Hacking FreeShop; How Illegal is it?

Quantumcat

Dead and alive
Member
Joined
Nov 23, 2014
Messages
15,144
Trophies
0
Location
Canberra, Australia
Website
boot9strap.com
XP
11,119
Country
Australia
Yes, it's illegal - at least for what 99.9% of people use it for. There's a reason Nintendo got it pulled from Github.
No, the odds of anything happening to you are really small, as long as you're discreet about it. See kongsnutz for more info on that.
It was only pulled from github because of the red waves load screen.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

freeShop itself, the homebrew app, is not illegal. The act of piracy itself is illegal no matter what app is used to install pirated games. Basically freeShop is as legal FBI, ciangel, and other apps, it's how someone uses that determines the legality of their actions.
Nice to see you here again :-)
 

Quantumcat

Dead and alive
Member
Joined
Nov 23, 2014
Messages
15,144
Trophies
0
Location
Canberra, Australia
Website
boot9strap.com
XP
11,119
Country
Australia
That was the excuse Nintendo used for pulling it but we can probably agree the reason they wanted it removed was piracy
Doesn't matter what Nintendo "wanted", we are talking about legality here. I really "want" to murder the next door neighbour's dog but it isn't legal for me to do so. Likewise freeShop is perfectly legal, so they had to pick on a copyright infringement of a loading screen to try to hurt it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Craftyawesome

Ryccardo

Penguin accelerator
Member
Joined
Feb 13, 2015
Messages
7,696
Trophies
1
Age
28
Location
Imola
XP
6,926
Country
Italy
Doesn't matter what Nintendo "wanted", we are talking about legality here. I really "want" to murder the next door neighbour's dog but it isn't legal for me to do so. Likewise freeShop is perfectly legal, so they had to pick on a copyright infringement of a loading screen to try to hurt it.
As can be proven by the lack of complaints against makerom, which is where the logo actually is inserted from

(besides, the logo wasn't actually proven copyrighted in a court case)
 
D

Deleted User

Guest
I dont know how many times this has been gone over.Its not the freeshop as a 3ds homebrew app thats illegal,its the source you are using to get the games within the app that is illegal.
 
Last edited by ,

lexarvn

Well-Known Member
Member
Joined
Nov 15, 2010
Messages
157
Trophies
1
XP
1,805
Country
United States
They target the uploaders as they are the ones who make it available for people to download theres no real point with the downloaders.
Well, actually it depends on the country whether downloading or buying pirated material is illegal. Most I know of, it isn't. It's the act of distributing stolen goods (whether its the source material or unauthorized copies) that is illegal. That is why they go after uploaders because according to the law, they are the pirates, not the consumer who downloads the material.
 

The Catboy

GBAtemp Official Catboy™: Savior of the broken
Member
Joined
Sep 13, 2009
Messages
28,068
Trophies
4
Location
Making a non-binary fuss
XP
39,756
Country
Antarctica
Yes, it's illegal - at least for what 99.9% of people use it for. There's a reason Nintendo got it pulled from Github.
No, the odds of anything happening to you are really small, as long as you're discreet about it. See kongsnutz for more info on that.
Nintendo had it pulled from github because of the bootsplash that it was using, which is indeed their intellectual property. The rest was added was just fluff and empty threats, they believed it could be used piracy and added that note as purely fluff and nothing more, then listed the real reason for the removal (which was the bootsplash.) freeShop the homebrew is not illegal, the act of piracy itself is illegal.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Craftyawesome

SoslanVanWieren

Banned!
Banned
Joined
Feb 6, 2017
Messages
1,809
Trophies
0
XP
857
Country
Australia
Nintendo had it pulled from github because of the bootsplash that it was using, which is indeed their intellectual property. The rest was added was just fluff and empty threats, they believed it could be used piracy and added that note as purely fluff and nothing more, then listed the real reason for the removal (which was the bootsplash.) freeShop the homebrew is not illegal, the act of piracy itself is illegal.
If the app was not meant to be a piracy app the developer would make it block the title keys website.
 

The Catboy

GBAtemp Official Catboy™: Savior of the broken
Member
Joined
Sep 13, 2009
Messages
28,068
Trophies
4
Location
Making a non-binary fuss
XP
39,756
Country
Antarctica
If the app was not meant to be a piracy app the developer would make it block the title keys website.
Now you are just adding words to my post that weren’t there. It doesn’t matter what the intent for app was. freeShop does not provide the keys, it does not provide links to the keys, and as it stands the only copyrighted code that was used had been removed.
Your argument can be applied to basically every single web browser, download manager, file sharing site, torrent downloader, etc. Just because they can be used for something illegal, does not inhirently make that application illegal.
 
  • Like
Reactions: DayVeeBoi

evandixon

PMD Researcher
Developer
Joined
May 29, 2009
Messages
1,725
Trophies
1
Website
projectpokemon.org
XP
2,355
Country
United States
It was only pulled from github because of the red waves load screen.
That's not actually the primary reason. The DMCA prohibits breaking someone else's encryption, which is the primary purpose of the application. It's for that same reason it's illegal to rip DVDs as if they were CDs: DVDs have copy protection (read: encryption) that the DMCA protects. They listed the logo as an example of something that was actually stolen.

The freeShop application provided at https://github.com/Cruel/freeShop/releases infringes Nintendo's copyrights, because the application circumvents Nintendo's technological protection measures in violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Nintendo encrypts the game files available from its eShop servers to prevent users from accessing those files without paying for them. Nintendo believes the freeShop application circumvents Nintendo's protection measures by decrypting the game files accessible from its eShop servers, allowing freeShop users to access and play Nintendo's eShop games for free.

The freeShop application also contains unauthorized copies of the Nintendo 3DS Logo Data file, covered by U.S. Copyright Reg. No. PA0001781880, which further infringes Nintendo's rights.

In addition, the files located at the links below violate the GitHub Terms of Service by facilitating the theft of Nintendo's games from its eShop servers, and the use of these files with a Nintendo 3DS device violates the user's obligations under Nintendo's end-user license agreement.

Source
 

Ryccardo

Penguin accelerator
Member
Joined
Feb 13, 2015
Messages
7,696
Trophies
1
Age
28
Location
Imola
XP
6,926
Country
Italy
That's not actually the primary reason. The DMCA prohibits breaking someone else's encryption, which is the primary purpose of the application.
The part I underlined is false, as it is ironically the 3DS kernel operating as intended that actually performs the decryption (using keys supplied by whatever enctitlekeys file was used, loaded through an unsigned ticket that CFW forces the kernel to accept)
 

Quantumcat

Dead and alive
Member
Joined
Nov 23, 2014
Messages
15,144
Trophies
0
Location
Canberra, Australia
Website
boot9strap.com
XP
11,119
Country
Australia
That's not actually the primary reason. The DMCA prohibits breaking someone else's encryption, which is the primary purpose of the application. It's for that same reason it's illegal to rip DVDs as if they were CDs: DVDs have copy protection (read: encryption) that the DMCA protects. They listed the logo as an example of something that was actually stolen.



Source
the only genuine thing in the complaint was the copyright of the loading screen. Otherwise...
The rest was added was just fluff and empty threats
 

DayVeeBoi

Well-Known Member
Member
Joined
Aug 17, 2015
Messages
528
Trophies
0
Location
Canada
XP
968
Country
Canada
Edit: I should've read page two as QuantumCats comment was the first one at the top of the page...


Yes, it's illegal - at least for what 99.9% of people use it for. There's a reason Nintendo got it pulled from Github.
No, the odds of anything happening to you are really small, as long as you're discreet about it. See kongsnutz for more info on that.
I'm not arguing the point or whatever (I understand what you're saying) but wasn't the actual reason GitHub pulled it because it used either a copyrighted image or code or something? There's all kinds of software that relies on a similar mechanic on GitHub, I assume on GBAtemp I don't need to name all of them but for instance PKGi on the Vita or FunkiiU for WiiU and 3DS.
 
Last edited by DayVeeBoi, , Reason: Pulled the trigger way too quick
  • Like
Reactions: Quantumcat

Ryccardo

Penguin accelerator
Member
Joined
Feb 13, 2015
Messages
7,696
Trophies
1
Age
28
Location
Imola
XP
6,926
Country
Italy
wasn't the actual reason GitHub pulled it because it used either a copyrighted image or code or something?
It was because someone or some company, allegedly representing Nintendo, submitted a DMCA takedown request to Github; and Github followed the letter of the DMCA, which makes them not liable if they block now and ask questions later (or never)
 

The Catboy

GBAtemp Official Catboy™: Savior of the broken
Member
Joined
Sep 13, 2009
Messages
28,068
Trophies
4
Location
Making a non-binary fuss
XP
39,756
Country
Antarctica
@Quantumcat
The issue with the DMCA has always been that it’s an American law and not every country accepts it. Although Github does take DMCA takedown notices seriously, other sites don’t always do the same. So yes in the US freeShop can be argued as a violation of the DMCA, but DMCA cases tend to be rather muddy and rarely go to court. Which is why Nintendo only focused on removing the code that did belong to them and added the rest as mostly fluff. It would still have be something Nintendo would have to go to court over first to determine the full legality of freeShop. So as it currently stands freeShop is legal, until actual legal action is taken.
 
Last edited by The Catboy,

froggestspirit

Aspiring Game Dev
Member
Joined
Jul 28, 2011
Messages
1,281
Trophies
1
XP
1,561
Country
United States
Its really no different than using an internet browser. It depends what you use it for. In this case, it is just catered towards a certain use.
 

msbmarth

Member
OP
Newcomer
Joined
Mar 18, 2018
Messages
23
Trophies
0
Age
34
XP
116
Country
United States
I dont know how many times this has been gone over.Its not the freeshop as a 3ds homebrew app thats illegal,its the source you are using to get the games within the app that is illegal.
In the original post, I’ve stated that it is not the original app I’m asking about.
 

Site & Scene News

Popular threads in this forum

General chit-chat
Help Users
    RedColoredStars @ RedColoredStars: Literally 300 lbs. lolol