Ross Scott isn't going to be too happy...
wak
I won't go "OMG, this is censorship! They're so evil, grr!!", because while I do find this really crappy, I don't want to ignite a whole slew of infighting through charged words and stuff like what happened with the Hatred thread. I guess it's going to happen anyway, but I just don't want to be the first one.
I will say that I think this decision is really crappy, because one day the PS 3 and X360 servers are going to come down and there isn't going to be a way to play the online components of those games ever again, and games that need online-only DRM or which focus extensively on online play are going to be left out in the cold. The experiences of those games should be allowed to be preserved in some way - like a group creating an unofficial server to play Borderlands, but on a legal level.
I don't know if I'm getting the full argument here, because A) I'm pretty sleepy and B) I take anything from IGN with a grain of salt, but if games end up being left in an incomplete state due to a necessary or much-beloved function being shut off, and this association doesn't want any sort of restoration going through because it "promotes piracy", then I think that's a dumb decision.
Like I can't help feel that this excerpt isn't telling a whole story, but the picture it paints seems plausible enough and I think it's dumb.
Come sail your ships around me, and burn your bridges down.
God-Mayor of Sim-Kind
So we have the DMCA's story, now what about the copyright holder's side?
Answer no master, never the slave Carry your dreams down into the grave Every heart, like every soul, equal to break
Microsoft already abandoned the original Xbox and all online functions and other things... This is going to absolutely blow up in the industry's faces in a few years.
Wants Captain N for SSBU
Okay, claiming it's piracy is understandable, but hacking is kind of a bold statement here.
Signatures are for lamers.
Main Character
Hacking™
Fuck you, Fascist sympathizers
Unfortunately, it only stops the above-board institutions doing this work, like academics or museums. The grey market solves this sort of problem almost instantaneously, but these games also deserve to shine on in the legit sector.
Simply make sure the exception doesn't cover anything that could be remotely used for commercial gain by the original IP-holder. It's not hard to draw the line.
No longer a forum herald
Reading up on this, someone pointed out that there are several supercomputers built by setting up PS3s into a cluster. (This capability was eventually patched out, but older models with the right software still work.) Sounds like a big part of what they're targeting, right? There's just one problem...the U.S. Air Force runs one of said cluster supercomputers, which they use to monitor satellite data.
So...you want to tell them they have to shut that down? Go ahead, I'm sure that will work out very well for you.
Expergiscēre cras, medior quam hodie. (Awaken tomorrow, better than today.)
Profit before history, how sad.
Court Dragon
Oh I Know what the Entertainment software Association said and I have a pretty nasty idea for a petition with a goal of "2,560,000 Strong." The theme involves the joker's eulogy. I'll start typing when I get home. Sorry for the bump.
Heh.
Fuck. The. ESA.
Great games get to be unable to play and that's a good thing according to them? Yeah. Right.
King of Feraligatrs, Typo Master,
Stuff like this continues to prove that the modern gaming industry is more shitty than it was in the past.
Hail to the King of Feraligatrs! Shameless advertising
I asked Jim Sterling about the matter on his ask.fm
page and here what he said:
edited 9th May '15 1:03:50 PM by YoKab
^ What a coincidence because I have shot Jim Stering (Who I Respect) My petition plan which although it have never been done beforehand it will work. Also I said that game servers like the dreamcast and Original Xbox are seen as Disposable like Tissues and CONDOMS. (The point has got to come across some how.)
Here's a simple solution.
The ESA makes a bill that applies to all game publishers: Any game released on the market in any form must be dealt with ten years after its release if it isn't available on modern distribution methods (such as Steam). By this a game must either be released on at least one distribution platform, or its intellectual property sold to another publisher where the former demand must be met.
Actually, I was thinking more along the lines the Console and Handheld Generations. If the games, systems, arcade machines, Amusement machine, Metal Redemption Machine, Fruit Machine, Computer Games, Computer Systems and the like are Two Generations or older and said systems are finished with their life cycle then the all the games on the system will have to be released as "Non-Commercial Freeware" and the online servers source will be released to the public under a "Non-Commercial Donationware." (The latter because of the costs it takes to run servers.) No Exceptions.
http://www.ign.com/articles/2015/04/09/esa-says-preserving-old-games-is-illegal-because-its-hacking
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act’s anti-circumvention provisions (Section 1201) prevents users, including communities, museums, archives and researchers, to legally modify games to keep them playable after publishers shut down the servers.
EFF staff attorney Mitch Stoltz says Section 1201 presents serious issues for academics, museums like Oakland, California’s Museum of Art and Digital Entertainment and non-profit organisation the Internet Archive.
Last year, the Internet Archive launched the Historical Software Collection, a collection of classic console and computer games and software. The organization recently added nearly 2,400 MS-DOS games to its growing library of classic titles, including Bust-A-Move, Commander Keen, and Metal Gear, along with 900 classic, coin-operated arcade games late last year.
“Thanks to server shutdowns, and legal uncertainty created by Section 1201, their objects of study and preservation may be reduced to the digital equivalent of crumbling papyrus in as little as a year,” Stoltz wrote. “That’s why an exemption from the Copyright Office is needed.”
The Electronic Frontier Foundation is asking the Copyright Office to give academics, museums, and archivists an exemption from Section 1201 and some legal protection to preserve older video games and keep them playable.
However, according to the EFF, the ESA, MPAA and RIAA have contacted the Copyright Office to oppose the exemption, saying it will send a message that “hacking—an activity closely associated with piracy in the minds of the marketplace—is lawful” and undermines “the fundamental copyright principles on which our copyright laws are based.”
The ESA also proposes to reject research bodies from exemption, essentially barring them from modifying consoles as tools for research. The ESA suggest that researchers should use cloud computing to conduct their research, rather than hacked Play Station consoles.