Single Player Games with dead DRM Servers DMCA Exempt

[Centurius]

 

It is one of the worst feelings there is, a game you truly love no longer being playable because the company has decided to kill the DRM servers. Following a petition to US Copyright Office a ruling has been made declaring the single player component of DRM games dmca exempt if the DRM servers have been offline for at least 6 months.

 

Now thanks to the US Copyright Office’s ruling this week, games that have a single-player component that requires online authentication to access can be modified or copied if the publisher has formally shut down the servers for longer than six months. 

 

 

Sadly the ruling does not apply to multiplayer components or hardware-based DRM(except for museums or other non-profit public institutions)

 

Unfortunately, this ruling only covers single-player components. It is still technically not legal for users to modify or copy multiplayer content, even after publishers abandon the servers. This is something that the EFF was fighting for but couldn’t quite achieve.

The new ruling also keeps console modification illegal for those wanting to circumvent defunct DRM practises tied to the hardware itself. However, if a museum or publicly accessible, non-commercial institution wanted to modify old console hardware in order to make a game playable for demonstration purposes, they are free to do so.

 

 

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This is pretty great however personally I do find it a bit sad they didn't let it cover multiplayer, MMO and hardware as well. All in all I think this will either promote third party platforms to keep things alive or motivate companies to actually keep supporting their properties. So good for gamers in general even though the ruling only does apply in the US.

 

Edit: 

 

Forgot the link, http://www.kitguru.net/channel/generaltech/matthew-wilson/single-player-games-with-dead-drm-servers-ruled-dmca-exempt/

[ShadowCaptain]

This is awesome

[Guest]

Battlefront 2 makin a comeback!

[Arcanekitten]

Lord of the rings the battle of middle earth ! No.. Anyone? or is it just me.....

[PlayStation 2]

http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/475126-single-player-games-which-need-online-authentication-are-now-exempt-from-dmca-once-their-servers-are-shut-down/

rep52st

[Centurius]

http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/475126-single-player-games-which-need-online-authentication-are-now-exempt-from-dmca-once-their-servers-are-shut-down/

rep52st

Oops, searched for it but couldn't find it.