• Overzeetop@sopuli.xyz
    57·
    1 year ago

    It’s actually kind of funny that emulators, which explicitly violate copyright law in the US as a circumvention measure prohibited by the DMCA as well as infringing for any rom created after the 1920s (ie. all of them) which have not been placed into the public domain, are perfectly fine here because that doesn’t “feel” like piracy since the games are not generating revenue.

    Anyway, you’re almost certainly looking for !steamdeckpirates@lemmy.dbzer0.com instead of this community. I didn’t even know that community existed until yesterday with the kerfuffle over lemmy.world defederating from dbzer0.com. Streisand effect-ish in a way. Best of luck, and keep a keen eye out for the EIC.

    • mnemonicmonkeys@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      7·
      1 year ago

      It’s actually kind of funny that emulators, which explicitly violate copyright law in the US as a circumvention measure prohibited by the DMCA

      Except this is false. Emulation is legal per the DMCA, and this was settled decades ago

      • Overzeetop@sopuli.xyz
        23·
        1 year ago

        That’s a fine distinction, and requires that no decryption or protection is removed as part of the emulation software - which is entirely true for a very nice, neat, theoretical legal argument. It’s like saying Plex is designed for playing your format shifted media and there is nothing illegal about that, or that I arrange copyrighted songs for only for myself and never print them out, only perform them for my personal enjoyment or as part of a blanket license at a venue. All 100% legal, as long as nobody considers reality. I have no problem with any of it, but it’s worth admitting that we’re counting angels on the head of a pin.

        (Note: I also run a plex server and I have format shifted my own physical media, of which I have kept the physical media and do not loan them out - as part of my collection).

        • mnemonicmonkeys@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
          2·
          1 year ago

          and requires that no decryption or protection is removed as part of the emulation software

          This is false. The DMCA has an exemption specifically for bypassing access restrictions.

          Also, inb4 the Dolphin topic, the encryption key that was included is legal. Emulators are allowed to copy small parts of code, just not all of it; and the encryption key is a randomized string of characters, which is not protected by copyright

          • Overzeetop@sopuli.xyz
            25·
            1 year ago

            It just so happens that my congressional representative, Boucher, was responsible for the language added which allows bypassing the restrictions, and there are very few conditions where that is permitted. There is research and there is the clause to preserve Fair Use (and other rights under copyright law), but that does not extend or cover the clause concerning traffiking in decryption software, unless that has been added by legal precedent in case law (that I’m unaware of). If you provide software to decrypt or assist someone in decryption, it violates the DMCA the way it was written. The use of decryption software for research or fair use is permitted, but it’s illegal to supply it.

            I recognize that it’s a fine distinction, esp. for ephemeral works. Marijuana is a reasonable analogy in my state: it’s legal (again, in my state) to grow and possess personal amounts, but it is illegal to sell it, or for anyone to sell it to you. Anyone who sells it is violating the law, even if that is the only way you can obtain it. In the case decrypting a file for Fair Use is use (legal); selling is trafficking (providing a decryption algorithm); growing for personal use (also legal) is writing your own software from scratch to decrypt. (this is where the analogy breaks down because it’s legal to sell growing kits, but it’s not legal to sell decryption kits.)

      • Overzeetop@sopuli.xyz
        36·
        1 year ago

        It does seem fairly empty at the moment. TBH, I don’t have enough time to play the games I’ve paid for (or gotten from Epic), but it’s interesting that it’s out there.

        edit: there is about twice the unfederated content on the dbzer0 server compared to what is here on Sopuli (as of this morning) if that matters.