Dolphin Emulator Steam release delayed indefinitely following Nintendo DMCA notice - Watch what happens when emulation devs don't take out code they didn't write into a release for one of PC's most popular digital stores.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/entertain...ly-following-nintendo-dmca-notice/ar-AA1bMspX (A)


Valve has delisted Dolphin from Steam after receiving a Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) takedown notice from Nintendo. In late March, the developers of Dolphin, an open source emulator that can run most GameCube and Wii titles, said they were planning to bring the free app to Valve’s storefront later this year. In a May 26th legal notice seen by PC Gamer, Nintendo's legal team asked Valve to remove Dolphin from Steam, claiming the emulator violates the company’s intellectual property rights.

"Because the Dolphin emulator violates Nintendo’s intellectual property rights, including but not limited to its rights under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA)’s Anti-Circumvention and AntiTrafficking provisions, 17 U.S.C. § 1201, we provide this notice to you of your obligation to remove the offering of the Dolphin emulator from the Steam store," the document states.


With the notice, the Dolphin team has two options on how to move forward. It can either file a counter-claim with Valve, arguing the emulator doesn’t violate the DMCA as claimed by Nintendo, or it can choose to comply with the takedown notice. If the team files a counter-notice, Nintendo would have two weeks to decide whether to file a lawsuit. As PC Gamer notes, it’s unclear if the company actually intends to pursue legal action against Dolphin. However, if a case were to go to court, it could have far-reaching implications for emulators. For the time being, the Dolphin team says it’s deciding what to do next.

“It is with much disappointment that we have to announce that the Dolphin on Steam release has been indefinitely postponed,” the Dolphin Emulation Project said Friday. “We were notified by Valve that Nintendo has issued a cease and desist citing the DMCA against Dolphin's Steam page, and have removed Dolphin from Steam until the matter is settled. We are currently investigating our options and will have a more in-depth response in the near future.” As of the writing of this story, you can still download the Dolphin emulator from the project’s website and GitHub page. The Dolphin team did not receive a direct takedown notice from Nintendo.

 

[Computer Guardian]

For those who want a more descriptive version of what's going on, I'd suggest this video.

TL;DR: The devs working on Dolphin integrated decryption keys taken from official Nintendo consoles into the emulator, and didn't take them out at all when they decided to release it on Steam, prompting Nintendo to smell blood in the water from this self infected wound.

 

[Neo-Nazi Rich Evans]

i hate the copyright antichrist, i hate the copyright antichrist.

 

[SandyCat]

You'd think these retarded companies would release official emulation software of their own. There's a clear demand for it.

But no, can't let those pesky people enjoying their 15 year old abandonware games.

 

[Agent Abe Caprine]

How hard is it to download shit outside a centralized storefront?

 

[Irrational Exuberance]

My first thought when I saw the title was "dumbasses"; after reading the article, my opinion changed to "total dumbasses".

The field of emulation is and always has been a grey area:

On the one hand, you have people who legitimately just want to preserve old games and have a way to play them again - the "sad puppy" crowd. You wouldn't want to hurt a sad puppy, after all - it's just bad optics.

On the other hand, you have people who use emulation as a means to turn a profit - and it's this group that causes trouble in the emulation scene, because in a very cut-and-dry sense, they are illegally profiting off the intellectual property of whoever owns it.

 

[Solid Hyrax]

How hard is it to download shit outside a centralized storefront?

It's pretty easy. Being on Steam was just an even easier option

 

[Xarpho's Return]

The idea of getting an emulator onto Steam seems a little weird to begin with anyway. Retroarch is on there, but without the games, what's the point?

Dolphin is pretty easy to use as-is, and it's not like Steam will make access to getting up and running with Bing Bing Wahoo much better.

 

[AirdropShitposts]

The idea of getting an emulator onto Steam seems a little weird to begin with anyway. Retroarch is on there, but without the games, what's the point?

You just point it to the folder with your roms like you do with the regular version.

 

[reptile baht spaniard rid]

You just point it to the folder with your roms like you do with the regular version.

that's exactly it, Dolphin is supposed to live in the pretend world where every user of it has totally legit personally-backed up copies of games that they want to emulate

going onto Steam with encryption/decryption keys embedded was a bridge too far.

 

[The Backwards Man]

Kill copyright. Behead copyright. Roundhouse kick copyright into the concrete. Slam dunk a copyright baby into the trashcan. Crucify copyright. Defecate in copyrights food. Launch copyright into the sun. Stir fry copyright in a wok. Toss copyright into active volcanoes. Urinate into copyrights gas tank. Judo throw copyright into a wood chipper. Twist copyrights heads off. Report copyright to the IRS. Karate chop copyright in half. Curb stomp pregnant black copyright. Trap copyright in quicksand. Crush copyright in the trash compactor. Liquefy copyright in a vat of acid. Eat copyright. Dissect copyright. Exterminate copyright in the gas chamber. Stomp copyright skulls with steel toed boots. Cremate copyright in the oven. Lobotomize copyright. Mandatory abortions for copyright. Grind copyright fetuses in the garbage disposal. Drown copyright in fried chicken grease. Vaporize copyright with a ray gun. Kick old copyright down the stairs. Feed copyright to alligators. Slice copyright with a katana.

Kill nintendo. Behead nintendo. Roundhouse kick nintendo into the concrete. Slam dunk a nintendo baby into the trashcan. Crucify nintendo. Defecate in nintendos food. Launch nintendo into the sun. Stir fry nintendo in a wok. Toss nintendo into active volcanoes. Urinate into nintendos gas tank. Judo throw nintendo into a wood chipper. Twist nintendos heads off. Report nintendo to the IRS. Karate chop nintendo in half. Curb stomp pregnant black nintendo. Trap nintendo in quicksand. Crush nintendo in the trash compactor. Liquefy nintendo in a vat of acid. Eat nintendo. Dissect nintendo. Exterminate nintendo in the gas chamber. Stomp nintendo skulls with steel toed boots. Cremate nintendo in the oven. Lobotomize nintendo. Mandatory abortions for nintendo. Grind nintendo fetuses in the garbage disposal. Drown nintendo in fried chicken grease. Vaporize nintendo with a ray gun. Kick old nintendo down the stairs. Feed nintendo to alligators. Slice nintendo with a katana.

 

[wrangled tard]

On the other hand, you have people who use emulation as a means to turn a profit

What profit? It was being listed as free.

 

[CuzinEd]

This was pretty stupid. Most people know where to go to get emulators and if they don't they can easily find out. Dolphin is the one emulator I have never messed with. I have used various SNES emulators a Genesis emulator PS2 PS3 and I even used a N64 emulator years ago. never bothered with Dolphin.

From what I understand it's named after the codename that was given the Gamecube before it was released.

 

[ForgedBlades]

I mean, did they really expect Nintendo not to shitcan it given their history?

 

[Sugriva]

Well that sucks. Dolphin is a really great emulator and a Steam release would be nice to streamline updates on something like the Steam Deck. But at the same time, what did they expect? They're lucky Nintendo doesn't try to bankrupt them in an endless legal battle, even though the devs are in the right. They're absolutely petty enough to do it.

 

[ShitLurker]

Flew too close to the sun. Keep the emulator scene midly fringe and everything will be fine but just dumping it into the steam storefront and expect everything to go swimmingly was optimistic, specially if the firmware was already there. Does only seem like it ruins any chances of it reaching steam, butnot killing Dolphin altogether.

 

[sodaboard]

This was pretty stupid. Most people know where to go to get emulators and if they don't they can easily find out. Dolphin is the one emulator I have never messed with. I have used various SNES emulators a Genesis emulator PS2 PS3 and I even used a N64 emulator years ago. never bothered with Dolphin.

From what I understand it's named after the codename that was given the Gamecube before it was released.

Dolphin has one of the best communities behind it, just about every Gamecube and Wii game runs perfectly on it (except Metroid Prime, too much stuttering because shaders), and at max graphics settings they look amazing. Playing Mario Kart: Double Dash at 1440p 60 FPS is truly a sight to behold.

 

[Vic Viper T301]

Dolphin has one of the best communities behind it, just about every Gamecube and Wii game runs perfectly on it (except Metroid Prime, too much stuttering because shaders), and at max graphics settings they look amazing. Playing Mario Kart: Double Dash at 1440p 60 FPS is truly a sight to behold.

I just played Metroid Prime on Dolphin a few months ago, it runs fine now. They implemented something to fix the shader stuttering problem some time ago.

 

[Oilspill Battery]

Stop simping for a company that clearly fucking hates you. I've stopped feeling sorry for nintendrones that keep getting sued and screwed over by nintendo over and over again.

I felt sorry the first time, the second time, the third time, the fourth time, fifth time and the sixth time, etc, but at this point anyone that still tries to do this shit and gets fucked over is clearly asking for it.

Nintendo has spent the past decades making abundantly fucking clear beyond a shadow of a doubt what their policy on this shit is but retards still go "ITS OK MUH NOSTALGIA WILL SHIELD ME FROM A LAWSUIT THIS TIME SURELY".

 

[AbyssStarer]

Yeah I feel like they, the dolphin people, did this for attention.