Blogger Issues DMCA Notice To Take Down Posts Infringing His 'How To Infringe' Post
from the yo-dawg,-i-herd-you-liked-infringement... dept
Anurag Ghosh is a blogger who would like to have some infringing posts removed from the web. See if you can spot the point when Ghosh's irony detector malfunctions.
Copyright claim #0:To paraphrase: "Yeah, it looks like some people have infringed my post about infringing, so if you could do me a solid and take those out, that would be great.
My article, “How to Play Nintendo DS Games on Android”, is infringed by the text excerpted on the site, beginning with the text: “Did you know that your Android device can play NDS games? With the help of an emulator (yes there is a free, open-source DS emulator out there on Google Play), you can play games like Phoenix Wright, Dragon Quest IX and Touch Detective on your phone.”
Original work URL(s):
http://anurag2008.hubpages.com/hub/How-to-Play-Nintendo-DS-Games-on-Android
Ghosh's post, titled "How to Play Nintendo Games on your Android," does exactly what it says on the tin, pointing readers toward a free, open-source emulator, providing instructions on installing an NDS BIOS and directing readers towards Google to search for .nds ROMs. Ghosh has thoughtfully included the following "warning" on his post.
Downloading ROMs and BIOS files is illegal. I don’t support piracy and this guide is only for entertainment purpose. Reader discretion is advised.The discussion about whether emulation = infringement can wait for another day, but I'm very definitely sure Nintendo considers emulation of current gen hardware/software to be infringing. In fact, Nintendo seems to get a bit irate about it when "questioned" about it, according to its extensive FAQ on emulation.
How Does Nintendo Feel About the Emergence of Video Game Emulators?Wow. Testy. Ghosh knows it, too. Hence the disclaimer.
The introduction of emulators created to play illegally copied Nintendo software represents the greatest threat to date to the intellectual property rights of video game developers. As is the case with any business or industry, when its products become available for free, the revenue stream supporting that industry is threatened. Such emulators have the potential to significantly damage a worldwide entertainment software industry which generates over $15 billion annually, and tens of thousands of jobs.
How Come Nintendo Does Not Take Steps Towards Legitimizing Nintendo Emulators?
Emulators developed to play illegally copied Nintendo software promote piracy. That's like asking why doesn't Nintendo legitimize piracy. It doesn't make any business sense. It's that simple and not open to debate.
Now, Ghosh may have a legitimate claim that his post is being scraped (or reposted) without his consent, but complaining about infringers infringing your post about infringement is more than a little like sending an official notice informing Google that listed kettles are black and infringing on your original pot's blackness. Perhaps the offending scrapers could just put up a little "warning" stating they copied Ghosh's post for "entertainment purposes only." It certainly entertained me.
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Filed Under: anurag ghosh, dmca, emulators, irony, takedowns
Companies: nintendo
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Please stop, Mr. Ghoush. You're making us real pirates look bad.
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It'd sure be nice to have an official version to actually pay for, especially since I have no interest in buying and owning a console, both because the price and the fact I'm always doing stuff on my PC anyways. Official nintendo SNES emulator with networked play and a huge back catalogue of games? Yes please. Official DS emulator with their full catalogue of games? Double yes, there's definitely a few that I'd like to play that I can't seem to get my hands on cause they stopped making them before I went after them.
I can't imagine the cost is that high either, most emulators are done by very small teams without insider knowledge in the first place.
Give us a legal option and many like myself will buy. The argument that "piracy exists here, therefore we should do nothing" is wrong headed. Some will continue to pirate, but more than a few seem willing to throw down the bucks for things, just look at Steam in Russia.
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what they want is you to buy the console/handheld and every single game, hell what they would really like on top of that is if they could tie all the games to the first one that loads them, then if that unit dies, the person has to buy all the games again.....
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Tablet pcs? Tablets themselves? Emulate 3D sensation?
Not enough reason not to go for emulation. I don't care about cameras and if the absence of rear touchpads is an issue then don't emulate that specific console. 3D can be downscaled to 2D if needed.
No srsly, there's no justification for not providing official emulators.
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Also what do you mean tablet pcs? Where did I mention them? Do you mean emulate the handhelds on a tablet? If so, you're forgetting that handhelds have buttons, which tablets generally do not (as far as I can tell, it would be next to impossible to have touch screen controls correspond to different buttons. How would the software know that when you touch the screen, you mean to press A, B, or the triggers?)
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>_>
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If it's the "you might as well call it a DS emulator", that would be if someone were to try emulating a 3DS on PC, only to encounter the features that (more or less) can't be emulated. Strip them away (3D, 3D camera, Built in gyroscope, motion sensor and GPS,) and at that point, you basically have a DS emulator (if we ignore the fact a 3DS does have a faster processor and better graphics).
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So... it's been done. I used it to play the original Phoenix Wright game as it was unobtainable for me, as well as a few JP only titles with fan translations to english.
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Red/blue. The Dolphin emulator for Wii does this to turn 2D games like Mario Kart and Super Mario Galaxy into 3D on the emulator.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t77t4-MWSm0
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As for 3D I've seen some equipment that try to make the image in 2D feel like it's 3D. But really, do you care if it's 3D or not? Even if they can't emulate the 3D they can still emulate the game itself. 3D is just a perk, if I want it I'll buy the console or a 3D enabled computer and LG has some 3D cell phones that have natural 3D like the console. (I despise 3D, it gives me headaches so I actively keep a distance from 3D gadgets).
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I would imagine this is something like .1% of titles though, especially since the 3DS allows you to TURN OFF the 3D if you so choose.
This isn't talking about all the whiz bits and gimmicks that come with a real 3DS, just the ability to play games.
Heck, emulation can come with extras, for example ZSNES allows you to play online with friends. We've used that to two player through old games like Secret of Mana and others.
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I never cared for the 3D aspect myself anyways.
I already own them on my DS, which is unfortunately dead (it got broken in half from use), but until certain games I really want on 3DS come out, I can't justify dropping the money for it at this time.
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I'm not sure about other companies, but Nintendo took a long time to come around to the viability of emulators. They mostly ignored them, apart from a few legal battles, largely considering the game titles unsaleable or uninteresting to modern audiences.
Now they've come around to it, they don't want you playing on your PC. They want you to buy their new console and use the app there to buy overpriced emulated games. Which, IIRC, are not transferrable to your new consoles next time you upgrade.
With other companies, it seems to be a grab bag. There have been collections of Megadrive, Dreamcast and other games, but you get what you're given at full price, you don't get to choose a few favourite for a couple of bucks. On top of that, the legal issues with copyrights owned by companies that stopped existing 20 years ago probably cause problems (witness Crazy Taxi, nowhere near as enjoyable after they were forced to change the soundtrack for the 360 port).
"Give us a legal option and many like myself will buy."
This should be hammered into any company that complains about piracy. Is there a legal option, available to everybody no matter where they are? No? Stop bitching and work on letting people buy legally.
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Nintendo also sells ROMS playable on a Wii/Wii U/3DS which they call "Virtual Console", which is kind of hypocritical given their above statements.
Sony, in addition, has made a number of PS1/PS2 titles available to download through PSN, these games are emulated as well.
Additionally, any time a publisher releases a collection of old 8/16 bit games, you can be certain they are being emulated. Console makers seem to have no problems with emulation when they use it to cash in on old games.
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Which is another reason I despise Sony. If I pop in a PS2 game disc into my Slim PS3, it won't work. Should I download the game from PSN, voila! It does. And we were told all along that the PS3 can't do software emulation of PS2 games...
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BZZZZZZZZZT WRONG. Emulators are created to emulate software. You can buy a legitimate copy of the software for use with an emulator.
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Yes, they did.
"emulators created to play illegally copied Nintendo software"
And this is completely false. Not sure what part is confusing to you.
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"emulators created to play illegally copied Nintendo software"
If it's rephrased slightly to
"emulators that were created in order to play illegally copied Nintendo software" does it make more sense? You can see now that he's talking not about emulators in general but about emulators whose creators have in mind illegally copied Nintendo games?
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It's just another ridiculous attempt to skew language in order to get a more emotional reaction out of people so they support Nintendo's position - as per the **AAs trying to use the word theft to get a more emotional reaction, etc.
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I agree it's manipulative and makes little sense, but that is what he was saying.
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What about the ones created to play legally copied software? Oh wait, they're exactly the same emulators. Nintendo just don't like them because it stops them being able to charge people a ridiculous amount of money to play games they already own, either now or in the future. On pre-approved hardware they make extra profit from, of course, not on the hardware the player already owns.
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Also...after seeing that the only difference in the PS1 and SNES versions of Chrono Trigger (in code) was a simple interpreter..one could surmise that that it isn't one bit hypocritical to use one's own code to emulate older software platforms.
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The point is that ZSNES, for example, can be used to play perfectly legal copies of games that I own. It can also be used equally as well to play pirated games. Nintendo would like us to believe that this means ZSNES is immoral or illegal. I disagree. The emulator is the same whether or not it's used for legal purposes.
I haven't got a clue how you managed to twist that into meaning that the programming languages used to create the emulators are the same, but you do tend to go off on strange tangents when talking about technical details.
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You just admitted the basis of copyright:
But you won't see the humor in the admission that copyright is valid on a site where Mike and minions argue to destroy it!
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Re: You just admitted the basis of copyright:
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Re: You just admitted the basis of copyright:
Nor do you know that copyright doesn't require attribution, do you?
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Re: You just admitted the basis of copyright:
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Re: You just admitted the basis of copyright:
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Re: You just admitted the basis of copyright:
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He won't stop. Blue has been bestowed with this wonderful gift of willful ignorance when it comes to anyone countering him with facts. If he simply ignores any counter-arguments to his statements, then it's like they never existed and he continues on his merry way. Kind of like the not-so-bright cat who thinks if it doesn't look at you, you can't see it.
It keeps his life simple, I guess, but it undermines everything he posts here. I've gotten to the point where I simply toss everything he says right into the bullshit pile.
Karl rebutted his "common law copyright" theory here:
https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130412/16073622693/julie-samuels-favorite-techdirt-post s-week.shtml#c618
And still he keeps tossing that theory out like it's the gospel truth, Crazy.
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Having a legitimate claim under some distorted, bad law doesn't invalidate the criticism directed towards it. But the law is the law, right ootb?
And while there are those among TD readers that advocate total abolition of copyright there are also those who defend a more balanced version and in my view TD staff are in this second group as well. It's just that you don't accept anything that's not extreme, black or white thus you don't understand those who do.
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Ghosh's post is covered automatically by copyright. Everyone knows that. It's not an endorsement or criticism of copyright, it's a statement of fact.
No surprise you see humour where there is none. 'Crazy person laughs out loud at nothing' is hardly newsworthy.
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Some folk think their every utterance is protected by copyright...
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Re: Some folk think their every utterance is protected by copyright...
Copyright is just not sensible in the age of the internet without significant international quantitative specifications.
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entertainment purposes only
Sure, and this pornographic video is just for 'educational' purposes only.
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Yo
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Things get a bit more tricky when it comes to copying the game software, but some arguments for legitimacy can be made if you're using a genuine copy as your source. In most personal use situations, it would probably fit well within the provisions of 17 USC § 117 (a) (1), since the copying that is done is obviously a necessary step in utilizing the program with a machine (ie. your PC).
I also doubt DMCA would impede this for most classic systems, since most lock-out systems from the early days (ie. NES, SNES, N64, Game Boy, Genesis) were designed to lock you out of the SYSTEM not the GAMES. While this might seem to be a moot point, existing case law has indicated that a protection measure has to block the type of access you are trying to achieve and has to do so effectively for DMCA to apply. From Lexmark Int'l v. Static Control Components, Inc.:
"Because the statute refers to "control[ling] access to a work protected under this title," it does not naturally apply when the "work protected under this title" is otherwise accessible. Just as one would not say that a lock on the back door of a house "controls access" to a house whose front door does not contain a lock and just as one would not say that a lock on any door of a house "controls access" to the house after its purchaser receives the key to the lock, it does not make sense to say that this provision of the DMCA applies to otherwise-readily-accessible copyrighted works. Add to this the fact that the DMCA not only requires the technological measure to "control[] access" but also requires the measure to control that access "effectively," 17 U.S.C. § 1201(a)(2), and it seems clear that this provision does not naturally extend to a technological measure that restricts one form of access but leaves another route wide open."
Make of it what you will, but I think that there's a pretty solid argument to be made that ripping your cartridges for most classic systems and playing the software on an emulator is perfectly legal under US case law, which means that there is a valid use for emulation, even for games that received official releases.
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A lot of classic game systems (NES, SNES) don't have a BIOS, so this wouldn't apply for those systems anyway.
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Whether that distinction seems stupid and hopelessly behind the times is another matter.
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