Posted by: Anonymous Coward
on June 01, 2004 09:54 PM
(3) Computer programs and video games distributed in formats that have become obsolete and which require the original media or hardware as a condition of access. A format shall be considered obsolete if the machine or system necessary to render perceptible a work stored in that format is no longer manufactured or is no longer reasonably available in the commercial marketplace.
--DMCA
I don't know why, but I see a loop-hole with the wording above. The ROMS become obsolete when a machine or system are no longer available (manufactured or purchaseable), correct? A system is a "procedure or process for obtaining an objective" (WordNet (r) 2.0), which is what MAME is, right? Thus, even if the original system (the hardware) is no longer available, a new system exists, negating the ROMS obsolescence. Taking into consideration that a copyright's existance might overlap the time between both systems, and the wording of the DMCA, there still may be problems with ROM usage.
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Loop-hole?
Posted by: Anonymous Coward on June 01, 2004 09:54 PMI don't know why, but I see a loop-hole with the wording above. The ROMS become obsolete when a machine or system are no longer available (manufactured or purchaseable), correct? A system is a "procedure or process for obtaining an objective" (WordNet (r) 2.0), which is what MAME is, right? Thus, even if the original system (the hardware) is no longer available, a new system exists, negating the ROMS obsolescence. Taking into consideration that a copyright's existance might overlap the time between both systems, and the wording of the DMCA, there still may be problems with ROM usage.
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