I think including abandoned server code is odd, and I'm for it. I think we should start curating more public libraries with games in general, but that's going to be very difficult to do publicly (i.e. in a government library) in today's current online landscape. Between walled garden platforms and API integrations to centralized corporate servers, it seems unlikely that many of today's games will survive in their current state for long. More than ever, games frequently update becoming a different game or die to competition. It'd be rewarding to be able to spin up or join a local [Flavor] World of Warcraft server without getting shut down or told to wait for Blizzard to do it because that specific version of software was abandoned at some point. If it became public domain then, it would be available to the public to operate as we please.
I really just look at situations like Halo 2 and think that there's got to be a way to put server code into the public domain so that if someone wants to "rent" Halo 2 server code from the Library so that they can play online on the original hardware and everything, that'd be really cool, and experiences would be able to be shared across generations like books, films, and other forms of art.
In the wild, it seems permanent shut down of an online service is equivalent to forfeiting server code for the dead game over to whomever can acquire it, either for sale, or often times theft in form of sharing among the most hardcore followers. This up-for-grabs situation is a symptom of the problem, and shouldn't be the main focus, but it is worth noting because it can affect Copyright/IP protection. If the company behind the game doesn't want to continue supporting a version of their online game, there needs to be a way to gracefully donate said deprecated version without losing underlying IP rights. It's donated and falls into public domain for operation under some relatively clear license a la books in a library. That'd be cool.
In many countries you are obligated to "donate" one copy of any published and distributed work to the national library. That includes music, film, radio, tv, books, papers, pamphlets, websites etc. Depending on how the law is written this might also include games in playable form, so online games would require a copy of the server application as well as the client. If not games should be included asap.
Making these archives available for the general public might be difficult, but librarians are creative and many already have experience in making games available to the public. It's manageable.
Well one issue is that an online game may be subject to multiple licenses. One example I do know of is Asheron's Call. There were some attempts to get it and its sequel. However there were licenses to Microsoft to consider and other third parties. Hence the "owner" of the game could not simply turn it over to the public.
I know, just rip out what is otherwise covered by another license or copyright. Well not only would that take time but it may leave the code in a state beyond repair.
To hell with the DMCA anyways. People who care will still reverse engineer the games they love and host the servers. There's probably zero chance of any legal avenue being opened up. As it should be, it's more fun that way.
Let's assume vendor A decides to donate their server code to public domain, or better yet a fully functional VM/container/... that can be booted up to host their old title(s). The question that comes to my mind is that who is now going to maintain the code (and OS) on the server so that it is current with the latest security updates (thinking of 3rd party or home grown components providing http, tls/ssl, image/audio/video/xml/... decocoding/encoding,...)?
I am all for making and keeping old games available and playable. But I see this as a big differentiator in making pre-internet era games available vs. games requiring access to an on-line server [that some one should probably be continuously maintaining from security standpoint].
Exactly. Allowing people to play older games for free has a positive effect of keeping interest in your brand alive but at the same time you’re losing potentially paying customers that are just as happy playing the free 10 year old game
If such a rule were to pass, it would be cool to see something done for older ROMs. So many games have the potential to go unplayed and become forgotten relics
I think a better comparison would be the lover of an old e-book whose publisher has shut down their DRM validation servers wanting to be able to read the book again in the future.
This exception to the DMCA for all software where the copyright owner can't be contacted was negotiated for Australia as part of the Australia-USA free trade agreement. It allows for breaking encryption and anything that is required to get it to run.
If the older game did not employ any kind of encryption of the data stream, isn't it open season to reverse engineer? So many of these are shut down by trademark licensing and artwork copyrights?
[+] [-] chrisdbaldwin|8 years ago|reply
I really just look at situations like Halo 2 and think that there's got to be a way to put server code into the public domain so that if someone wants to "rent" Halo 2 server code from the Library so that they can play online on the original hardware and everything, that'd be really cool, and experiences would be able to be shared across generations like books, films, and other forms of art.
In the wild, it seems permanent shut down of an online service is equivalent to forfeiting server code for the dead game over to whomever can acquire it, either for sale, or often times theft in form of sharing among the most hardcore followers. This up-for-grabs situation is a symptom of the problem, and shouldn't be the main focus, but it is worth noting because it can affect Copyright/IP protection. If the company behind the game doesn't want to continue supporting a version of their online game, there needs to be a way to gracefully donate said deprecated version without losing underlying IP rights. It's donated and falls into public domain for operation under some relatively clear license a la books in a library. That'd be cool.
[+] [-] Thlom|8 years ago|reply
Making these archives available for the general public might be difficult, but librarians are creative and many already have experience in making games available to the public. It's manageable.
[+] [-] Shivetya|8 years ago|reply
I know, just rip out what is otherwise covered by another license or copyright. Well not only would that take time but it may leave the code in a state beyond repair.
[+] [-] unknown|8 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] rootw0rm|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] rixrax|8 years ago|reply
I am all for making and keeping old games available and playable. But I see this as a big differentiator in making pre-internet era games available vs. games requiring access to an on-line server [that some one should probably be continuously maintaining from security standpoint].
[+] [-] exabrial|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Sniffnoy|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] beedogs|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Chardok|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ybrah|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] justinhj|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] bunkydoo|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] pmarreck|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] maxton|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] joliv|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Vanit|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] solresol|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] adrianm|8 years ago|reply
[1] http://www.wired.co.uk/article/dmca-game-preservation-exempt...
[+] [-] vitovito|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jasonlotito|8 years ago|reply
And
> The DMCA does not allow people to copy games. It does not allow gamers to play shut down MMOs.
In short: no.
[+] [-] cabaalis|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] JonnyNova|8 years ago|reply
https://www.swgemu.com/
https://www.projectswg.com/
[+] [-] nitwit005|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|8 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] Feniks|8 years ago|reply
But online projects DO attract attention of lawyers.
But this is never going to happen.