Question - Are the Downloadable Commercial Demos at Download Stations Legal to Host

[wraggster]

Ive seen the Commercial Demos on several sites now and would dearly love to have them all here at DS Emulation but i am concerned about legalitys

So whats the general feelings on the subject ?

[Shadowblind]

If it is in a demo form, that most likely means that the original demo was intended for free distribution. I'd go ahead and say yes, but there is a slight feeling of nerviousness over the possiblity it isnt absolutely legal.

[Deburner]

im pretty sure

if they're not you can always take them down

nintendo hasnt said anything about it

anywayz its like hosting a download a free catalog
people can go pick it up at a store anywayz for free

(free catalog example ive never heard of just something to give as an example)

[Amethyst]

I asked this question here before and a couple people told me it was.

I personally doubt it may be illegal.

[Junixx]

I think it would be legal, demos are meant to be free

[Tetris999]

Yes i also seen these sites and they have DIRECT links to downloading these roms

I think myself, its legal

[Vegetable]

Why would you care, Wraggster? You have a plethora of illegal activities encouraged on your website, so how can you judge them?

[jojotjuh]

@vegetable
thats no true, sure, he does post how to use supercard etcetera, but thats for homebrew purposes only, so what he does IS legal

@ wraggster

yes, i think it is legal, because nintendo says they may be broadcasted in kiosks they would be free, so they shouldnt complain when you help them to get them ufrther

[Knux896]

I don't see where it would be a real problem since Nintendo and the other companies have not taken any steps to protect the demo files from being run. Even the Max Media Dock can run most demos straight from the menu without any third-party software.

Granted Nintendo might not have thought it possible to capture these demos, but they aren't taking steps to fix this now that it has been done.

If there is a problem that arises you could remove them, although I really don't see why there would be an issue.

[Deburner]

again, yes

Davr put them on his site
http://davr.org/ds2/demos/

I mean what's the worse thing that could happen? Nintendo says people play the demos all the time instead of buying the game? Most of the the time a demo may make me buy a game I ordinarily wouldn't.

[Vegetable]

@vegetable
thats no true, sure, he does post how to use supercard etcetera, but thats for homebrew purposes only, so what he does IS legal

Incorrect. He also posts Supercard patcher releases which has nothing to do with homebrew whatsoever.


@ wraggster

yes, i think it is legal, because nintendo says they may be broadcasted in kiosks they would be free, so they shouldnt complain when you help them to get them ufrther

Again, incorrect. These games were recieved through reverse engineering, leaving the legality of hosting it outside of an official Nintendo kiosk to be null.

[Sonny_Jim]

Again, incorrect. These games were recieved through reverse engineering, leaving the legality of hosting it outside of an official Nintendo kiosk to be null.

So you think reverse engineering in itself is illegal?

From Wikipedia:
In the United States and many other countries, even if an artifact or process is protected by trade secrets, reverse-engineering the artifact or process is often lawful as long as it is obtained legitimately.

So if you walked into the store, downloaded something to the DS and then worked from there it would be quite legal.