Suggestion "Warez" Rules Going Largely Ignored?

[WAUthethird]

Hey all - recently, I've noticed a bit of a problem between this forum and The Terms of Service and Rules defined here.

As set down there, the rules state:

• We DO NOT HOST or PROVIDE ROMs/WADs/ISOs/CIAs; or link to websites that do contain ROMs/WADs/ISOs/CIAs.
  
• We do not allow or condone sharing of title keys or any other form of copyrighted material or content.
  
• Members may NOT ASK and MAY NOT PROVIDE INFORMATION or LINKS for and to places that provide ROM, WAD, ISO and CIA files in absolutely any way on our forum including PM (private message).
  
• Members may also NOT mention torrent or warez-containing sites or channels by name or otherwise.
  
• We do not condone piracy in any way.
  
• Please go elsewhere if you only wish to download or share illegal files. The GBAtemp Forums are for discussion ONLY.

I won't deny that I've broken this rule a few times, but high-ranking members and even staff have taken part in certain discussions that contain links to ROMs/WADs/ISOs/CIAs. I'm not going to post links to these discussions, but I just wanted to bring this up. As the rules are set pretty cleanly and strictly, I'm surprised that this rule isn't more well enforced; as such, it might be worth it to make some modifications to the rules so new members/nonmembers won't be confused as they see links to CIAs (the most commonly posted link that technically breaks this rule) pop up.

 

[VinsCool]

Right, I'm more or less concerned about the distinction between legal files and piracy files, which in my opinion isn't laid out too clearly in the rules.

warez
werz/
noun
COMPUTINGinformal

1. software that has been illegally copied and made available.

As long as the linked content is homebrew (in any format), they're fine.
Trust me, when it comes to illegal files, they're taken down without delay.

 

[SirNapkin1334]

As long as the linked content is homebrew (in any format), they're fine.
Trust me, when it comes to illegal files, they're taken down without delay.

Yes. I've seen hundreds of linked homebrew cia's, but not a single illegal one. Sure, I have seen posts where people have -snip-'d it, but I've never seen an actual link, so I think people get rid of them pretty fast.

 

[WAUthethird]

Yes. I've seen hundreds of linked homebrew cia's, but not a single illegal one. Sure, I have seen posts where people have -snip-'d it, but I've never seen an actual link, so I think people get rid of them pretty fast.

FreeShop? And then again, they did put some loopholes into that one...

 

[wicksand420]

FreeShop? And then again, they did put some loopholes into that one...

Freeshop isn't illegal, you aren't supposed to download games you don't own with it, how you use it is what makes it illegal

 

[DarthDub]

Freeshop isn't illegal, you aren't supposed to download games you don't own with it, how you use it is what makes it illegal

And you also need to provide it with a certain file/url for it to even do what it lets you do.

 

[WAUthethird]

Freeshop isn't illegal, you aren't supposed to download games you don't own with it, how you use it is what makes it illegal

That's why I said..

FreeShop? And then again, they did put some loopholes into that one...

 

[VinsCool]

That's why I said..

The program itself is legal. What you can do with it is not.
It requires a illegal titlekeys site being linked, and only users can add it.

That makes it perfectly legal. Just like any torrent clients.

 

[mrjoshuaco]

And here I thought Reddit had the monopoly on worthless semantics...and then you post this and totally redeem yourself.

 

[WAUthethird]

That's why I said there were loopholes involved. I'm not saying that FreeShop is illegal, I'm just saying that the developers had to jump through some hoops to make those apply. The application was after all intended for piracy in the first place, even if it wasn't said.

 

[ThoD]

FreeShop? And then again, they did put some loopholes into that one...

To use FreeShop you are supposed to use your SYSTEM's keys database, NOT the one from online, it says so in the instructions, so just because it could be used for piracy it doesn't mean it's against the rules. If we go ban everything that "could" be used for piracy, we would ban ALL homebrews, as the HBL itself gives the ability to potentially dump copyrighted files.

 

[Sonic Angel Knight]

Just curious, does unlicensed games like those poor bootleg on nes and such like somari count as homebrew, or what? I mean is not like the company consider those games officially cause they lack the proper license.

 

[ThoD]

Just curious, does unlicensed games like those poor bootleg on nes and such like somari count as homebrew, or what? I mean is not like the company consider those games officially cause they lack the proper license.

If it's copyrighted, it's illegal, simple as that. Rip-offs are the same if copyrighted, but many aren't.

 

[Ericthegreat]

You know this was a rom site at one point in history lol?

 

[cearp]

Right, I'm more or less concerned

Don't worry, take a deep breath, relax, let the mods handle it.
You can help by reporting posts.

 

[Ericthegreat]

I can kind of see your point, ever so slightly--but the rules also strictly mean "warez" or illegal content, aka copyrighted stuff. It prefaces illegal content right at the start. Homebrew isn't copyrighted, so even if it's in a WAD file, it's still not warez.

Technically I think it is, unless theres a way to make those files without Nintendo code (I think I remember hearing this was possible).

 

[Pedeadstrian]

Right, I'm more or less concerned about the distinction between legal files and piracy files, which in my opinion isn't laid out too clearly in the rules.
Sorry if that wasn't clear in my original post.

It's not the rules' (or the staff's) job to define every single word in the rules. Sure, it says not to link CIAs without saying "illegal" but the line right before that one says ""Warez" is an internet term used to describe copyrighted software, game, film, music and data piracy." The natural train of thought would lead you from "Warez is illegal junk" to "Do not share CIA files (that are illegal)."

 

[ThoD]

Legally speaking, CIAs (or other formats depending on the system) of free things (game updates, free apps, etc.) are NOT illegal, but even those are most often deleted by mods, so the rules are pretty well enforced.

 

[kuwanger]

Technically I think it is, unless theres a way to make those files without Nintendo code (I think I remember hearing this was possible).

Actually, this is rather the whole reason that whole open library libraries for difference consoles (ctrulib and libogc come to mind) are a thing because in the past people were just using the official SDK (XBox comes to mind) while violating the terms of usage and/or copyright. Further, the issue isn't whether homebrew is copyrighted or not because everything is by default in most countries nowdays. It's whether the copyright holder wishes for the content to be distributed. In the case of homebrew, where the author is linking to their own works/repositories, they're implicitly inviting you to make copies for your own personal use.

Seriously, the rules are about warez. The notion that Freeshop works by loopholes is as ridiculous as saying that bittorent, apt-get, and cp all work through loopholes. Seriously, the whole point of cp is to copy files and given that all files are copyrighted, it stands to reason that cp must be constantly being used to violate copyright, right? Oh, right, no. Personal use and general consideration have thankfully not twisted the courts to that stupidity...yet.

 

[ThoD]

Actually, this is rather the whole reason that whole open library libraries for difference consoles (ctrulib and libogc come to mind) are a thing because in the past people were just using the official SDK (XBox comes to mind) while violating the terms of usage and/or copyright. Further, the issue isn't whether homebrew is copyrighted or not because everything is by default in most countries nowdays. It's whether the copyright holder wishes for the content to be distributed. In the case of homebrew, where the author is linking to their own works/repositories, they're implicitly inviting you to make copies for your own personal use.

Seriously, the rules are about warez. The notion that Freeshop works by loopholes is as ridiculous as saying that bittorent, apt-get, and cp all work through loopholes. Seriously, the whole point of cp is to copy files and given that all files are copyrighted, it stands to reason that cp must be constantly being used to violate copyright, right? Oh, right, no. Personal use and general consideration have thankfully not twisted the courts to that stupidity...yet.

Actually, about the "everything is by default copyrighted in most countries" part, that couldn't be any less true and idiotic-sounding. Nothing is copyrighted unless it's officially requested to be and it's not free either (not expensive though, like 10-20$). Homebrews are mostly not copyrighted, be it open or closed source, either because it's too much of a pain, because copyrighting something would directly involve revealing your personal information (and many in the homebrew scene don't want that) or because it's a homebrew involving something that can't be copyrighted (if it breaches official agreements for example).

 

[DeadlyFoez]

In the wii hacking section, for quite a while one of the threads did contain links to copyrighted nintendo files and it was ignored and allowed to exist until a better solution came out. Every once in a while you will find something that everyone ignores or that no one knows is copyrighted or that just hasnt been reported. The staff and all the members are otherwise quite on top of it all bc no one here wants to see our community get shut down over shit like that.