First things first: Not ROMs. I can say right now off the bat that I'm fully aware that distribution of ROMs (or any aid in acquisition of them) is illegal, never mind being against VGC's rules. Providing actual games for the emulators is -totally- out of the picture.
This thread's concerning the legality of emulators. Now, there are some people here who consider discussion/distribution of emulators completely illegal, and there are some who regard emulators as legal software (although the roms themselves are not).
Considering the fact that most emulators rely on imitating the workings of the console*, no copyrighted material is provided in the emulator. Due to the law stating that distribution of copyrighted material is illegal (in this case, illegally-reproduced 1:1 copies of ROMs), surely a software package containing no copyrighted material should be free to distribute?
However, an argument I've encountered is that the emulator is used to run copyrighted software. This is correct, however; there are further points to consider:
- You are under no obligation to do anything with the emulator having downloaded it.
- You may simply want to run public domain / open-source ROMs and other similar tech demos with the aforementioned emulator.
- Many pieces of legal software can be used for similarly illegal things.
Regarding the third point stated above: Consider Winamp. It's a piece of software which allows for playback of (among other formats) MP3-encoded sound files. Nobody has a problem with discussing it on VGC. What if you use it to listen to music you've grabbed off a P2P service, though?
It's more than easy to maintain a flourishing community in which emulator & rom talk is allowed, yet distribution / aid to the acquisition of commercially-produced ROMs is not. Example: [url=http://forums.qj.net]Quick Journal Forums[/url]. They have a very strict policy on piracy, and any public aid regarding showing people where to get ROMs results in an instant ban.
So, that's my argument, I guess. It boils down to the following question: Should VGC maintain a policy in which emulator distribution and discussion is allowed, yet ROM distribution is not?
*With the exception of several emulators which do, in fact, require a ripped BIOS to operate - These include most arcade boards, PS1 and PS2, and several others.
There's a thin line, I guess, and it's kind of working on a loophole, but I guess it sounds workable. So long as it's definitely the case that no distribution should take place it's good. THUMBSES UPSES
I don't see the harm, so long as ROM distribution is kept out of it.
[Quote]
- You are under no obligation to do anything with the emulator having downloaded it.
- You may simply want to run public domain / open-source ROMs and other similar tech demos with the aforementioned emulator.
- Many pieces of legal software can be used for similarly illegal things.
I agree, but I don't think too many people would download it and not get ROMs for it. This will just need some careful moderation, since ROM discussion and distrbution is sure to try and creep along if this passes. So long as it's kept in check and strictly about emulators, then I don't see the problem.
Yes. This makes sense. Threads asking where to get ROMs are usually deleted on site to begin with. Same goes for asking where to get free music, movies, etc.. illegally. Other than that though, I see your point, so I suppose emulator discussion is fine, as long ROM sharing isn't talked about in the process.
Unless of course they are freely distributable ROMs.
Not all of them are illegal backups of Mario/Zelda/Halo games, you know. ;)
Kind of iffy, but I don't really think it's that big a deal. We're pretty lenient on most things, so there's no reason to start being strict on something like this.
Don't distribute it ... that might be pushing it a little. :P But I can't see why not talk about it.
Add something to the [url=http://vgchat.com/showthread.php?t=161]Board Rules[/url] about this, please.