EmuWIKI.com - Closes Down

[TM2-Megatron]

It is pretty naive to think that on top of the server costs (around 2000$ per year), I could also afford to pay for a lawyer for a hobby that does not bring any kind of income. I think you misunderstood the text, read it again, there's already an answer to your question in it. I explain that in a website where the contributions come from the public and from me, there is eventually going to be mistakes. There's going to be emulators that are distributed with the bios inside the exe or in a subfolder that I will miss, and with that new law, we have no idea what you can be sued for when that happens, say, for 24 hours before it is removed. How much is the publication of a Nintendo bios during 24 hours worth ? We have no idea, but as I say, I just don't want to sleep with the question in mind. I am not closing down from fear of attack from the government, you misunderstand the law which is not a criminal law in which the government sues you, it's a civil law in which the companies sue you.

Just out of curiousity (now that you've registered here), will you be considering putting the site back up if the new copyright "reforms" fail to pass? It's failed twice before, and this is one issue I don't see the Canadian public just sitting back and letting the Conservatives pollute with their bullshit (we didn't the last two times, anyway).

 

[tk_saturn]

There's a media wiki on here which could always do with expanding, perhaps GBAtemp could adopt the site?

Make EmuWikiAdmin an admin on the WiKi, there's only a few anyway and he should be able to the rest.

Then you have EmuTemp. lol.

 

[milfy]

I would love to see this site hosted off shore where fewer copyright laws affect them. I do this sort of thing professionally... if I had enough spare cash I would do it myself.

 

[Man18]

he is not closing down because of the copywrite laws, he is closing down from fear of attack from the government, he says all his files are legal, then why close it? get a good lawyer to protect his rights.

love me some jalaneme, so bold.

I would say keep working on the site and be a part of it but if he wants change the name of ownership and maybe move the server out of the country.

 

[EmuWikiAdmin]

It is pretty naive to think that on top of the server costs (around 2000$ per year), I could also afford to pay for a lawyer for a hobby that does not bring any kind of income. I think you misunderstood the text, read it again, there's already an answer to your question in it. I explain that in a website where the contributions come from the public and from me, there is eventually going to be mistakes. There's going to be emulators that are distributed with the bios inside the exe or in a subfolder that I will miss, and with that new law, we have no idea what you can be sued for when that happens, say, for 24 hours before it is removed. How much is the publication of a Nintendo bios during 24 hours worth ? We have no idea, but as I say, I just don't want to sleep with the question in mind. I am not closing down from fear of attack from the government, you misunderstand the law which is not a criminal law in which the government sues you, it's a civil law in which the companies sue you.

Just out of curiousity (now that you've registered here), will you be considering putting the site back up if the new copyright "reforms" fail to pass? It's failed twice before, and this is one issue I don't see the Canadian public just sitting back and letting the Conservatives pollute with their bullshit (we didn't the last two times, anyway).

No I made a final decision to leave the site, however I'll help with anyone wanting to do this, including if people want to transfer the wiki to gbatemp. However it's not just a matter of transfering and hosting the wiki, it's a matter of finding people ready to update every emulator release that happens every week (about 30-50 per week). About the politics and whether it passes or not, as I say in my letter, it could or could not pass this time but it will pass eventually simply because even the opposition which is considered more to the "left" are not interested in fighting against the new law. They probably have too much supporters in the music industry. So it's not just a question of government, it's also the opposition, there's basically no politician fighting against the bill.

 

[TM2-Megatron]

Maybe, but if the opposition were smart (which they often aren't, I'll admit... though not quite as thick-skulled is the Conservatives) they'd realize they actually have the support of the public on their side with this. As much as I dislike the idea of another election, if it gets rid of the right-wing Ottawa we have right now I'm all for it.

Copyright reform will pass eventually, but until it includes reasonable provisions for fair use (which is really all most people are asking for), I don't see it happening. Even if it does pass, the law would ultimately be ineffectual as it's pretty much impossible to enforce on individuals. It's also a law nobody would actually follow, and eventually it would be taken off the books. The music and movie industry's way of "protecting" their rights is now incredibly dated, and it just won't work in the long run.

 

[Deleted-247497]

yeah canada sucks, but someone should just put this on a server somewhere else, in the end the pirates will always win.

 

[TM2-Megatron]

yeah canada sucks, but someone should just put this on a server somewhere else, in the end the pirates will always win.

It's only our current, right-wing government that sucks.

Besides, the US already has the same kind of crap law they're trying to get away with passing up here.

 

[Deleted-247497]

yeah canada sucks, but someone should just put this on a server somewhere else, in the end the pirates will always win.

It's only our current, right-wing government that sucks.

Besides, the US already has the same kind of crap law they're trying to get away with passing up here.

yeah but the laws here dont do anythink

and when i said canada sucked i meant your government, i think you guys are cool

but yeah right wingers are dbags here too haha

 

[TM2-Megatron]

yeah but the laws here dont do anythink

The law would be the same here as in the US... against individuals that copy their music, etc. it would be impossible to enforce; and I don't think the government would even try. I gather that the only reason this site has gone down is because having it runs the risk that some potentially "illegal" material might be uploaded by users, and that would subject the ex-owner of the site to unwanted legal attention.

I'm still disturbed at the potential for lawsuits this could open up for people that are using their music and movies in a legitimate way. I doubt the law will pass, though. This is one enough issue people actually care about.

 

[coolbho3000]

What are the safe harbor provisions in this law, if any?

I know that, under the US DMCA, I can't sue Rapidshare (for example) if someone uploads a copy of my app until I file a takedown notice and only if they refuse to take it down.

The same provision makes it possible for sites like YouTube and Wikipedia to exist. I could upload a pirated BIOS bin file to Wikipedia too, buried in some JPEG file, but that doesn't give Nintendo the right to sue Wikipedia in any country.

 

[Blazikun]

Does this mean that the law wont apply in the US or anything, so someone can switch hosts and servers in the US and carry on

 

[ThatOtherPerson]

This kinda shit makes me ashamed to be a Canadian.

I would be totally cool with having yet another election tomorrow if it would mean finally getting rid of or at least putting a real dent in the current government. Realistically we probably aren't going to get any kind of electoral reform in Canada any time soon and its even less likely that people are all going to come to a consensus on which of the other parties to back (personally I think it would be cool to see the green party take power for example but that so not going to happen) so the Liberal party needs to get their shit together already. It boggles my mind that the conservatives have been so successful at getting people elected in Canada.

he is not closing down because of the copywrite laws, he is closing down from fear of attack from the government, he says all his files are legal, then why close it? get a good lawyer to protect his rights.

Lack of $?

That is the real problem. Its the threat of it and the unpredictability of its inconsistency and the cost of it all. In practice these kinds of laws almost never get enforced (even if they get passed I know I'll still feel safe pirating and doing whatever I want to). But there is always the threat that you could get in trouble and need to defend yourself even if you aren't actually violating the law and its expensive being innocent.

 

[Another World]

No I made a final decision to leave the site, however I'll help with anyone wanting to do this, including if people want to transfer the wiki to gbatemp. However it's not just a matter of transfering and hosting the wiki, it's a matter of finding people ready to update every emulator release that happens every week (about 30-50 per week). About the politics and whether it passes or not, as I say in my letter, it could or could not pass this time but it will pass eventually simply because even the opposition which is considered more to the "left" are not interested in fighting against the new law. They probably have too much supporters in the music industry. So it's not just a question of government, it's also the opposition, there's basically no politician fighting against the bill.

after i posted this news last night we were talking about hosting the archive here at gbatemp. we would just need to find a team of people who are willing to keep it updated on a regular basis. that is the hard part. if you have people who you trust to do it, let me know. i can start talking to the admins about hosting the 20 gb of files in the public torrent.

-another world

 

[Midna]

We sent thousand of letters, phisical and digital, to everyone in government that could help, or be forced into helping. That got us a referendum, which our government is now blatently ignoring.

I don't think it'll help at this point, but ayone from Canada, send another letter from here.

 

[TM2-Megatron]

We sent thousand of letters, phisical and digital, to everyone in government that could help, or be forced into helping. That got us a referendum, which our government is now blatently ignoring.

I don't think it'll help at this point, but ayone from Canada, send another letter from here.

If enough people speak out, it will probably stop it again. Or at least, put it off until the next time the Conservatives feel confident enough in their power to try and introduce the legislation. I'm hoping that before then, we've gotten rid of them. The Liberals might be ineffectual and useless, but they don't generally pull stuff like this. I'm just amazed they haven't managed to get their shit together, and take advantage of everyone's dissatisfaction with the Conservatives to really get some support going. Did they really become that lazy while in office through all those years? That even now, when the Conservatives are basically serving up issue after issue that the Liberals could use to win the support of so many, they still can't pull it together and actually do so?

Jeez, sometimes politics really pisses me off, lol. Ignatieff might be a smart guy, but the Liberals need a leader who does more than think... I swear, I haven't even heard Ignatieff make a statement for months. A party leader should have more of a public image than that

 

[worlok375]

DANG YOU CANADAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!! ('s dmca)

 

[EmuWikiAdmin]

after i posted this news last night we were talking about hosting the archive here at gbatemp. we would just need to find a team of people who are willing to keep it updated on a regular basis. that is the hard part. if you have people who you trust to do it, let me know. i can start talking to the admins about hosting the 20 gb of files in the public torrent.

-another world

I don't know anyone, that's why I was doing all the work. However if you make a public announcement and find someone in your community that's going to do it, I can help restore the site (and I can restore the actual encyclopedia with the user data, so if you let me do it it's going to be a more complete restoration than what you could get from the torrent).

 

[Another World]

I don't know anyone, that's why I was doing all the work. However if you make a public announcement and find someone in your community that's going to do it, I can help restore the site (and I can restore the actual encyclopedia with the user data, so if you let me do it it's going to be a more complete restoration than what you could get from the torrent).

i'll talk to the admins over the next few days and see what they have to say about it. i'll PM you after if they are willing to host everything and/or get you intouch with the right people. after that we can try to find some people to keep it updated.

if anyone reading this is interested in keeping the archive upddated daily, PM me. i'll start collecting names.

-another world

 

[Matthew]

I would help update it occasionally. Also, why not merge the login of the main site with the wiki. I know its possible with some forum software.