Question??

[rightmind]

I belong to a few forums: here now and mameaddicts to name a few. My question is: what is the big deal about asking for a link to a rom or iso file? I see that many mod get real upset about it. I am just curious as to the legality of it. Plz enlighten me.

Also, what happened to the cat?

 

[The 9th Sage]

Well, unless you actually own a physical cartridge of a game (or CD/DVD...whatever) it isn't legal to have a ROM or an ISO of a game. If you do own the game, there is some debate...I think that generally it's fine if you have dumped the ROM yourself, but downloading it I'm not sure on the specific legality of it.

Anyway, given the legality of ROMs/ISOs, we'd rather run the site without ROM links and things rather than risk the wrath of Nintendo or some other big company that could probably pound the site into the dirt.

As for the cat, I assume it woke up from it's years long nap, got bored, and left.

 

[Iconoclast]

It is wrong in the sense of software law and also business. The existence of these images that can be linked to for anyone to download already marks the beginning of emulation to serve piracy (commonly meaning not owning the game you download). Not everyone is happy with that as you might have seen in the thread about legally getting images up here at ZD, and hosting those images here or even tolerating links to them would send a stronger message than as if done to just about any other emulation community.

 

[Xeon3D]

The legality thread was started already...

The "the beginning of emulation to serve piracy" part got me confused.

Is that what emulation is all about?

 

[rightmind]

Is that what emulation is all about?

I think of it as reliving the good ol days when I used to have the games.

 

[Iconoclast]

That's common; this thread didn't need any replies.

Some people would ask: Would playing the games on their true hardware be not more memorable? How does changing hardware restore memories?

Usually those are answered with benefits, and the only time I really think about those questions is in accordance to my favorite N64 game. Only playing the game on a rainy night on the real hardware would really feel memorable.

 

[Haoie]

You'll notice it's pretty much the same throughout most large web gaming forums, like GameFAQs, etc, that there's a rule prohibiting links to ROMs and such.

When it comes to just discussing ROMS/emulators though, the rules are a bit more grey.

 

[Iconoclast]

Why would someone make a rule opposing discussion of them? Why do people say, "ISOs/ROMs are illegal?" Why would they release something illegal? By law even the pirated software cannot be illegal as opposed to having it.

In respected gaming sites rarely are these hosted, but fewer sites discourage discussion about backup devices.