Re: is emulation piracy?

Vimm, we've all wondered how this site has stayed up for so long, but with this post you're making the fire burn stronger, at least for me.
How exactly do you get past the law? Or are you not exactly trying?

In the legal sense, all emulation is piracy. The law isn't always black and white though, and what you're describing is the spirit of the law. Take speeding for example. Speed laws are designed to keep roads safe, so if I drive by a cop who clocks me going 60 in a 55 zone I'll get pulled over, right? Of course not. I'm driving safely and following the spirit of the law, why waste his time? Clock me at 100 though and he'll throw the book at me.

The same is true for emulation. Copyright laws exist to protect developers from piracy so downloading a Switch or PS4 game is clearly wrong. But as those games age the line blurs. Is it really "piracy" to download a Ninja Turtles game that hasn't sold in years? Nintendo unfortunately has to follow the letter of the law, so they can't sell any virtual game without permission. That's why if Konami changes their mind Ninja Turtles gets pulled from the store. It's also why most virtual store games are Nintendo published. But there's unscrupulous sites out there that don't fret the letter of the law, and as long as we drive safely the cops won't bother.