legality discussion [split]

[lucidPerspective]

3. While this perhaps doesn't correlate directly with the hardware/software and your development of this, is there a download somehwere, perhaps a torrent, that contains all n64 games? Would make putting things on the CF a lot faster.

Downloading roms when you don't own the actual physical game is illegal, and as far as I'm aware is banned from being discussed on this forum

5. On a scale from 1 to 10, 1 being not at all and 10 being death sentance, how illegal is this? (xD)

The flash cart in itself is not illegal, but as soon as you start downloading games you don't own, and play them through this, then that action becomes illegal

[blaze3927]

3. While this perhaps doesn't correlate directly with the hardware/software and your development of this, is there a download somehwere, perhaps a torrent, that contains all n64 games? Would make putting things on the CF a lot faster.

Downloading roms when you don't own the actual physical game is illegal, and as far as I'm aware is banned from being discussed on this forum

5. On a scale from 1 to 10, 1 being not at all and 10 being death sentance, how illegal is this? (xD)

The flash cart in itself is not illegal, but as soon as you start downloading games you don't own, and play them through this, then that action becomes illegal

depends what country your in. in australia im 90% sure it's illegal even if you own the backup/original. New zealand unsure.

[lucidPerspective]

depends what country your in. in Australia i'm 90% sure it's illegal even if you own the backup/original. New Zealand unsure

Oh really?? wow.. I'm pretty sure Australia and NZ would have the same laws on that. I always thought that it was legal to own backups.. like if you buy a DVD are you not allowed to put it onto one computer and then watch it on that computer to save the disk getting all scratched up? ..I think that's legal, or at least wouldn't get you prosecuted if you could prove you owned the actual disk.

Maybe downloading a movie (or anything) that you actually own is illegal, but if you have the means to create a backup of the actual disk/game you own then that is legal. Because the movie/rom you download isn't the actual one you own, but if you can rip it yourself then.. might be okay?

[blaze3927]

im pretty sure its just australia thats different as there was two (or more) contrasting legal decisions in the high court in 2005. One approving modchips for backups the other disapproving the download of material even if you own an original licensed copy.
However i've read that you can backup "programs" (arguably includes games) to other form of media for the purpose of protection etc. but you must retain the originally licesnced copy, and it cannot be modified at all. Whether that or not includes downloading a backup rather than ripping it yourself im unsure of.
its lol that theres now ad's in Australia for
"you may be an accidental pirate!"
http://www.accidentalpirate.com.au/

[Haunted360]

depends what country your in. in Australia im 90% sure it's illegal even if you own the backup/original. New zealand unsure.

I thought it was 110% alright if you owned the originals!

Thats what happened with the PS1 lawsuit in Australia with the ModChips. Remember? The guy won cause the judge or whatever said 'as long as you own the originals, you MAY use it for backup purposes'.


Anyway, nice work Marshall (The L64 remake (Pn64) is going alright. Just need a Dremel to own). Would of preferred your effort on the PS1 though

[Tchay]

Nintendo makes the legality pretty clear on their website. Even if you own the games, backups are illegal.

[Triton]

well of course nintendo is going to say that. but nintendo doesnt make the law either, copyright infringement and DMCA stuff is still a very hotly contested area, and really it comes down to legal precedent and what a judge rules to determine the legality of something like backups of games you legally own. i know nintendo has sued rom websites before but thats when n64 was still a retail product. nintendo isnt making money on ANY of its cart based games anymore (beyond wii virtual console that is) so the odds of them suing anybody over n64 and older roms is fairly low, unless you are trying to profit off of their intellectual property illegally that is.

[gamax92]

1. I've noticed with the ROMS that there are a couple different formats - .n64 or .z64 sometimes... will this read either/or (Or are they the same thing? Don't know much about n64 code...)

If the data in the file is the same as the data that was on the cartridge, It should not matter.

3. While this perhaps doesn't correlate directly with the hardware/software and your development of this, is there a download somehwere, perhaps a torrent, that contains all n64 games? Would make putting things on the CF a lot faster.

All n64 roms pack
remember this is illegal to download.

6. Since you have the SDRAM implemented anyway, would using a SD to CF adaptor now work, because it has to put the data 'up fron't into the SDRAM before it can work anyway, or is it still too slow? I guess a question that goes along with this - with the delay there needs to be in order to make the n64 properly boot/read the cartridge, will it wait for a certain amount of time, or indefinitely until the SDRAM or whatever signals that it's ready? If that's the case, then the SD card should be usable, correct?

He said he made code that would always be executed on boot. It should load the data from the cartridge emulator. And then read the SD card. It would just take more time to load the game

[hailrazer]

To my knowledge this is how it is (explained by a lawyer after I showed him my project)

-If you make a backup copy of anything you must be the original owner or have in your possession something that proves it is yours.

As mentioned it depends on the country you live in.

In the US it is illegal to circumvent copywrite protection to obtain a backup. It is also illegal to download a backup from ANYONE/ANYWHERE.

So in the US it is illegal to have a backup of anykind obtained by any means.

Doesn't mean anyone gives a flip or will do anything about it. But that is the law, despite what anyone tries to tell you.

Other countries, different laws.

[blaze3927]

thats also a factor
nobody will give too much of a toss to take any action at all. at the most maybe a cease and desist email or something.
Or Marshallh could just declare his house/property a micronation, and also try to avoid tax by doing so.
xD