Mike_2000 Posted July 21, 2019 Share Posted July 21, 2019 (edited) Backups are definitely legal, but distributing it is a crime. Think back to CDs 15-20 years ago. You were allowed to backup your CD collection on an external drive. You were allowed to burn your collection onto CDs to make mixtapes or backup CDs. But if you tried selling those backups, or distributing the MP3s online, you were breaking yhe law and could be prosecuted. Another important part of copyright infringement is lost profit. If AtariAge stopped distributing ROMs, would Infogrames and Atgames suddenly start selling way more Flashback units? I doubt it (actually, I've always wondered where those Atgames and Codemystics emulators get their ROMs. I seriously doubt that Infogrames has some massive database of ROMs that Atari had kept since the 1970s. I would hazard a guess that most of those collections use ROMs downloaded from this site and other similar ones, although I can't prove it). If Infogrames actually tried suing this website for copyright infringement, it would go poorly for them (best case, the Judge realizes that the lost profits are insignificant and Infogrames gets small damages but the lawsuit makes them look bad and they end up losing money in the long run by alienating the Retro Gaming community. Worst case, the judge rules that the copyright has expired on old Atari 2600 games and literally anyone can sell repro carts or download ROMs no problem, and Infogrames loses their main revenue stream) Edit: I'm wrong about backups, read the next comment. Edited July 21, 2019 by Mike_2000 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roots.genoa Posted July 21, 2019 Share Posted July 21, 2019 Backups are legal 'for archival purposes only': https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/117 Owning a game on a specific platform doesn't give you the right to play a copy of that game on a different platform. Of course, no one will prevent you to do it anyway but this is not legal. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike_2000 Posted July 21, 2019 Share Posted July 21, 2019 Really? Okay. Editing now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flojomojo Posted July 21, 2019 Share Posted July 21, 2019 Right, the idea that you can download ROMs of cartridges you own is the internet version of a schoolyard rumor. As as much as it pains me to say it, there's nothing legally wrong with modern Atari downloading ROMs of anything in its IP catalog and using them however they like. It just looks sloppy and unprofessional. It it will be interesting to see if they enable or encourage "VCS" users to load third party ROMs as part of their effort to "demystify" emulation. "Pass around as much old software as you like, but DON'T YOU DARE make a t-shirt about Asteroids without cutting us in." 5 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+TwentySixHundred Posted July 21, 2019 Share Posted July 21, 2019 I did read awhile back on Byuu's forum that Nintendo was even guilty of downloading ROM's for their classic mini systems. Someone said their ROM's were dumped from the mini consoles and contained headers that were traced back to ROM sites. How true or where the evidence is im not sure it was awhile back now but i remember the discussion. Like said before doubt they have their entire library archived from way back and as Flo said it's sloppy but they're well within their rights. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Posted July 21, 2019 Share Posted July 21, 2019 3 hours ago, Mike_2000 said: If Rob Wyatt wants to steal NEStopia, claim it as his own, and let you play RBI Baseball and Paperboy and Gauntlet in a firmware patch, that is 100% legal, albeit dishonest and rather shady. In the case of NEStopia, which is open source, he could certainly use it within the constraints of the license. Which appears to be GNU GPL in this case, so the source code would need to be released if any modifications were made. But this isn't specific to emulators. If a private individual or company created an emulator that was not open source, one could not simply decide to use it for their own commercial purposes without first licensing it. ..Al 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlaysWithWolves Posted July 21, 2019 Share Posted July 21, 2019 I tried, but I just couldn't bring myself to do a battleship "Mission Accomplished" photoshop. So instead, I went to the Dark Web and downloaded CSI.EXE. I then ran Atari's "Atari VCS Gameplay Demo Station" picture through it; the original of which seen here: Holy smokes! Here's what it found in the metadata and extrapolated with its algorithms: I'm shocked and stunned that it's a no-taco zone. 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flojomojo Posted July 21, 2019 Share Posted July 21, 2019 On 6/9/2017 at 12:44 PM, -^Cro§Bow^- said: Maybe a woodgrain looking box that is actually something more like a Steambox playing digital downloaded versions of the classics and possibly new games as well. Looks like there is some sort of ports that you can just make out in that video. Maybe for multiple USB type controllers you plug into something. You called it, way back on page 1 of this thread, from long ago, in the time before tacos were invented. 3 1 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+-^CrossBow^- Posted July 21, 2019 Share Posted July 21, 2019 (edited) I thought it was all obvious from the beginning? I've not been following this thread since then as I've no real interest in the VCS. Is it done and all that now? Edited July 21, 2019 by -^Cro§Bow^- 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
82-T/A Posted July 21, 2019 Share Posted July 21, 2019 3 hours ago, Flojomojo said: You called it, way back on page 1 of this thread, from long ago, in the time before tacos were invented. Hahah... oh man. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+frankodragon Posted July 21, 2019 Share Posted July 21, 2019 Get that dude some hand sanitizer! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawn Posted July 21, 2019 Share Posted July 21, 2019 3 hours ago, -^Cro§Bow^- said: I thought it was all obvious from the beginning? I've not been following this thread since then as I've no real interest in the VCS. Is it done and all that now? Not even close to being done. You see that PC with the LCD monitor showing a few 2600 titles on a menu screen a couple posts up? That is where they are at. It's truly pathetic. 2 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Agillig Posted July 21, 2019 Share Posted July 21, 2019 2 hours ago, Shawn said: Not even close to being done. You see that PC with the LCD monitor showing a few 2600 titles on a menu screen a couple posts up? That is where they are at. It's truly pathetic. Well, according to John Phelan, whom I genuinely feel sorry for, it's a simple matter to transfer the hardware from a PC to the Atari VCS hardware. I'm not sure what this guy is thinking, he is going to have a rough winter. At the end of the developers blog, they say they're going "overseas" to meet with the factory these things will apparently be made. I wonder if this will be the justification for the next delay. "We were all ready to go, but we want only the finest child laborers working on our un-console." 5 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clint Thompson Posted July 22, 2019 Share Posted July 22, 2019 (edited) On 7/19/2019 at 5:40 PM, MrBeefy said: Quick job on the phone but you get the idea. Looks more like a Hot Dog trying to escape the Buns of Doom. On 7/20/2019 at 11:48 AM, MrBeefy said: Eh they probably stole Stella and didn't get permission to use it. Us "retro fans" already have ways to play games on modern TVs that don't require $300. Try $400, that's their new price for the combo package. ($389 to be exact but add shipping and taxes and you're well past $400). At least they added yellow gold now. I wasn’t interested in it before but now that they’ve made the color option available I’m buying two. Edited July 22, 2019 by Clint Thompson 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrBeefy Posted July 22, 2019 Share Posted July 22, 2019 58 minutes ago, Clint Thompson said: Looks more like a Hot Dog trying to escape the Buns of Doom. Try $400, that's their new price for the combo package. ($389 to be exact but add shipping and taxes and you're well past $400). At least they added yellow gold now. I wasn’t interested in it before but now that they’ve made the color option available I’m buying two. Yeah it was a quick job. I don't get why someone wouldn't just get a PC for that price? 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlaysWithWolves Posted July 22, 2019 Share Posted July 22, 2019 22 minutes ago, MrBeefy said: I don't get why someone wouldn't just get a PC for that price? Quiet, hater! 1 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flojomojo Posted July 22, 2019 Share Posted July 22, 2019 18 minutes ago, MrBeefy said: I don't get why someone wouldn't just get a PC for that price? Because it wouldn't be late, underpowered, or labeled with "Atari." Statistically speaking, most people aren't buying this. I turned up the exposure to see if there were any interesting details on the plain black box they "demonstrated." I'll give them this: they have shown far less electrical tape than the Coleco Chameleon. It's like, how much more black could this be and the answer is none. None more black. 3 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaybird3rd Posted July 22, 2019 Share Posted July 22, 2019 48 minutes ago, Flojomojo said: It's like, how much more black could this be and the answer is none. None more black. 1 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrBeefy Posted July 22, 2019 Share Posted July 22, 2019 46 minutes ago, PlaysWithWolves said: Quiet, hater! I actually wanted to see this thing be successful. They have been a huge let down. Thankfully, I have the Amico to look forward to and they are much better with communication. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+frankodragon Posted July 22, 2019 Share Posted July 22, 2019 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlaysWithWolves Posted July 22, 2019 Share Posted July 22, 2019 Try a custom filter, @Flojomojo. Hmm... I think I may be a bit jaded--maybe. 5 13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlaysWithWolves Posted July 22, 2019 Share Posted July 22, 2019 2 hours ago, MrBeefy said: I actually wanted to see this thing be successful. They have been a huge let down. Thankfully, I have the Amico to look forward to and they are much better with communication. I think that sentiment probably reflects what many of us felt. Had they run things differently (preferably self-financed, like Amico) then this might be a very different thread. Granted, the "why does thing exist?" question might still be around, but at least it'd be friendlier toward Atari. Still, Atari's "go to that forum on this beautiful Tuesday" passive-aggressiveness suggests to me they are happy with our breakup. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlaysWithWolves Posted July 22, 2019 Share Posted July 22, 2019 Someone uploaded an untested Ataribox Pi4 (model b) design to Thingverse. He says it needs a good cooling solution for the Pi4. I say throw a battery-operated LED inside and call it a "prototype": Odds on this becoming a reality before AVCS? 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flojomojo Posted July 22, 2019 Share Posted July 22, 2019 Much cuter than the real thing! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrBeefy Posted July 22, 2019 Share Posted July 22, 2019 3 hours ago, PlaysWithWolves said: Someone uploaded an untested Ataribox Pi4 (model b) design to Thingverse. He says it needs a good cooling solution for the Pi4. I say throw a battery-operated LED inside and call it a "prototype": Odds on this becoming a reality before AVCS? I was considering doing a Pi image version. I don't have a cool case like that though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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