From: "lawrence kwan" <lawrence.kwan@canrem.com>
Newsgroups: rec.games.video
Subject: why copiers illegal?
Date: 2 Sep 92 18:17:51 EST
Reply-To: "lawrence kwan" <lawrence.kwan@canrem.com>
Distribution: rec
Organization: Canada Remote Systems

In article <3177#isgtec.isgtec.com>ken@isgtec.com (Ken Newman)

>I keep seeing this nonsense repeated over and over. Why do you want
>to back up ROM chips? How many cartridges have you had fail on you?
>To the net in general, how many cartridges do you have that completely
>wore out, or broke? You have to try pretty hard to wreck a cartridge.

Cartridges and ROMs are NOT indestructible.  I had one which failed -
and do you believe that the company wants to charge $20 for another
one because it was past the 90 days warranty?
$20 for an old game - No Way!

> >Why should it be OK to copy my Apple software,
> >but not OK to copy my nintendo software?

>Because renting game cartridges is allowed all over the world, mainly
>because they're currently hard to copy. And also because Apple software
>comes on fragile media.

You are missing the point.  It is definitely illegal to copy rented
game. But it is NOT ILLEGAL to copy a game you OWN.  As I will explain
later, there are other reasons to copy a game apart from pirating.

> >I agree totally.  I see no reason why game copiers can't be bought
> >and sold in the US providing their advertised as backup devices and
> >not a machine to get free games.  Granted, many people would use it
> >that purpose but that still wouldn't stop their sale.

>How in the world are you going to stop people from copying rented games
>then? Which will destroy the rental business and sales of cartridges,
>if the copiers are cheap enough. Should I sell guns cheap to anybody,
>just because some really want to keep them for self-defence, but others
>will go shooting people and robbing stores? Where do you draw the line?

?? I can't follow your argument at all. It is illogical to make copier
illegal to prevent people copying rented game. Should we ban color
photocopier just because some people may use it to copy money?  Should
we destroy all guns because someone will be hurt/killed by them?

It should be the LAW which prevents people pirating.  Copy program
such as Copy II PC exists for this reason. The program itself is not
illegal, but the act of pirating is.  It is the reponsibility of the
enforcement of the law to prevent such activity; and NOT banning the
program!   Cartridge game is no different from software, so the copier
machine itself is not illegal while the act of copying rented game is.

>I think its sensible to make cartridge copiers illegal for two reasons:
> 1) it's stupid to back up ROM chips
> 2) cartridge rental and sales are big business, just
>   like CD's are. Both need to be protected by making them
>   immune to making perfect digital copies.

It is NOT sensible to make copier illegal and it is NOT stupid to back
up ROM chips.  Apart from the fact that ROM chips can and do fail,
copier can be used for other purpose :

1. For game hacking : there exists hacking codes for adding credits and
    making the character invincible etc. Magazines in other countries
    has publications of these codes regularly.
    This is no different than using Game Genie.
    It also allows programmers to look into the game codes itself.

2. For infinite saves of RPG : apart from the limited 4 or 5 saves of
    some RPG games, you can now have infinite no. of saves.
    And you can share your saved games with your friends too; such as
    showing off the ending.

3. For games like Mario Paint, it makes most sense. Do you want to rely
    on the battery-backed up memory for the artwork/animations you have
    spent hours on?  The memory for storing drawing, animations, music
    and user-defined symbols is very limited.  Once it is full, you can
    only erase previous ones.
    With storage on floppies, it is MORE reliable (even though you
    regard it as "fragile" medium); and it is unlimited!
    You can also share your favourite animations with your friends.

As for your argument on protecting big rental business, I really cannot
agree. Why should we make something illegal just to protect someone's
purse?  Copyright is what we should protect (by enforcement of the law,
as I've mentioned before).  As to make them immune to copier, it is
the programmer's job; and it is not difficult to do.

Pirating is wrong; but it is not right to ban copier just because of
this.

--
Lawrence
lawrence.kwan@canrem.com
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