Since these warnings are not contracts at all, I don't see how they can be legally binding contracts. They're not the same as a proper EULA.
An interesting comparison: I terms of obsolete media, CDs are still around, though they are getting rarer due to services like iTunes and the like (ew... DRM)! CD Ripping = Legal (fair-use) Cartridges = Illegal I'm not expert, and nor do I pretend to know something I do not. However this situation seems suspicions to me.
And the sound quality of download music services are inferrior due to use of lossy audio formats. So I don't consider CDs to be obsolete, yet. Of course to average person, quality don't matter much, the concept of an album is lame (because no artist even bothers anymore), and it cost less to download so they think they're getting deal. Don't get me wrong, alot of CDs are overpriced. Go to a peer-to-peer network and no one rips a CD right and tags the ID3 part right anyway and then there's the RIAA to worry about.
A few games from WoS actually came from my site, and were nowhere to be found before I took the time to dump them. As far as I know, this happened with at least Lone Wolf and Cyberbig. I never got any credit because some wise guy sent them to WoS "in my behalf", but I know I've done my part in game preservation. + - (and I have more plans in that regard)
I've been a prolific and unrepentant pirate for years now, and haven't heard so much as a peep from anyone. Old software, new software, whatever. Capitalism is shit and even if it wasn't, why pay for something when you almost certainly won't suffer any consequences if you don't? Who the hell has 10-20 dollars to burn whenever they want a new album, or 40-60 for a new game? That's fucking crazy, I have groceries and fuel to buy. Even if I were rich I'd be using that capital to purchase physical, rival goods and donating money to charity, not wasting it on copies of digital media that I could obtain freely. In short: it's only illegal if you're dumb enough to get caught, so don't do anything stupid and you should be fine
Remember how people cite the DMCA to claim that breaking DRM to back up your media would violate the law regardless of whether or not it was in accordance otherwise with fair use? DMCA section 1201, "Circumvention of copyright protection systems" http://static.chillingeffects.org/1201.shtml What does one make of this? A contradiction [with the previous section prohibiting tools manufacutred/sold/distributed to circumvent DRM]? A tool one manufacturing such devices could use in defense or to challenge the legality? Proof that they were trying to use their brains when drafting the DMCA?
I'd call it a contradiction, honestly, bearing in mind the entire purpose of the DMCA was to kill as much copying and copy-protection circumventing as possible.
There was a back-door deal that wasn't publicised widely. He didn't have to pay the money because he is acting as a mole and snitching on other pirates.
Regarding the article from Wikipedia: Similar technology (despite regarding magnetic media) overturned Atari v. JS&A. See the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_Corp._of_America_v._Universal_City_Studios,_Inc" target="_blank">Betamax precedent</a>. for more info.
But that was in regards to copying the data from one cartridge onto another cartridge, not storing the data on a hard drive, disc or other non-cartridge form of storage.
But emulators don't use real cartridges but data stored on a drive... I guess that makes things more interesting.
Why the hell would you need a snitch? Are you really considered an inside spy if you can google "NDS ROMS" and see which sites pop up? Honestly, considering some of the major ROM sites that have been operating for years, I'm surprised none of the game companies have been intelligent enough to try something like shutting them down.
Personally I use ROMS to test out games that I am planning to buy...or to get a taste of games that aren't available to me. I have also used ROMS to play games I own in other ways...for example I own all of the original Mega Drive Sonic games, but tried the Picodrive emulator and some ROMS to get them working on my N-GAGE, aside from not really allowing for sound, the emulator works really well... Don't know the legality of these things, but to be honest I much prefer playing games in their original forms and wherever possible I buy games in their original forms and play them the way they were intended.
US and Japanese companies would have a hard time shutting down sites based in countries like Russia that we have access to. It's not in their territory, they can't force another country's government to crack down on piracy.
Unlike the RIAA, which can make the US government use illegal means to pressure countries like Sweden into going against their own laws. I've seen a few ROM sites go down, actually, mostly because of DMCA notices or something. Whether or not the companies responsible for those would actually do anything more than that is another question, though.
There's something pretty much called "ESA protected games". Those games are listed by ROM sites, but when you try to download them, you get an error message. Pretty much all Nintendo games are in that list. It's hard to find a site that doesn't obey to it, because they do it to avoid being shut down. There are a few sites that don't follow it, though. PlanetEmu is one of them.
