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Feds Say You Don’t Have a Right to Check Out Retro Video Games Like Library Books (gizmodo.com)

submitted 3 weeks ago by iN8sWoRLd@lemmy.world to c/technology@lemmy.world

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"Most of the world’s video games from close to 50 years of history are effectively, legally dead. A Video Games History Foundation study found you can’t buy nearly 90% of games from before 2010. Preservationists have been looking for ways to allow people to legally access gaming history, but the U.S. Copyright Office dealt them a heavy blow Friday. Feds declared that you or any researcher has no right to access old games under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, or DMCA."

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[–] henfredemars@infosec.pub 185 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (16 children)

Industry groups argued that those museums didn’t have “appropriate safeguards” to prevent users from distributing the games once they had them in hand.

Good grief. Some of these games have been on the Internet longer than I have been alive. They are 100-fucking-percent already available on ROM sites. You're just shitting on people's enjoyment for the sake of shitting.

“The game industry’s absolutist position… forces researchers to explore extra-legal methods to access the vast majority of out-of-print video games that are otherwise unavailable,” the VGHF wrote.

The spice must flow, and I can assure you that it already does.

[–] ogeist@lemmy.world 91 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

Industry groups argued that those museums didn’t have “appropriate safeguards” to prevent users from distributing the games once they had them in hand.

So libraries are also illegal? Books, DVDs, VHS, CDS, etc. You can replace games with any of those.

[–] bassomitron@lemmy.world 122 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

They've been actively fighting libraries over the years, with renewed fervor in the last decade. As numerous others have pointed out before--including the article I linked--if libraries hadn't already been such a long-standing concept for centuries, they would 100% not be allowed to come into existence nowadays. Hyper greed has poisoned every facet of modern society.

[–] slaacaa@lemmy.world 33 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

hyper greed

You misspelled neoliberal capitalism

[–] toastal@lemmy.ml 15 points 3 weeks ago

Libraries are clearly communist… or anarchist… either way, I hate it!

[–] ArgentRaven@lemmy.world 30 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

We used to rent these games from Blockbuster Video! On DVD when we had DVD burners and little to no drm! How did it suddenly not become acceptable?

[–] absquatulate@lemmy.world 22 points 3 weeks ago

Lobbying. The greedy fucks will lobby until they get their way

[–] Blue_Morpho@lemmy.world 1 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Physical rentals are still legal. This is only about the legality of online rom downloads.

[–] ArgentRaven@lemmy.world 1 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

I'm speaking mainly of the distrust against the public having access for fear that we'd abuse it and not give them a cut. We can't have access to these things now, but we used to. Regardless of form, regardless of piracy.

It's more of a move to restrict ownership when you make a purchase, that has a farther reach than just games. I could see this being applied to cars, houses, etc. In that you only rent a license, and don't actually own anything. I see this as just a first step, and the logic they use to justify it doesn't make sense.

[–] Blue_Morpho@lemmy.world 1 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

We can't have access to these things now, but we used to.

??? There was no change. It was always illegal. This was a petition to change it to be legal and the petition was denied.

Despite it being illegal, Internet Archive has hosted and I hope will continue to host rom collections like tiny best set go.

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