strong. Although I must admit I bought an SD card adapter for it so I don't use floppies any more.
    - Natsu 12y ago
      And I have an 8088 in the closet, but I wouldn't want to rely on it as the means to preserve these works until the copyright expires.
      - SixSigma 12y ago
        Nor I really, I was just saying that the original for Elite is an eBay away. My sd card came loaded with every game ever released on the platform.
        Natsu 12y ago
        Fair enough. I gave you some upvotes as it seems you were misunderstood. That said, the new one looks much cooler, but it has one hell of a steep learning curve. You can die from pretty much anything, including the training to leave a station. Accidentally shooting the station pretty much equals death.
  - throwawaykf05 12y ago
    But isn't the decision of whether to let old games rot or to give them new life and potentially monetize it a decision of the property owner? Why should somebody else decide for them?
    - Natsu 12y ago
      They only own the copyright for the fixed term of copyright law. So in that sense, you could compare them to 'renters' as their rights will expire. Why should the public be unable to preserve what will become it's common property? And yes, I'm aware that there are a few unusual legal constructions, such as the copyright on Peter Pan which do not expire. These are relatively few in number and outside the scope of the concern here. I don't think any video games have such a copyright, anyhow. That said, I can see legal efforts to abolish the constitutionally-established limited term of copyright.
  - deleted 12y ago
    [deleted]

tptacek 12y ago

I do think there probably should be some kind of limited, narrowly-tailored exemption, in the spirit of "interoperability", for restoring online functionality to titles whose online components have been decommissioned.

Natsu 12y ago
That would leave a large list of games lost to history and never again playable. There are quite a lot of titles that were protected by dongles, anti-emulation code, etc. in addition to those where the servers have been taken down due to the publisher making no profit off of them and the existing proposal is quite reasonably tailored to preserving works that would otherwise be lost with little impact on works that are still commercially viable. If anything, keeping old works alive helps boost the inevitable remakes, e.g. how I just bough Elite: Dangerous the other night because of what I knew about the original Elite.
- SixSigma 12y ago
  You can still buy a BBC Micro on ebay and play the original. I still play mine, 30+ years & going strong. Although I must admit I bought an SD card adapter for it so I don't use floppies any more.
  - Natsu 12y ago
    And I have an 8088 in the closet, but I wouldn't want to rely on it as the means to preserve these works until the copyright expires.
    - SixSigma 12y ago
      Nor I really, I was just saying that the original for Elite is an eBay away. My sd card came loaded with every game ever released on the platform.
      - Natsu 12y ago
        Fair enough. I gave you some upvotes as it seems you were misunderstood. That said, the new one looks much cooler, but it has one hell of a steep learning curve. You can die from pretty much anything, including the training to leave a station. Accidentally shooting the station pretty much equals death.
- throwawaykf05 12y ago
  But isn't the decision of whether to let old games rot or to give them new life and potentially monetize it a decision of the property owner? Why should somebody else decide for them?
  - Natsu 12y ago
    They only own the copyright for the fixed term of copyright law. So in that sense, you could compare them to 'renters' as their rights will expire. Why should the public be unable to preserve what will become it's common property? And yes, I'm aware that there are a few unusual legal constructions, such as the copyright on Peter Pan which do not expire. These are relatively few in number and outside the scope of the concern here. I don't think any video games have such a copyright, anyhow. That said, I can see legal efforts to abolish the constitutionally-established limited term of copyright.
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]