Copyright is a place where nothing ever happens: how the ESA blocks game archiving

[PCGamesN]

[url]http://www.pcgamesn.com/copyright-is-a-place-where-nothing-ever-happens-how-the-esa-blocks-game-archiving[/url]

[Cold]

How is this even significant enough of an issue for the ESA to bother with it.

9/10 times servers get shut down because nobody plays the game, how much people do you think these 3rd party servers would host?
Why would you hurt your IP, Community and public image just to shut down 3rd party servers with 15 player spikes on the weekend.

Publishers/Developers don't even need this level of control, even though there where various matchmaking and networking services for Age of Empires 2,
most people where drawn away from it when Age of Empires II re-released with a better networking solutions.

[Velocet]

This is incredibly stupid. Unless a company is actively profiting off titles, it should be considered open domain. That's why I'm okay with pirating SWAT 4/No One Lives Forever but not Deus Ex even though Deus Ex is older. You can't buy SWAT 4 and No One Lives Forever even if you wanted to. Anyone who wants Deus Ex can go out and buy it.

I understand SOE not wanting to give the SWGEMU guys source code considering it'd probably expose current games to attacks and all sorts of nonsense, but if a MMO or something that requires an online server to play doesn't exist and the parent company still sends out a C&D, fuck them.