Eyes on Final Fantasy Forums > Reference > General Archive > Feedback Forum Archive > Piracy

[Citizen Bleys]

This, I think, is a case in which it should be left to the discretion of the moderators and handled on a case-by-case basis. As you yourself have said, Unne, when things enter the public domain is up for debate; Trying to set something in a rule means that you have to be able to come up with a formulaic way of determining exactly how old something has to be before we disallow discussion of how to share it, and trying to come up with a rule like that is a lot like, to phrase it the way one of my instructors did, trying to nail Jell-o to the wall.

Now, of course, I know *exactly* what thread prompted this, and I agree that that particular case is pretty blatant, and it was absent-minded of the staff to leave it open. (Not an attack, I was absent-minded far far too much myself when I was on staff)...but it still should be left up to the discretion of the Knights...and if the Knights don't seem to be noticing, then there's always the warn button. Which, no matter what anybody says, does not get ignored. Isn't that right, cl_out and BoB?

[crono_logical]

Yes, I read all warn posts, (and BoB does too I think since often he's got to the post before me ) but if I think it's not a big deal, I do nothing about it, so in that case it'll only end up getting dealt with if there's someone more strict than me on that issue that also sees it

I also know which thread prompted this thread, and by my discretion I deliberately left open it because Unne had already replied in it by the time I saw it - if he hadn't, I probably would have closed it. But since he replied with what would be the "legit" solution, I felt there was no need to close it anymore due to the direction he pushed the stance of the thread

[Citizen Bleys]

Still, that sends the message that Unne cares and staff doesn't.

[eestlinc]

i don't think there should be a specific policy, but I do think the staff should stay away from condoning illegal activities like software theft.

[Raistlin]

Originally posted by Dr Unne
Cars increase in value over time. NES ROMs are worth nothing today to anyone. People sell 10 of them for a dollar at flea markets.

But you said stealing was stealing, no matter the excuse. You said availability wasn't an excuse, so why should cost? The act of going out and buying it is the main thing, not the price, isn't it?

Meh, I don't really care.

I do, however, disagree with a policy on ROMs and such. Let them(meaning staff) use their own discretion.

[God]

When's the last time the staff had an official policy on anything? If someone made an official policy about this I'd crap my pants. I just wanna see some threads a'closin.

[edczxcvbnm]

Originally posted by Dr Unne
In my opinion, NES ROMs are or should be public domain by now.

Hell no. Don't you see that Nintendo released Zelda and Zelda 2 in that double pack? What about all those compliation packs that just came out from Midway, Activision and Atari. They are still making money off their 20 year old games.

[God]

When I said "should be", my primary concern isn't necessarily the well-being of Squaresoft. Mickey Mouse becomes public domain in a few years, if I remember correctly. Disney will lose millions of dollars. Eventually, things pass from the realm of money-making to the realm of being part of our culture. In any case, no one is making money off of selling Nintendo carts. If Nintendo carts were worth anything, they would still be sold as Nintendo carts. One could argue that NES ROMs take the place of other newer games people could or would be playing if they had no NES carts to take up their time and energy. That might be a valid point, I don't know. In any case from a legal standpoint you are right, NES ROMs are not yet public domain so far as I'm aware.

However, if I concede your point, my original point stands. If you believe that NES ROMs should be protected, you must agree that new games should be protected even moreso.