The Legal Question

So, are emulators legal? An innocent method of preserving classic games that will never be re-released, or a more convenient way for people to steal software? Legitimate reasons aside, emulators and ROMs can be an easy route around high hardware and software costs.

Hackers have developed a patch for the VGS that enables users to run pirated games, but any system can be abused. It's simply a case of the greedy few ruining a little harmless nostalgia. After all, patching an emulator is simply the software equivalent of chipping your PlayStation.

The negative public attention pirates attract has given emulation a bad name; some Web Hosting companies have banned emulation sites, and the Interactive Digital Software Association has already closed down a number of ROM distribution sites.

Developers are keen to stamp out emulators because they can be used for illegal purposes. Or might be used for illegal purposes. By this token, do gun manufacturers face prosecution because their products might be used to kill people?

The IDSA says it is acceptable to emulate games for licensed development purposes, but illegal for pirating purposes. Even those made by hobbyist programmers are illegal, if the sole purpose of an emulator is to play a console game on a PC. Bugger.

In other words, the emulator program is legal, but running games on it isn’t – unless, of course, the game is Public Domain. But when does this happen? When the system is no longer commercially viable? If you’re a fan of C64, Spectrum, or Amiga software, you can actually buy off-the-shelf compilations of game images from stores such as HMV.