ROMS now legal?

[soundtest]

According to GamePro they (older ones at least) are...

http://www.gamepro.com/gamepro/domes...ws/31559.shtml

Originally Posted by GamePro

The Library of Congress has recently granted copyright exemptions in the Digital Millenium Act to obsolete games. The exemption applies to games that require the original hardware as a condition of access, and if the game is “no longer manufactured or reasonably available in the commercial marketplace.” This means that old, unsupported PC, console and arcade games will now be legal to own (so your illegal copy of Mame roms are now legit). The only muddy side is if publishers consider their old games to be “reasonably available” and plan to release classic games as bundles or bonuses, then the copyright protection still stands.

The Digital Millenium Copyright Act, or DMCA was passed on October 12, 1998 to address piracy and copyright concerns specifically pertaining to software and the internet properties. Some of the notable provisions included the outlawed circumvention of anti-piracy laws and distrubition or sale of code-cracking devices. Brewster Kahle from the non-profit company Internet Archive petitioned the US Copyright office, and to the delightful surprise of many, the petition was approved.

While game companies will undoubtedly cling on to as many of the old games as they can, many of the older unsupported titles are now free game. Those who have been downloading such games can now keep them in their hard drives with a clear conscience.

[Supafly345]

Hm, I can't figure out if this news makes me want them more or want them less....

[AChimp]

Companies like Apogee make me because they actually think that people still want to buy their games.

[Ninjavenom]

So, does that mean it's okay to physically steal these now, too?

[Cap'n Crunch]

Either way I was still going to download them.

[James]

I wonder if this means Mame.dk will stop being such fucking pussies and put up their roms again. Though I can't seem to even access their page anymore...

For those of you who don't know, they were threatened by a lawsuit over copyright issues regarding one game (or maybe a bunch of games from the same company). The person gave no credibility or reason to even believe they had any position to make such threats, and the site decided to remove ALL of their roms from the server.

[Command Prompt]

Apogee =

Shit, my furry little co-UofM'er don't you remember RISE OF THE TRIAD??

one of the BEST 3D games EVER