Emulation vs Piracy

[Grygor]

Emulation is where you make one machine act like another in order to run software not originally designed for it. So, for example, if I make my computer run NES games that's emulation. Piracy is a possible method for obtaining those NES games, and it's generally the one used since it's damn difficult to get a computer to read a NES cartridge.

It's probably illegal, but I don't see anything wrong with it in a moral sense, it certainly doesn't harm anyone. Then again, the same could be argued for any kind of piracy, so... yeah. In order to emulate games people do usually pirate those games, but I don't think you should really care.

Perfectly legal, at least in the US.

Not that that little fact stops Nintendo from doing everything in their power to crush the emulation scene, as in their eyes, emulation is piracy. American courts don't seem to agree, but many foreign courts, including some European ones, very much take Nintendo's side.

 

[Dreiko_v1legacy]

Copyright infringement and piracy is not the same. If you copy your game to your pc cause you like it better, if you play an emulated gameboy game you already bought on the PC for the larger screen, you're infringing the copyrights and are technically breaking the law but you're damn not PIRATING it.


You already gave them your money, you just don't like the thing they sell so you improve it.

 

[Furioso]

I judge it situation by situation, for example, it is impossible to get a translated copy of Mother 3, unless you emulate it and then install a fan made english patch for it, I would say it's ok in that case as it is the only way to get it

 

[Xan Krieger]

To me if the game is impossible to find through legal means then by all means use an emulator. Also games you already own but lost or damaged the disc are also fair game to download and play (it's how I still play my old PS1 games that my mother took from me and then lost like Front Mission 3).

 

[Nathan Dewar]

Emulation is where you make one machine act like another in order to run software not originally designed for it. So, for example, if I make my computer run NES games that's emulation. Piracy is a possible method for obtaining those NES games, and it's generally the one used since it's damn difficult to get a computer to read a NES cartridge.

It's probably illegal, but I don't see anything wrong with it in a moral sense, it certainly doesn't harm anyone. Then again, the same could be argued for any kind of piracy, so... yeah. In order to emulate games people do usually pirate those games, but I don't think you should really care.

LOL, i just had a flashback, first time I actually brought a pirated game. But like this is before large torrent sites. Went to the dodgiest area in my city, where these massive cement block buildings are. They called commision housing flats, knocked on the door, the guy actually had a converted n64 that enabled him to copy n64 games, I swear to god man that thing looked like my large scale model of my milinieum falcon. Anyway brought the game, and walked out, my heart was pumping man, I thought I was gonna get jumped.

 

[Spud of Doom]

Isn't it usually illegal to rip the BIOS from a system even if you do own it? In that case, emulation could be illegal.

 

[Something Amyss]

A few set of simple questions for you people. Is emulation piracy? If so, should I care? If not, what's the difference?

Begin!

Emulation is not piracy, but emulation usually involves piracy.

Think of it this way: The bedroom is not a house, but houses usually have bedrooms.

 

[Racecarlock]

To me if the game is impossible to find through legal means then by all means use an emulator. Also games you already own but lost or damaged the disc are also fair game to download and play (it's how I still play my old PS1 games that my mother took from me and then lost like Front Mission 3).

For console emulators, well, fair enough, but what about arcade machine emulators? Actual arcade machines are big and bulky and there's probably not one around that doesn't cost over 1000 dollars or pounds. Not to mention the publishers and developers of those arcade machines wouldn't make any more money anyways. So, why the hell try to get those big ass expensive things legally?

 

[Enizer]

i have a great example of this, which i did personally recently, Final Fantasy VII and VIII, i have them both on a shelf, PC versions, which are not easy to get to work on modern computers, especially FF7, it can be a total nightmare to get the sound right

i find it perfectly acceptable for me to download a playstation emulator, and the ISO files for the playstation version, so i can get them to work immediately, skipping hours of fiddling it would take to get the old pc relase to work correctly

on the other hand, if i were to do that to a game i dont own in some other format, then it would be pirating it

 

[KAPTAINmORGANnWo4life]

Rather than going for a legal comparison, I'll go for the moral one; There are two times downloading a game off of a file sharing website or something similar is alright:

1) You own the game and, for whatever reason, want to play it on your computer

2) You've scoured the Internet for a lengthy period of time, putting in genuine effort attempting to purchase it, but cannot for the life of you find it.

 

[Shydrow]

Yes it is unless you own the game already.

Why? Cause you can still get every consul and almost every game you just need to find either a flea market or a retro store or do it online and most popular games like Super Metroid ex. are on the stupid online consul markets. So yes it is 100% piracy [with said exception] but no one really is going to try and sue and stop it cause they can't make a legal argument [at least not one that really is cost efficient] in most courts. It also makes them look stupid as hell and would probably cause a boycott or some silly shit like that to the new titles they release.

 

[Shydrow]

2) You've scoured the Internet for a lengthy period of time, putting in genuine effort attempting to purchase it, but cannot for the life of you find it.

Still piracy regardless of your effort as long as you are taking without permission of the content maker you are stealing it. If they no longer sell it doesn't change anything as far as legal matters are concerned cause it is still owned by someone.

 

[DarkTenka]

Just shut up and download the emulator ... if the avg gamer truly gave a crap about "moral grey areas" the COD community wouldnt be made up of a bunch of retards.

 

[zehydra]

while many here have said that it is morally ok to emulate the game if you already own it, which I agree with, it is still illegal.

 

[LilithSlave]

Still piracy regardless of your effort

That's true! It's a good thing piracy isn't...

you are stealing it.

Oh gosh darn it, you had to go and say this silly thing.

No! Bad boy! Piracy is not stealing.

 

[KAPTAINmORGANnWo4life]

2) You've scoured the Internet for a lengthy period of time, putting in genuine effort attempting to purchase it, but cannot for the life of you find it.

Still piracy regardless of your effort as long as you are taking without permission of the content maker you are stealing it. If they no longer sell it doesn't change anything as far as legal matters are concerned cause it is still owned by someone.

Well, two things: (1) I did explicitly say I was looking at it from a moral, not legal perspective, and (2) Copyrights and Trademarks aren't immortal. If the owners of the copyright well and truly don't care about the product, or are gone, and do not to enforce their rights, you won't be charged.

Now, there are other laws afoot, but it's a case of "Why bust a junkie when we can get a dealer". They'll hit a website before they'll go after you.

And let it be known, for clarification's sake, I do not, nor do I intend to, pirate anything.

 

[Biosophilogical]

Emulation == Piracy. Its just pirating the game, then playing it on a different format.

I tend to consider it ok to emulate a game i've already bought. I mean i own a copy of it, but its inconvinient for me to cart around those consoles.

Also yes you should care. All forms of piracy harm the games industry.

Not really. If I were to, very theoretically, pirate a REALLY old game for the gameboy like the first generation of pokemon, chances are it wouldn't hurt the game industry. After all, the publishers aren't producing new copies any more (and therefore can't profit), stores that sell old games probably wouldn't have something so well-known (high demand vs low supply) so I wouldn't be supporting a business, and private owners selling things online aren't 'the games industry' so illegally downloading such a game would do nothing for or against the game industry.

OT: Emulation, as is commonly practiced by non techno-lords, is a form of piracy (unless the data has the approval of the publishing/developing company to be freely distributed for personal use) so it is probably illegal. But in some cases it is just not reasonable to expect someone to find a physical copy to purchase, so while it may not be legal, it is not necessarily unethical in certain circumstances.

 

[yusukethehedgehog]

Emulation is not piracy. In the current context, emulation is playing a console or handheld game on a pc. This action is not illegal in any sense. However, how you obtain those games may or may not be piracy.

Piracy is obtaining a product by a nonlegal means (not necessarily stealing, but that's a different argument). What that means is downloading a rom or iso of a copyrighted work, even if you own it, is piracy and technically illegal.

Of course, there are legal ways to obtain ROMs and ISOs, thus, emulation is ok. So let's recap:

Emulation- legal, not piracy
Having ROMs/ISOs of games you own- legal, not piracy
Making your own ROMs/ISOs- legal, not piracy if you own the game
Downloading COPYRIGHTED ROMs/ISOs- illegal, piracy

Now, in a moral sense, I would say downloading ROMs/ISOs of games you own is ok, and games that are not available by most normal means is also ok, though less so.

 

[yusukethehedgehog]

I don't see my post, so if this becomes a double post, I apologize.

EDIT: well, it did go through the first time, sorry.

[removed]

 

[Enizer]

while many here have said that it is morally ok to emulate the game if you already own it, which I agree with, it is still illegal.

that depends on the local laws i belive, i'm not sure where it's illegal, but where i am(iceland), if i own the product, i'm allowed to do what i need to use the product

funny thing, i belive the first case here of this was a HOSPITAL, which got in a license dispute, which made a lot of people very angry, and led to this being made into law