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Special Feature:
Emulation



Emulation, for those unfamiliar with the term, has many meanings; the most common use for it now is for the illegal copying and distributing of ROMs. What is ROMs? ROMs are basically the program for cartridge games. Cartridge games are games like on the SNES, Genesis, and even the Nintendo 64. ROMs are also referred to as ROM images. ROMs for emulation distribution are not really made, they're copyed from the cartridge into a file and put on the Internet. ROMs are copyed using cart copiers. These are expensive and they are not illegal, though, how you use them determines their legality.
Another term to be familiar with is "Emulator". When ROMs are downloaded off of the Internet, they need a program that will run them. That is where the emulator comes in. An emulator acts like the system or console it is intended to be. If you download a SNES ROM of of the Internet, you'll also need a SNES Emulator on your computer as well; The Emulator runs the ROM, and you have a SNES game running as if you actually had a SNES and game cartridge. Is emulation clear now? Good.
Despite what the previous two paragraphs stated, emulation isn't as harmless as you might believe. There are several companies out there with the intent of shutting down emulation. IDSA is one of the major companies. Emulation is really nothing more than software piracy. However, software piracy isn't like emulation neither. Confused? So are many people, including the IDSA. There are major differences between what is real piracy and what is not. Emulation is piracy, but it is not as bad as some people think. In this article, I will clearly explain the pros and cons of emulation. I will also do it from a neutral perspective, so you can hear both sides of the conflict. Ready? Here we go.
There's always a grey area in every type of legal issue, emulation is no exception. Copyright laws permit anyone to legally make a copy of any type of program, whether it be video games or PC programs, as long as they own the original and as long as it is for backup purposes. However, copying a program and distributing it is illegal, whether or not it is intended to be copies made for backup purposes. As stated by the IDSA, "U.S. Copyright laws permit making of a 'backup' copy of computer programs for archival purposes. However, the right to make backup copies of computer programs for archival purposes, as embodied in 17 U.S.C. section 117(2), does not in any way authorize the owner of a copy of a video or computer game to post or download a copy of that game to or from the Internet". Therefore, according to the IDSA, you are not even allowed to have a backup copy if it was taken off the Internet. Because of the high price of copiers, most people would have no other choice but to download a copy; however, the IDSA thinks differently.
While piracy is sometimes done with no intention of breaking the law, many people can and will become tempted to try their hand at piracy even worse than emulation. Warez is the worst piracy of all, and emulation webmasters try to keep themselves out of that image. Warez not only gives people serials, cracks, and passwords so that they can pirate shareware programs(thereby unlocking them into the registered version), but some even give downloads to full versions of games and programs. Emulation is NOT like warez, no matter what it looks like or no matter what the IDSA thinks. However, like warez, emulation can be abused too. Many people download ROMs without regard to law. They collect ROMs without even owning the original cartridge. But dispite that, emulation isn't just about free games, it's also about finding games no longer in stores. Many emulation sites have tons of ROMs for games no longer in stores. This is the topic of a long running debate. Many people believe that it should be okay to download ROMs no longer available. IDSA's view is different. It really boils down to copyright laws as well as what a company's view is. As long as the game has a copyright, you can't emulate it or distribute it freely. Well, if the game isn't making the company money it should be ok, right? Wrong. Copyright laws are copyright laws, they won't become invalid just because they are old. However, people feel that it's wrong to prohibit people from playing games no longer available, furthermore, they are not making the company a profit nor is the distribution of the ROMs hurting companies. Sometimes, where the IDSA will let things slip, the companies will take over. The IDSA can decide to not worry about certain things as long as the company doesn't mind. However, more times than many, a company is the one who's doing the deciding. Sometimes, it's just a manner of the company telling the IDSA, and the IDSA shutting them down. Many sites get emails about their ROMs usually because the company may not agree with their games being distributed. However, you also have to keep in mind why emulation is so strictly enforced.
Emulation has gotten a bad rap because usually people try to copy games that are still available in stores. This is hurting the emulation industry. Emulation would like to be considered as a "respectable" community keeping the classics alive, but as long as recent games are even being copyed, that blurs the line that separates emulation from warez. People are trying to emulate the Nintendo 64, which is bad for the emulation industry. PlayStation emulation is also another topic, however, the IDSA doesn't necessarily think that the emulators themselves are illegal. PlayStation games are too big to put on the Internet, so you must have the original CD. According to copyright laws, this is legal, because there is no illegal copying occuring. Nintendo 64 emulation is illegal and in general opinion, not good for the industry. Nintendo 64 emulation is destroying the point the emulation community is trying make. Despite that the IDSA thinks that people are trying to illegally copy and distribute N64 games, many emulation webmasters are trying to put a stop to it. As long as emulation is about very old games not in stores anymore, that's okay, but IDSA really has no choice but to be strict because emulation is getting out of hand.
Like said before, companies have the say in enforcing the shutdown of emulation. The out-of-hand emulation that is causing it to look bad, is just what is causing the tightning of policy. Companies feel threatened by emulation, and have a right to. Worldwide piracy is estimated to have cost the U.S. software industry $3.2 billion in 1997. The emulation of games that are still selling contributes to that figure. Emulation in general is setting a bad image for itself, while respectable webmasters have to pay the price. But companies and the IDSA's view of things are a little distorted. IDSA is too busy shutting down emulation sites, while warez continues to grow and thrive. As well, it's usually respectable emulation sites that are shut down instead of those that are really contributing to the problem.
You can't blame the IDSA, however. IDSA can't keep up to date in information that only the emulation community knows. Emulation is piracy, and it's only the IDSA's job to combat it. However, with the IDSA's rampage to destroy emulation, it would be hard to even get some kind of point across about what is wrong with their rules.
There are fines and jail sentences that can given for piracy. The fight against emulation is becoming stronger, and while all piracy can't be destroyed, most of it will feel the impact. More new laws are being passed all the time that is limiting the pro-emulation arguments that can be made. However, dispite that this is making IDSA and the government look bad, emulation is having major effects in the software industry. Just think, if you had a software company and people were emulating or pirating your game, would you be upset too? Dispite that emulating old games is not hurting the software industry, it's a manner of "it's mine!". As long as a company owns a certain software title, they have the right to choose what happens to it even 20 years down the road. If the companies don't want their games emulated, it's their right to choose.
Another argument is that trying to stomp out emulation is also not really helping the software industry, either. Take a few quotes from the C.L.E.A.R.(Campaign to Leave Emulation Alone) website: "Emulation costs you, the members of IDSA, nothing. Older games aren't for sale anywhere any more, no-one was making any money out of them."; "Emulation sparks interest in modern games. Someone who's played, say, the first six Final Fantasy games on emulators, is only going to be MORE likely to go out and buy FF VII on Playstation, not less. Emulation is nothing more than free advertising, and the most effective kind of free advertising at that."; "Absolutely no-one is trying to say that there's no copyright on all these old games any more. No-one is trying to say "Well, if the owners don't care about a 20-year-old Atari VCS game, then it must be alright to pirate Tomb Raider 3". People aren't stupid, they know the difference. But where something isn't for sale anywhere, and is highly unlikely ever to be again, where's the harm in distributing it?"; "And what about legitimate owners of old games which break? What happened to their customer support? Is the obscure copyright holder (who is presumably the person you're "protecting"), going to come out of the woodwork and make them a new copy? Of course not. So people protect their legitimate investment with emulation." Good points, indeed! Unfortunately, these arguments are as invalid to the IDSA and the government as my previous statements are.
Another misunderstanding by software companies as well as a another problem lies in the rerelease of popular arcade titles. It seems that software companies are rereleasing old arcade titles because they think that's what people want. Unfortunately for software companies, people aren't willing to pay for old, outdated-looking games at the same price they could pay for a game like Final Fantasy 7 or Resident Evil 2. Because these games are so outdated, it makes perfect sense that people will continue to download ROMs for these games for free while leaving the $50 versions lying on the shelves. "We are very aware that there is a strong community of classic game players online," said Dana Henry, spokeswoman for Hasbro Interactive. "We certainly don't want to alienate that base of fans," she added. "Hasbro recently bought rights to the entire catalogue of classic Atari arcade titles, and plans to re-release many of them", Henry said. On the topic of emulation:"We haven't formulated any plan on how to deal with those people," Henry added. "We still need to do research on what is out there." "We are exploring issues of legality as they apply to emulators," said Orrin Edidin, general counsel for Midway, one of the biggest manufacturers of early arcade games. The company has licensed several of its titles to console and computer game publishers, but has not yet taken any legal action to protect its property online, he added. "At this point we are looking into it." The IDSA, which represents many of the video-game companies, has no such compunctions about alienating fans. "The act of making a ROM is illegal. There is a copyright violation right there," said Karg. "Allowing the games to be run and distributing the games online are also illegal under federal and international copyright law", she added. And another point to be driven by some of these statements, is that although some companies don't necessarily like people copying and distributing their games, they put up with it. IDSA, on the other hand, is ruthless and cold-blooded about the whole situation, and does not even try to think about what's going on here, they just try to crush it.
Emulation is a strong "industry" and will continue to stay that way. Despite the fines, jail times, and enforcement of anti-emulation laws, emulation is becoming more widespread. Emulation, much of this due to its respectable nature, seems to be more popular than warez. Emulation is only going to become more "underground" as IDSA and other agencies try to stomp it out. This will only make emulation reduce itself to warez's level in terms of how most warez sites look. Warez is mostly pop-ups, porn ads, splash pages, and other trash. Emulation tries to keep away from all this, but IDSA is not so much going to destroy emulation as it is going to ruin its clean image. I'm not saying that emulation is legal, it should be, however. Emulation is as illegal as most things that are illegal, yet still being done. Emulation is not necessarily software piracy and shouldn't be treated as such. So, in closing, there are many sides to emulation, pro and con, but there should be a clearer definition of what is right and what is wrong. Even IDSA does things that shouldn't be allowed. Emulation won't go away, and if anybody has a problem with emulation, then there should be a defined legal way to allow emulation to exist rather than try to eliminate something that just won't die.



This is the end of the rather long article on emulation. I hope it enlightened you. I will continue to update this for a future article.
In this article, I tryed to give a perspective from both sides so you can get a look into everyone's view on emulation. This article was made on the basis of factual information, opinion, and statistical data. All information is believed to be accurate, but not guaranteed. Feel free to e-mail me if you believe any information is unaccurate. You are granted permission to use any part of this document for any medium you wish, as long as you reference and give credit to this site, however, this document may not be reproduced for commercial purposes.


Sources:
Piracy Research - by: Brian A. Cole
C.L.E.A.R. - Campaign to Leave Emulation Alone
Technology News article

Info taken from above sources with permission, except Technology News article.
About 80% of this article is entirely written by DethBlade. IDSA quote in paragraph 4 taken from Piracy Research. Piracy statistics in paragraph 7 taken from Piracy Research. Other quotes taken from C.L.E.A.R. and Technology News.
Side note:
This article was inspired by Brian A. Cole's Piracy Research paper. I did this in no competition with Brian, in fact, I really admire and appreciate his work studying piracy(which includes emulation). I created this article with the intent of informing, not only visitors of this site, but anyone interested about emulation. I tryed to show both sides of the argument, yet I succeeded in driving a point across about way emulation shouldn't be illegal. In closing, I'd like to thank Brian, along with the webmaster of C.L.E.A.R.(for permission to use his statements). And if you're reading this, I'd like to also thank you for doing so.