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Oh not this non-issue again.
Post edited May 04, 2010 by Al1
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Kailos: DOSBox has been included with commercial releases, thus violating the EULA of DOSBox
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Arkose: DOSBox can be commercially distributed (the GPL allows and encourages this) as long as the source is included and the authors credited. The problems start when a company modifies DOSBox (to add DRM or something) and doesn't bundle the source changes for it.

The GPL does not require crediting the authors (i.e. attribution). It does require distributing source code for the program and any modifications to the program that were distributed in binary form.
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barleyguy: The GPL does not require crediting the authors (i.e. attribution).

Sorry, I should have been clearer on that; author attribution is a supplemental term (section 7b); it isn't an automatic requirement for the GPL as a whole, but many projects--including DOSBox--do make use of it. Because of the nature of source code it works differently from attribution for non-code licenses such as Creative Commons and is typically bundled in an "authors" file (both with the source and compiled binaries).
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Delixe: If the crackers want credit then they should go and start making games rather than cracking them

Last week I bought a box of crackers with a credit card.
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lukaszthegreat: true. that is a valid concern. the thing is that drm might be embodied into the core of the program and simply cannot be ever removed without reprogramming a huge chunk of it.
it is far from simple: removing few lines of the program and there is no drm.
so as long as the drm is inactive the game is drm-free.
anyhow
cracks are illegal. so even if gog is thankful they CANNOT credit the creators.

No, cracks are not illegal. They are perfectly legal to use as you are allowed to make all of the copies you want of games _you own_ for archival purposes as well as either use or build your own no-cd crack to use that backup.
http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap1.html#117
� 117. Limitations on exclusive rights: Computer programs (a) Making of Additional Copy or Adaptation by Owner of Copy. — Notwithstanding the provisions of section 106, it is not an infringement for the owner of a copy of a computer program to make or authorize the making of another copy or adaptation of that computer program provided: (1) that such a new copy or adaptation is created as an essential step in the utilization of the computer program in conjunction with a machine and that it is used in no other manner, or (2) that such new copy or adaptation is for archival purposes only and that all archival copies are destroyed in the event that continued possession of the computer program should cease to be rightful.
In this case adaptation = modified binary aka no cd crack.
Post edited May 05, 2010 by Deltantor
Why did he choosed Flatout ? Where did he get the GOG version ?
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lukaszthegreat: true. that is a valid concern. the thing is that drm might be embodied into the core of the program and simply cannot be ever removed without reprogramming a huge chunk of it.
it is far from simple: removing few lines of the program and there is no drm.
so as long as the drm is inactive the game is drm-free.
anyhow
cracks are illegal. so even if gog is thankful they CANNOT credit the creators.
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Deltantor: No, cracks are not illegal. They are perfectly legal to use as you are allowed to make all of the copies you want of games _you own_ for archival purposes as well as either use or build your own no-cd crack to use that backup.
http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap1.html#117
� 117. Limitations on exclusive rights: Computer programs (a) Making of Additional Copy or Adaptation by Owner of Copy. — Notwithstanding the provisions of section 106, it is not an infringement for the owner of a copy of a computer program to make or authorize the making of another copy or adaptation of that computer program provided: (1) that such a new copy or adaptation is created as an essential step in the utilization of the computer program in conjunction with a machine and that it is used in no other manner, or (2) that such new copy or adaptation is for archival purposes only and that all archival copies are destroyed in the event that continued possession of the computer program should cease to be rightful.
In this case adaptation = modified binary aka no cd crack.

making a crack is circumvention of drm which is cd check
and no-cd cracks are not necessary for copy making so they do not fall under the quote you posted.
Sorry mate for busting your bubble but cracks are illegal. Any unauthorized circumvention of method used by program to ensure copyright is prohibited by law.
NOOOOOOOBODY CAAAAARES.
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Deltantor: No, cracks are not illegal. They are perfectly legal to use as you are allowed to make all of the copies you want of games _you own_ for archival purposes as well as either use or build your own no-cd crack to use that backup.
http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap1.html#117
� 117. Limitations on exclusive rights: Computer programs (a) Making of Additional Copy or Adaptation by Owner of Copy. — Notwithstanding the provisions of section 106, it is not an infringement for the owner of a copy of a computer program to make or authorize the making of another copy or adaptation of that computer program provided: (1) that such a new copy or adaptation is created as an essential step in the utilization of the computer program in conjunction with a machine and that it is used in no other manner, or (2) that such new copy or adaptation is for archival purposes only and that all archival copies are destroyed in the event that continued possession of the computer program should cease to be rightful.
In this case adaptation = modified binary aka no cd crack.
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lukaszthegreat: making a crack is circumvention of drm which is cd check
and no-cd cracks are not necessary for copy making so they do not fall under the quote you posted.
Sorry mate for busting your bubble but cracks are illegal. Any unauthorized circumvention of method used by program to ensure copyright is prohibited by law.

Circumvention of DRM is perfectly legal as long as your primary intent is not violating the rights of the copyright holders.
But that is in the USA, according to the DMCA. It may be different in Australia
Post edited May 05, 2010 by Deltantor
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lukaszthegreat: making a crack is circumvention of drm which is cd check
and no-cd cracks are not necessary for copy making so they do not fall under the quote you posted.
Sorry mate for busting your bubble but cracks are illegal. Any unauthorized circumvention of method used by program to ensure copyright is prohibited by law.
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Deltantor: Circumvention of DRM is perfectly legal as long as your primary intent is not violating the rights of the copyright holders.
But that is in the USA, according to the DMCA. It may be different in Australia

go read digital millennium act.
it even prohibits from circumventing drm to actually make it better aka people who work to make stuff more secure.
ANY circumvention is prohibited by law. furthermore cd-cracks are not necessary to make a copy so the paragraph you copied is irrelevant.
sorry. i know that in perfect world that would be the case. but that ain't the case.
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michaelleung: NOOOOOOOBODY CAAAAARES.

The Fed Rate on I Savings bonds went down.... a lot... 3.36% to 1.74% ... while EE Bonds rose from 1.2% to 1.4%...
Meanwhile.... Back on Gog...
Michaelleung continues to not care if cracker's cracks are used... as the crackerjack cracking cracked program issue continues to crack divisons of gogers.....
BREAKING NEWS: Ubisoft uses cracks from amateur freelance pirates to remove Ghost Recon DRM without saying thanks to them.
So who gives a flying fuck if GOG does it? We get the games legally, we pay for being able to play them.
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Deltantor: No, cracks are not illegal.

As with most legal matters of this type, legality will always differ depending on country. However, looking at the text you quoted, one can argue that (at least during the products initial life) that the "creation of an adaptation as an essential step in the utilization of the computer program in conjunction with a machine" is simply not required.
Not to mention that the text immediately following that, ie, "and that it is used in no other manner" also rules out the creation of such an adaptation as it is not being used in accordance with the text immediately preceding it. Such as, it's being used to facilitate copyright infringement. Which, no matter how you want to try and justify it, is still illegal.
It is true. Circumventing copy protection, is indeed illegal. Anyone remember the 10NES lockout chip that Nintendo made for the original Nintendo Entertainment System? It was designed to prevent the creation of unlicensed games. Tengen reverse engineered the chip so that they could create games without having to pay heavy licensing fees, and they wound up losing their court case, as they could not prove that they did not reverse engineer (circumvent) the copy protection (the 10NES code was patented). It is unlikely that anyone can create a No-CD crack, without having to circumvent the copy protection code that checks to make sure that the game disc is in the drive.
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michaelleung: NOOOOOOOBODY CAAAAARES.
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akwater: The Fed Rate on I Savings bonds went down.... a lot... 3.36% to 1.74% ... while EE Bonds rose from 1.2% to 1.4%...
Meanwhile.... Back on Gog...
Michaelleung continues to not care if cracker's cracks are used... as the crackerjack cracking cracked program issue continues to crack divisons of gogers.....

It's just insane. For fuck's sake, the PUBLISHER has given GOG the rights to sell their games for Very Low Prices (TM) and DRM-free. Maybe the publisher will tell them to strip it out by any means necessary or they'll provide their own copies of DRM-free games that the published has fixed up themselves. As said before, it's not uncommon for published to use no-CDs and stuff from crackers (UBISOFT...). I just think everybody is making such a big deal over something very small.