Jump to content

Single player games which need online authentication are now exempt from DMCA once their servers are shut down

ICantThinkOfAnyGoodName
 Share
Posted

Game developers should pay particular attention to pages 52-56 of the U.S. Copyright Office's ruling on the petition, as it allows for modification and copying of video games only if they have single-player components which require an online authentication check to play, and those online authentication systems have been formally shut down by a developer/publisher or seemingly abandoned for longer than six months.

That covers a large portion of the video game-related tinkering the EFF was lobbying to make legal, but not all of it. The DMCA still does not allow for video game owners or preservationists to modify their games in order to allow for local or online multiplayer play. This is something they might want to do if they wanted to play or demonstrate a multiplayer game - either a FPS or MMO, for example - after its online servers had been shut down.

This ruling is certainly a good thing to have, but it's a shame that it doesn't cover mp games. But it's still good to know that it's now perfectly legal for the community of sp games that require online authentication to modify and copy the game without running into legal issues.

Under this new ruling it's also still illegal for game owners to tinker with their consoles in order to circumvent defunct online authentication systems tied to that hardware, a portion of the EFF's petition that the ESA (which represents the interests of companies like Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft) took particular umbrage with.

However, the U.S. Copyright Office will permit preservationists to modify console firmware in order to make video games playable if their remote authentication systems are discontinued, but only if those modified consoles are used for non-commercial purposes in institutions which are "open to the public and/or to unafficiliated researchers," like libraries and museums.

I don't really like this part because it means that the ruling is basically useless for console games. But I don't know of any current console sp games that require an online connection for authentication, so it's not too bad.

This is my first news post, so please don't hate me if I haven't done it perfectly.

Source: http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/257502/Singleplayer_games_with_dead_authentication_servers_ruled_DMCA_exempt.php

GPU: Gigabyte GTX 970 G1 Gaming CPU: i5-4570 RAM: 2x4gb Crucial Ballistix Sport 1600Mhz Motherboard: ASRock Z87 Extreme3 PSU: EVGA GS 650 CPU cooler: Be quiet! Shadow Rock 2 Case: Define R5 Storage: Crucial MX100 512GB
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted

You mean they're actually doing something right for once?

Wow, copyright, being done right. What is the world coming to?

Main Gaming Rig:

Spoiler

Core i7-4770, Cryorig M9i Cooler, ASUS B85M GAMER, 8GB HyperX Fury Red 2x4GB 1866MHz, KFA2 GTX 970 Infin8 Black Edition "4GB", 1TB Seagate SSHD, 256GB Crucial m4 SSD, 60GB Corsair SSD for Kerbal and game servers, Thermaltake Core V21 Case, EVGA SuperNOVA 650W G2.

Secondary PC:

Spoiler

i5-2500k OCed, Raijintek Themis, Intel Z77GA-70K, 8GB HyperX Genesis in grey, GTX 750 Ti, Gamemax Falcon case.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted

Good to see the one ideal organization I donate regularly to (EFF) doing good work. So much left to do, however.

In case the moderators do not ban me as requested, this is a notice that I have left and am not coming back.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted

So, does that mean always online authentication DRM will disappear?

Ketchup is better than mustard.

GUI is better than Command Line Interface.

Dubs are better than subs

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted

This is amazing.... Now they should also do this for multiplayer games, depending on the game set up ofc

"Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people."

Main rig:

i7-4790 - 24GB RAM - GTX 970 - Samsung 840 240GB Evo - 2x 2TB Seagate. - 4 monitors - G710+ - G600 - Zalman Z9U3

Other devices

Oneplus One 64GB Sandstone

Surface Pro 3 - i7 - 256Gb

Surface RT

Server:

SuperMicro something - Xeon e3 1220 V2 - 12GB RAM - 16TB of Seagates 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted

Thats pretty awesome tbh.

Main Rig:-

Ryzen 7 3800X | Asus ROG Strix X570-F Gaming | 16GB Team Group Dark Pro 3600Mhz | Corsair MP600 1TB PCIe Gen 4 | Sapphire 5700 XT Pulse | Corsair H115i Platinum | WD Black 1TB | WD Green 4TB | EVGA SuperNOVA G3 650W | Asus TUF GT501 | Samsung C27HG70 1440p 144hz HDR FreeSync 2 | Ubuntu 20.04.2 LTS |

 

Server:-

Intel NUC running Server 2019 + Synology DSM218+ with 2 x 4TB Toshiba NAS Ready HDDs (RAID0)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted

This is awesome! A step in the right direction and win for us gamers!

|  The United Empire of Earth Wants You | The Stormborn (ongoing build; 90% done)  |  Skyrim Mods Recommendations  |  LTT Blue Forum Theme! | Learning Russian! Blog |
|"They got a war on drugs so the police can bother me.” ― Tupac Shakur  | "Half of writing history is hiding the truth" — Captain Malcolm Reynolds | "Museums are racist." — Michelle Obama | "Slap a word like "racist" or "nazi" on it and you'll have an army at your back." — MSM Logic | "A new command I give you: love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another" — Jesus Christ | "I love the Union and the Constitution, but I would rather leave the Union with the Constitution than remain in the Union without it." — Jefferson Davis |

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted

This is good news, but does anyone have any examples for which games this actually effects? I can't think of any myself.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted
  • Author

This is good news, but does anyone have any examples for which games this actually effects? I can't think of any myself.

There`s a metric shitton of games which use steam as DRM. If steam should ever go down, those games would be affected. Same goes for uPlay and Origin.

GPU: Gigabyte GTX 970 G1 Gaming CPU: i5-4570 RAM: 2x4gb Crucial Ballistix Sport 1600Mhz Motherboard: ASRock Z87 Extreme3 PSU: EVGA GS 650 CPU cooler: Be quiet! Shadow Rock 2 Case: Define R5 Storage: Crucial MX100 512GB
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted

There`s a metric shitton of games which use steam as DRM. If steam should ever go down, those games would be affected. Same goes for uPlay and Origin.

Yeah, but what games, right now, would this effect? This is great longterm no doubt.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted

So, does that mean always online authentication DRM will disappear?

Not for new games, this will only apply if the servers that make the authentication are offline.

Still, it's a half step forward.

The stars died for you to be here today.

A locked bathroom in the right place can make all the difference in the world.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing Tech News

×