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Apple Removes Game Boy Emulator iGBA From App Store Due to Spam and Copyright Violations
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I thought I was dreaming yesterday, but it looks like I wasn't. It took me less than 5 minutes to obtain a Pokémon Crystal ROM file via Safari, move it in the Files app and spin it up in iGBA.
That means that somewhere in Kyoto the Nintendo Lawyers are preparing to wreck havoc over Apple Campus. And if you know one thing about Nintendo Lawyers you can take bets that Apple will readjust Appstore Policies in a matter of days.
That means that somewhere in Kyoto the Nintendo Lawyers are preparing to wreck havoc over Apple Campus. And if you know one thing about Nintendo Lawyers you can take bets that Apple will readjust Appstore Policies in a matter of days.
Nintendo has their own line of hardware. They want to push people to get that to get more money from buying games and subscribing to services. Not to mention they make money on hardware sales. Plus, they don't want to be at the whim of Apple whenever a new major iOS release comes out. Nintendo controls their own OSes.
This is akin to what Apple does. It would be like Apple licensing out iOS to other manufacturers when they don't need to, nor should they since they too want to maintain full control.
You could easily point it at any website containing roms and download them directly. Or just upload them using iTunes.
And the other, well... just read Nintendo v. Yuzu.
The thing is- it's not the emulator that is allowing you to pirate games. If you have to find a wrongdoer in your chain of events, it would be the website you downloaded the ROM from. It is not the emulator's job to find out if your ROM is pirated (how would it even know?) and it surely doesn't make it illegal to use one with legal ROMs.
What is the point? This is 100% illegal because even though it's not illegal, it kind of feels illegal to you?
Emulators are not per se illegal just because they can play games you haven't bought illegally, in the same way VLC or even the Apple Music app aren't illegal just because they can be used to play media downloaded from the web.
For the record, I can understand why a company like Apple wouldn't want to host certain kinds of apps on its App Store, which only shows why alternatives app stores and/or installing apps from the web are so important.
Ok. So the emulator itself is not illegal. Glad you finally agree with me.
That's not the same because Yuzu developers reportedly actively aided in the pirating of ROMs by users, other than directly shipping parts of the firmware. Its fork Suyu is still up, why would that be? 😂
How about we read Bleem v Sony first?
I never said emulators (in general) are illegal. This one is. Exactly because of the reasons I said.
Suyu is still up because Nintendo hasn't taken it down yet. They will.
You said this one was illegal because
No emulator has to actively stop you from running pirated games to not be illegal. That's the sort of requirement corporations would like to exist, but doesn't.
You may argue that by allowing a user to download a rom directly from within the app they are 'directly aiding' piracy, as Yuzy did, but I find that to be a stretch.
You did say
And since ROMs have no way of storing whether they're pirated or not, your assumption implies all emulators are illegal. (For context, the Wii Virtual Console copy of Super Mario Bros. is exactly the same as a ROM downloaded from the Internet)
You haven't said anything. I asked you to argument your assertion that "emulators are illegal" (see above) and you said they are because:
Which isn't even true. No emulator (including this one) allows you to download ROMs directly, rather they use the file picker provided by the system to load a valid ROM.
Sure, they'll send a C&D "in two weeks," just like they've been sending a C&D to Dolphin "in two weeks" for the past 20 years.
Moral of the story, if you don't like emulators just say that; don't appeal to a morality that isn't there.
WHERE did I say that EVERY emulator is illegal? Give me the exact Quote. I NEVER!!! said that. Since I know there are perfectly legal ways to make an emulator. Even with detection that the games run by it are legal as well.
Well DUH! a rom is nothing but an image created from the ROM chip contained on the cartridge. This is entirerly beyond my point, because Nintendo releasing any ROM of any Nintendo game is absolutely legal. Because they actually own the games.
If Nintendo would port the Nintendo Switch Online apps to iOS it would be entirely legal for them to do so. Since they own all rights to those games. Since yes, those are emulators as well. Just like Virtual Console on 3DS / Wii U / Wii, just like the NES Mini and SNES Mini consoles. But the important difference here is that Nintendo has the rights to distribute those games. A random emulator maker does not.
And then you can go by the games owned by the user. You are then going to need some way to check this.
I for one, have an Epiloque GB Operator (see https://www.epilogue.co/product/gb-operator ) this device only runs games from physical cartridges and then emulates those on PC/Mac. (it copies the game from the cartridge to the computer) It even detects official cartridges and doesn't work with flashcards.
This is just the tip of the iceberg what is going to happen if iOS was completely open.
I think the dev wasn't smart putting ads and trackers in an emulator app if he priced it at $2 clean with no trackers it would have generated more money and less controversy.
It's an open source app and another dev forked it why the whining and complaining why didn't he put the original app on the app store.
It's an open source app and another dev forked it why the whining and complaining why didn't he put the original app on the app store.
By locking the app to only games they own rights to. See the NSO apps on the Switch, or Virtual Console on Wii, Wii U, 3DS. It's not even that hard to do on iOS.
Calm down and read it again. I even linked you the page where you can see how I got to my conclusion. And I thoroughly explained why what you said in this thread so far comes to that conclusion.
If anything, I'm still waiting for the source to your claim that "running commercial games makes an emulator 100% illegal."
Ok, then, pray tell, how do you expect emulator developers to detect pirated ROMs vs. ROMs extracted from a cartridge? This should be an easy question for you to answer, since you "know there are perfectly legal ways to make an emulator."
Nobody but you is arguing for, against or about that.
Again, tell me which famous emulators ship with pirated ROMs. I'll wait.
Ok? How does that relate to software emulators on computers running games off of *.gb/*.gbc/*.gba files?
How is the app developer supposed to know which games the user has rights to? Unless you mean "make an emulator that doesn't play games," which is a stupid claim and I know for a fact you aren't suggesting this because it's a bad-faith suggestion and you're arguing in good faith, right?
[EDIT: I was wrong, see post #47]
The licence has an explicit restriction around putting it on the App Store. You can get the source code, but you still need to comply with the licence.
Let's be honest here, most people who use emulators use it in bad faith. Same with Torrent clients. It isn't not illegal itself but you know it is being used illegally mostly.
If you want to play Nintendo Switch games, buy a Nintendo Switch and play it that way.
Again I never ever ever said every single emulator is illegal. Just this one.
I also never said that. Only if you don't have rights to them. And then just check the DMCA or any other applicable copyright legislation.
By only running roms that are extracted from genuine cartridges like the Epiloque GB Operator does.
The point here is I never said that every emulator is illegal, here I pointed a simple legal way to make an emulator.
This one did. You could way to easily direct it at any site containing pirated rom files. They didn't even try to stop that.
It dumps the rom file from the cartridge, and then runs it using software on PC or Mac.
Do you? That's an honest question btw, because leaving aside any policies Apple may put in place for its own marketplace, I'm not sure where this legal requirement would come from?
As long as an emulator doesn't include any copyrighted material, it doesn't have to nanny you. Again, that's something corporations may want, but I believe you have moved the yardstick of what emulators are actually required to do.
As long as you bring your own stuff, it's really up to you.
That's good for you, but not really where the law is in terms of what is required of you or emulators. You could dump these ROMs otherwise and play them without the need to put the cartridge in and I assume you'd be in exactly the same position as you are now legally.