# No more piracy on Github?



## Nincompoopdo (Jun 4, 2018)

Now that Microsoft owned Github, does that mean piracy related stuff will be banned soon?


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## SnAQ (Jun 4, 2018)

Nincompoopdo said:


> Now that Microsoft owned Github, does that mean piracy related stuff will be banned soon?


How would we know? 

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S9 via Tapatalk


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## Nincompoopdo (Jun 4, 2018)

SnAQ said:


> How would we know?
> 
> Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S9 via Tapatalk



Nintendo can sue Microsoft if they hosted the code for CFW on Github.

I think everyone needs to find another place to host soon.


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## thedrev (Jun 4, 2018)

piracy were never allowed on github.
It does not change anything wherever microsoft owns it or not


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## LovingYoung (Jun 4, 2018)

Nincompoopdo said:


> Nintendo can sue Microsoft if they hosted the code for CFW on Github.
> 
> I think everyone needs to find another place to host soon.



The thing you need to know is that, CFWs are totally legal. Nobody could hold any reason to sue Github/Reswitched.


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## Nincompoopdo (Jun 4, 2018)

thedrev said:


> piracy were never allowed on github.
> It does not change anything wherever microsoft owns it or not


Really? Google github and piracy - see for yourself, it's been a big problem. Microsoft owned the Xbox which is a competitor to Nintendo, they are more liable to be sued.

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LovingYoung said:


> The thing you need to know is that, CFWs are totally legal. Nobody could hold any reason to sue Github/Reswitched.


Legal or not, now that MS owns the site they can set their own rules - all the Xbox hacking codes will be the first to go I think...


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## TunaKetchup (Jun 4, 2018)

I think you should worry about yourself


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## AdamFX990 (Jun 4, 2018)

It looks like sourceforge might be making a resurgence


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## LovingYoung (Jun 4, 2018)

Nincompoopdo said:


> Legal or not, now that MS owns the site they can set their own rules - all the Xbox hacking codes will be the first to go I think...



Well, Yes, Microsoft could define their RULES, but RULES are not LAWS. All the hacking code are legal according to US LAWS. Again, nobody could sue them by any means.


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## Youkai (Jun 4, 2018)

Lol how is custom firmware or any kind of homebrew illegal ?

even the function of allowing to play backups should be okay, the only illegal part eould be grtting backup of games or programms that you don't oen yourself.


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## Chary (Jun 4, 2018)

Piracy related things were never allowed. CFW related projects being regulated would just push people off the platform, because IF they did that, such things wouldn't be the only thing they'd micromanage. I think as for now, Github isn't going to face any real changes.


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## The14thfly (Jun 4, 2018)

Nincompoopdo said:


> Now that Microsoft owned Github, does that mean piracy related stuff will be banned soon?


If that were the case then I'm sure people will switch to gitlab.

Infact a lot of people are already switching.


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## Nincompoopdo (Jun 4, 2018)

Youkai said:


> Lol how is custom firmware or any kind of homebrew illegal ?
> 
> even the function of allowing to play backups should be okay, the only illegal part eould be grtting backup of games or programms that you don't oen yourself.



LOL I actually got this news from *snip*

They don't seems very happy about it...


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## bodefuceta (Jun 4, 2018)

Gitlab made a tutorial on migrating, awesome timing too.


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## DinohScene (Jun 4, 2018)

You are so hellbent on piracy that you're this paranoid!?
Shiet OP, please seek help.

There wasn't any "piracy" on github at all.
Piracy is acquiring copyrighted code without paying for it.
Everything on github is opensource, the entire idea behind github is a platform for opensource code that users can download/enhance and share with eachother.


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## DollyWhipDoll (Jun 4, 2018)

Thought about starting a thread on this in the Emulation section, yesterday. Lmfao at 'Ninten suing Micro'. They would have been better off trying to sue Git.


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## bodefuceta (Jun 4, 2018)

There's no "piracy stuff" on GitHub. But this buyout certainly is bad, keeping free stuff on Microsoft's care is like having Jimmy Savile taking care of your children.


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## sarkwalvein (Jun 4, 2018)

Nothing will change. Go take your chill pills. You clearly need them.


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## Nincompoopdo (Jun 4, 2018)

DollyWhipDoll said:


> Thought about starting a thread on this in the Emulation section, yesterday. Lmfao at 'Ninten suing Micro'. They would have been better off trying to sue Git.



Github has no money, Microsoft does...


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## sarkwalvein (Jun 4, 2018)

Nincompoopdo said:


> Github has no money, Microsoft does...


does... have plenty money to pay lawyers, bribe judges, lobby senates.


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## Nincompoopdo (Jun 4, 2018)

bodefuceta said:


> Gitlab made a tutorial on migrating, awesome timing too.




There's no coincidence in this world, everything happens for a reason.

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sarkwalvein said:


> does... have plenty money to pay lawyers, bribe judges, lobby senates.





DinohScene said:


> You are so hellbent on piracy that you're this paranoid!?
> Shiet OP, please seek help.
> 
> There wasn't any "piracy" on github at all.
> ...



There are countless tools for piracy, you can pretend to be dumb or pretend to be ignorant... it's not just console hacking, I can't post anything about it anymore or that  porkiewpyne mod will delete it again.


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## Brawl345 (Jun 4, 2018)

Congrats for useless thread #12843 today


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## sarkwalvein (Jun 4, 2018)

Nincompoopdo said:


> There are countless tools for piracy, you can pretend to be dumb or pretend to be ignorant... it's not just console hacking, I can't post anything about it anymore or that  porkiewpyne mod will delete it again.


Yet you postulate about money and legal processes, implying that a wealthier institution might be an easier target for taking down, instead of a better shielded one.


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## nmkd (Jun 4, 2018)

I bet on my Switch that nothing will change for HB/CFW.


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## SirNapkin1334 (Jun 4, 2018)

bodefuceta said:


> Gitlab made a tutorial on migrating, awesome timing too.



would be cool but I hate gitlab


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## Thatcher (Jun 4, 2018)

I read today that MS have vowed to keep GitHub "Independent and open" so it will be interesting to see if they keep their word.

I can't see much changing as I wouldn't class homebrew/CFW as piracy anyway. They make take a different approach to Loaders ect but time will tell.


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## MrCokeacola (Jun 4, 2018)

Thanks, Micro$oft.


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## mike4001 (Jun 5, 2018)

Nincompoopdo said:


> Nintendo can sue Microsoft if they hosted the code for CFW on Github.
> 
> I think everyone needs to find another place to host soon.



And they couldn't sue Github before?

Please explain what exactly changes when MS takes over.


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## DarkenSX (Jun 5, 2018)

Better host Alternative Gitlab


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## Miqote (Jun 5, 2018)

Everyone freaking out about Microsoft purchasing Github but no one knows what they'll do. Man, people need to chill.


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## KevinX8 (Jun 6, 2018)

DarkenSX said:


> Better host Alternative Gitlab


It's better because Microsoft own github now? You clearly have no idea what Microsoft are like then, they have many open source projects themselves, sure windows isn't open source but it's not like they could make it open source. They are different from the company in 2004 who wanted Linux shut down at all costs.


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## fringle (Jun 6, 2018)

Even if tools hosted there were written to enable piracy they can't do anything to them unless they contain proprietary copy written code.  That's why it's open source. No proprietary code can be included and anyone can check the source themselves to make sure.


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## netovsk (Jun 6, 2018)

Most likely the worse change that could happen to github is getting developers to login with a Microsoft account and optional integration with microsoft products and services.


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## Mark McDonut (Jun 6, 2018)

Microsoft hasn't even done anything yet. I know their OS is unstable after updates but jeez guys, I'm a fucking IT guy and I don't even hate Microsoft this much.

If you hate them so much move to linux and shut up about it, but seriously, they don't exactly have a history of actual piracy crackdown aside from going after people doing it for profit, like legit bootlegging and selling cracked windows on usb sticks.

I just pirated like 4 0-day things off of a fucking ONEDRIVE last night. You guys need to relax. They're not going after anyone's self-written code. They would be destroying what they just bought.


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## DaveLister (Jun 6, 2018)

AdamFX990 said:


> It looks like sourceforge might be making a resurgence


Ye but what an infested shithole that place is .


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## the_randomizer (Jun 6, 2018)

I'm sure emulators and their devs are SOL, thanks a lot Microshit.


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## JellyPerson (Jun 6, 2018)

Why is this in the Switch section?


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## MasterJ360 (Jun 6, 2018)

Eh yeah I'm like since when did github even host piracy? tools for piracy isn't piracy.....


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## the_randomizer (Jun 6, 2018)

MasterJ360 said:


> Eh yeah I'm like since when did github even host piracy? tools for piracy isn't piracy.....



But they could still find some half-assed way to ban them.


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## KevinX8 (Jun 6, 2018)

the_randomizer said:


> I'm sure emulators and their devs are SOL, thanks a lot Microshit.


why? Did you assume Microsoft bought just to kill it? Some amazing logic right there. Don't go making up shit until something happens alright.


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## the_randomizer (Jun 6, 2018)

KevinX8 said:


> why? Did you assume Microsoft bought just to kill it? Some amazing logic right there. Don't go making up shit until something happens alright.



They killed Rare, that's proof enough.


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## KevinX8 (Jun 6, 2018)

the_randomizer said:


> They killed Rare, that's proof enough.


Rare isn't dead, sure they don't make AAA titles anymore but Microsoft just mishandled them, wtf does Rare have to do with a code sharing platform anyways?


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## the_randomizer (Jun 6, 2018)

KevinX8 said:


> Rare isn't dead, sure they don't make AAA titles anymore but Microsoft just mishandled them, wtf does Rare have to do with a code sharing platform anyways?



MS doesn't exactly have a Midas touch when it comes to buying out things. Besides, I'm sure they'll be against the myriad of emulators hosted on there.


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## KevinX8 (Jun 6, 2018)

the_randomizer said:


> MS doesn't exactly have a Midas touch when it comes to buying out things. Besides, I'm sure they'll be against the myriad of emulators hosted on there.


Again why? Microsoft have never shown hatred towards emulation, what you are saying does not add up. The only emulators I could possible see them having any interest in are the xbox ones, who all, OG xbox, Xbox 360 and xbox one emulators run like shit right now, so it poses 0 threat to MS. In fact MS have been releasing xbox exclusives to PC for the past few years now, so if anything it's they who are killing their xbox market not emulators extremely early in their life cycle. You are acting like EA bought it (Who do in fact have a history of "accidentally" killing every company they purchase)


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## ihaveahax (Jun 7, 2018)

the_randomizer said:


> Besides, I'm sure they'll be against the myriad of emulators hosted on there.


Fun fact: the Microsoft C++ team uses Dolphin Emulator internally as part of their "real world code" tests.


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## JellyPerson (Jun 7, 2018)

That's interesting, lol.


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## The Catboy (Jun 7, 2018)

the_randomizer said:


> I'm sure emulators and their devs are SOL, thanks a lot Microshit.


Emulators don't violate the law and a mass targeting like that would be suicide for the site. I doubt Microsoft would be that stupid as to make a such a move that would backfire like that


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## the_randomizer (Jun 7, 2018)

Lilith Valentine said:


> Emulators don't violate the law and a mass targeting like that would be suicide for the site. I doubt Microsoft would be that stupid as to make a such a move that would backfire like that



I'm still wary of what they could do, nothing more. Not sure why they insist on buying everything.


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## KevinX8 (Jun 7, 2018)

the_randomizer said:


> I'm still wary of what they could do, nothing more. Not sure why they insist on buying everything.


I recommend you stop spreading bullshit or risk sounding like a fan boy who hates without reason.


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## the_randomizer (Jun 7, 2018)

KevinX8 said:


> I recommend you stop spreading bullshit or risk sounding like a fan boy who hates without reason.



Yes, Your Majesty.


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## The Catboy (Jun 7, 2018)

the_randomizer said:


> I'm still wary of what they could do, nothing more. Not sure why they insist on buying everything.


Maybe they are trying to pretend their years of anti-open source practices never happened and thought buying out a site that revolves around open source could get others to forget


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## the_randomizer (Jun 7, 2018)

Lilith Valentine said:


> Maybe they are trying to pretend their years of anti-open source practices never happened and thought buying out a site that revolves around open source could get others to forget



I don't know anymore


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## CMDreamer (Jun 7, 2018)

There has never been piracy on GitHub. All projects are by definition, OpenSource.

And in any case, the final user is responsible for the way any software hosted on GitHub is being used.

Even if some projects might get used for something piracy-related, the developers are not responsible for it in any way.

AFAIK, no copyright infringement exist on any software hosted on GitHub (might be wrong, but care to prove otherwise?).


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## Deleted User (Jun 7, 2018)

Copyrighted content and pirated material have never been allowed on GitHub.  If you're trying to pirate stuff off of GitHub, you're doing it wrong.

That said, I get the feeling that OP is referring to emulators, CFW, and ROM-Hacking tools; those have always been legal, despite some intents and implications hiding behind them, as they don't explicitly contain any copyrighted content in their repositiories.  They merely utilize and manipulate existing copyrighted content.  How said content is obtained is ultimately the responsibility of the user.



the_randomizer said:


> I'm still wary of what they could do, nothing more. Not sure why they insist on buying everything.


While I don't entirely trust Microsoft, their recent open-source initiatives and now their acquisition of GitHub seem to be PR moves with the open-source community.  Zapping emulator repositories would be counter-intuitive, and ultimately detrimental to their image.  That's not to say that doing so is above their standards, and that they might not do it later on down the line, but, strategically, it wouldn't make sense.  Emulator and CFW devs should be fine.

Besides, I'm sure they've heard of SourceForge, their anti-developer practices, and the site's ultimate fate, so I'm sure they're going to try to stay on good terms with as many users as possible.


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## DeletedMember411838 (Jun 7, 2018)

LovingYoung said:


> The thing you need to know is that, CFWs are totally legal. Nobody could hold any reason to sue Github/Reswitched.



CFWs for game consoles are ILLEGAL, just throwing that out there. Yes they are legal for most things with the current laws, Game Consoles are one of the few exceptions.

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B_E_P_I_S_M_A_N said:


> Copyrighted content and pirated material have never been allowed on GitHub.  If you're trying to pirate stuff off of GitHub, you're doing it wrong.
> 
> That said, I get the feeling that OP is referring to emulators, CFW, and ROM-Hacking tools; those have always been legal, despite some intents and implications hiding behind them, as they don't explicitly contain any copyrighted content in their repositiories.  They merely utilize and manipulate existing copyrighted content.  How said content is obtained is ultimately the responsibility of the user.



Umm no, like I just told him. It is currently illegal to Reverse Engineer or modify the software of a game console, thus making CFW code for a Game Console Illegal. That code was both Illegally obtained, and illegaIly modified, making that illegal code.

I know everyone takes the "jailbreak laws" and runs with them, however they Expictly state that not only are Game Consoles exempt, it is ILLEGAL to reverse engineer or modify a game Consoles OS.

Emulators for game consoles of old no longer made, no longer supported are more of a grey area, and gets much trickier. However they would likely be okay.


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## Nincompoopdo (Jun 7, 2018)

B_E_P_I_S_M_A_N said:


> Copyrighted content and pirated material have never been allowed on GitHub.  If you're trying to pirate stuff off of GitHub, you're doing it wrong.
> 
> That said, I get the feeling that OP is referring to emulators, CFW, and ROM-Hacking tools; those have always been legal, despite some intents and implications hiding behind them, as they don't explicitly contain any copyrighted content in their repositiories.  They merely utilize and manipulate existing copyrighted content.  How said content is obtained is ultimately the responsibility of the user.
> 
> ...





CMDreamer said:


> There has never been piracy on GitHub. All projects are by definition, OpenSource.
> 
> And in any case, the final user is responsible for the way any software hosted on GitHub is being used.
> 
> ...





Lilith Valentine said:


> Emulators don't violate the law and a mass targeting like that would be suicide for the site. I doubt Microsoft would be that stupid as to make a such a move that would backfire like that



There's a lot of discussion over many websites about this. From Wired (https://www.wired.com/story/microsoft-github-code-moderation):

Take as an example the Xbox emulators hosted on GitHub. These often-homemade programs allow people to play console games on their computers. Microsoft owns Xbox, and ostensibly loses money when gamers decline to buy consoles and play on desktop instead. These emulators pose an interesting problem: Microsoft will likely anger developers if it takes them down, but not doing so would be against its own business interests. It's a simple example, but there are plenty of other conflicts that arise from Microsoft gaining control over GitHub.

GitHub also houses the code that allows people to create deepfakes, nonconsensual porn videos that use artificial intelligence to transpose one person's face onto another's body. First reported by Motherboard, deepfakes have since been banned by nearly every major social network. But the code used to create them still lives on GitHub, presenting a potential ethical issue for Microsoft.

And in many ways, moderating code used to createobjectionable content is thornier than simply banning the content itself. One could theoretically argue, for example, that continuing to host the deepfake code serves an educational purpose.

Taking down one piece of objectionable content is not the same as "taking down the code that could maybe generate a million pieces of content," says Sarah T. Roberts, an assistant professor of information studies at UCLA who researches content moderation. "The implications are different."

Code that helps to create objectionable content isn't itself objectionable, but Microsoft will have to think carefully about whether it wants to host tools that enable people to create things widely thought of as harmful, though not outright illegal. It's a question that other user-generated content platforms, like Facebook, don't have to consider in the same way.


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## Teslas Fate (Jun 7, 2018)

@the_randomizer @Thatcher I'm new to the topic but if Microsoft has open source projects then maybe they'll help everyone else on git hub with improvements and debugging regardless the projects on git hub in my opinion they might be helpful to us


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## the_randomizer (Jun 7, 2018)

PokeGlitcher04 said:


> @the_randomizer @Thatcher I'm new to the topic but if Microsoft has open source projects then maybe they'll help everyone else on git hub with improvements and debugging regardless the projects on git hub in my opinion they might be helpful to us



I don't know, I'm refraining from saying anything further to this topic.


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## Teslas Fate (Jun 7, 2018)

the_randomizer said:


> I don't know, I'm refraining from saying anything further to this topic.


I get it the topic weird and it's dumb


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## CMDreamer (Jun 8, 2018)

Any BIOS-based emulator is a copyright infringement as long as such BIOS isn't included on the download from GitHub.

We return to what I've said, the final user is the one that infringes the copyrights of the holders by the way they use such software, no emulator in existence (to my knowledge) is illegal.

If a final user decide to "create" the so called emulator AIO, and includes BIOS and ROM files from the systems it emulates, the developers of such emulators aren't responsible for any copyright infringement. Take as an example the very popular RetroArch, it is legal to use if you've made a dump of game cartridges you own.

I think Microsoft has a very clear idea of copyright infringement and that no emulator by the means of existence poses a threat to such copyrights, even those XBOX Emulators by themselves.

So then, no piracy has ever existed on GitHub.


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## Ericthegreat (Jun 8, 2018)

AdamFX990 said:


> It looks like sourceforge might be making a resurgence


Seems people are switching to GitLab.


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## AdamFX990 (Jun 8, 2018)

Ericthegreat said:


> Seems people are switching to GitLab.


I probably should've put a /s on that one. I jumped to gitlab as well. XD


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## Nincompoopdo (Jun 9, 2018)

CMDreamer said:


> Any BIOS-based emulator is a copyright infringement as long as such BIOS isn't included on the download from GitHub.
> 
> We return to what I've said, the final user is the one that infringes the copyrights of the holders by the way they use such software, no emulator in existence (to my knowledge) is illegal.
> 
> ...



Freeshop was taken down at Github on the request of Nintendo.


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## Ryccardo (Jun 10, 2018)

Perhaps the most valid critic to this acquisition, which I haven't seen yet, is that Microsoft already owns a source-hosting service (Codeplex)... and you can all check how it ended up



Nincompoopdo said:


> Freeshop was taken down at Github on the request of Nintendo.


Only because you can't report just the downloads, just the whole project (the ALLEGEDLY infringing bootlogo is not part of Freeshop, rather it is built into makerom, and gets added by makerom while assembling a CXI... yet for Some Highly Mysterious Reason makerom is still on github, go figure!)


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