The argument is that “we would like to study these works of art in a purely academic setting, and are willing to limit access to academics only, we just need to make sure it’s going to work even if you guys stop supporting it”
The corporations involved seem to read this argument as “we are looking to start a game streaming service, please give us free access to all your games to distribute at our whim”
The ridiculousness of this is that out-of-print game libraries are already freely available online for no effort. Pirating games of the late 90s and early 2000s is trivial. This is yet another case where a legitimate use of software (academic research, preservation) is made more difficult than just simple emulation by broken DRM and copyright rules.
Call me crazy, but if libraries and academics are legally prevented from preserving art while alleged “illegal piracy” is forced to do the bulk of game categorization, research and preservation I’d say your copyright system has thoroughly failed at its intended purpose.
Especially because people who want to pirate games for playing have no qualms. Right now the restriction is specificall on people who want to research legally
The argument is that “we would like to study these works of art in a purely academic setting, and are willing to limit access to academics only, we just need to make sure it’s going to work even if you guys stop supporting it”
The corporations involved seem to read this argument as “we are looking to start a game streaming service, please give us free access to all your games to distribute at our whim”
The ridiculousness of this is that out-of-print game libraries are already freely available online for no effort. Pirating games of the late 90s and early 2000s is trivial. This is yet another case where a legitimate use of software (academic research, preservation) is made more difficult than just simple emulation by broken DRM and copyright rules.
Call me crazy, but if libraries and academics are legally prevented from preserving art while alleged “illegal piracy” is forced to do the bulk of game categorization, research and preservation I’d say your copyright system has thoroughly failed at its intended purpose.
Especially because people who want to pirate games for playing have no qualms. Right now the restriction is specificall on people who want to research legally