This site tries to recreate the top 100 Nintendo 8-bit games with Java. A great time waster at work, if you don't get in trouble. http://nintendo8.com/toplist/more/
Uhh, sorry, this isn't a recreation. I'm fair sure this site is just ripping off an older web site that had a Java-based, well, emulator.
Speaking of which.... Do we know for certain what the laws are in regards to emulation? We know that piracy is illegal, but what I am wondering about is in cases where people have the original cartridges. For example, I have the Super Mario Bros. and Contra Nintendo 8-Bit carts sitting in a box stuffed at the back of my closet. People SAY you have to actually rip the game yourself, but has there EVER been a case anywhere where a person who actually owns the cart gets sued successfully for using a ripped version from the internet? If there has been no precedence set, and no court battle, is it really considered a law? As far as I know, nothing like this has happened in any country. Game companies can say all sorts of shit, and make up their own "fair use" rules. But when it comes down to it, no court has ever made a decision regarding emulations, when the end user actually has a liscence to play it.
I have a feeling Bailey's objection to it is more professional than legal. I know that when it comes to Nintendo games, the EULA for them (remarkably short, in the back of every manual) stated that with proper care, one would never need to create or possess a copy. It's kind of the premise that you don't own a copy of the game, you merely purchased permission to operate it in the method intended by the producer, as stated in the EULA. And that sort of thing has been held up in court before when it comes to software (see Adobe, Microsoft, etc.), whether or not one holds a licence. And when it comes down to it, games are just software. An additional issue with a lot of these games is that they are licensed properties which have additional use restrictions on them (i.e. Ghostbusters, BTTF, etc.).
Hrm...ok, what about records and CDs? It IS still legal to make one for your own backup purposes, is it not? And if I have, say, a bunch of cassettes, and I rip them and burn them to CD, that is OK? What about to MP3? If I go and download a bunch of songs I already own a cassette to, how do they know whether I used my own copy to rip them, or downloaded them? As for the fair use rule, when I bought those cassettes, they probably came with some sort of disclaimer. Do the music labels get to change it on the consumer years later if they did not include it to begin with? Intellectual property laws can get
The laws vary so much from place to place that the specifics aren't really relevant on here. When I see links to any sort of pirated media (be it games movies or music) on Wordforge I edit out the links simply to keep the board safe. At work right now so won't be checking that link right now but will take a look when I get home.
