[gg2222]

> the idea of preserving games for future access aligns with broader movements toward digital preservation, similar to efforts in other digital media industries like film and music

And from the FAQ:

> If this practice is not stopped, it may be codified into law and spread to other products of more importance over time, such as agricultural equipment, educational products, medical devices, etc.

So there is a notion of using games as a step to 'stop' companies from being able to discontinue services.

If this passes for games, next would be software in general.

Next thing you know if you develop and sell any software you will have to make sure it is usable forever. Any MacOS updates or Windows updates (or iOS/Android updates) breaking a software or app you once sold to a few people and discontinued? You will have to fix it until you die or face penalties.

Do you have software with a cloud component sold under a lifetime license? Be prepared to maintain that service forever or release its complete source code if you don't. Additionally, you would need lifetime licenses for any critical proprietary third-party components your cloud service relies on or be prepared to cover their service fees indefinitely.

While this perspective may seem exaggerated, there is always a double-edged nature to such regulations. The sword slices both ways.

I think all games/software would then convert to a service/subscription based model, cause there would be no limit to future liabilities when selling any lifetime license.

Pay monthly to play the game. Pay monthly to use any software (including downloadable software and apps.) Pay monthly to use the OS.

EDIT: Actually thinking about it, it seems this proposal wants to cover mmorpgs which already are subscription based.

In that case if the same rules applies to software in general, then any software that is subscription based would also have to be usable indefinitely even if you sold just 1 month subscription and went out of business.

This kind of creates a bad incentive where users of software / players of games might want the company to die so they can use the software or play the game for free forever.

[_chris_g]

> Next thing you know if you develop and sell any software you will have to make sure it is usable forever. Any MacOS updates or Windows updates (or iOS/Android updates) breaking a software or app you once sold to a few people and discontinued? You will have to fix it until you die or face penalties.

The campaign is about the software that being made unusable specifically by choice of the entity responsible for it. MacOS/Windows updates breaking an existing app is completely out of scope of the initiative, and nobody will be penalized for that, it would be very unreasonable from any angle.