Can anyone explain to me how Archive.org is exempt from DMCA? For example you can download a lot of copyrighted old console ROMs from them. Not abandonware. How come no one goes after Archive.org? I mean TPB founders went to jail even tho they don't even host anything. How is Archive.org different?
I'm not a lawyer or an expert, but looking at the Wikipedia page for the DMCA [0] there appears to be protection for retro games:
"An exemption was made for 'Computer programs and video games distributed in formats that have become obsolete and which require the original media or hardware as a condition of access.'"
EDIT: Actually archive.org posted an article about exactly this [1]
The thing about DMCA anticircumvention exemptions is that they don't last: they have to be constantly renewed, and the one you mention has in fact lapsed.
Plus, they only get you out of the "anticircumvention" provisions, not regular old copyright law or the more familiar DMCA notice-and-takedown procedure. In other words an exemption may allow you to legally remove or break DRM or other copy protection, but it doesn't give you any rights to make copies or display works.
As best I can tell, they seem to be operating on a "see what we can get away with" model, which appears to be working out pretty well for them.
I think Archive Team (a separate effort that utilizes and contributes to the Internet Archive) downloads stuff but doesn't always make it conveniently available online. This is a neat hack around the DMCA (and hosts that are beholden to it) because copyright holders are less likely to file a takedown than they would if the web pages were restored in their original format (same to a lesser extent with Wayback Machine) but requires some effort to make use of the data. https://archiveteam.org/index.php?title=Frequently_Asked_Que...
Maybe in the distant future there will be a Geocities Museum that has all Geocities pages because enough generations have passed that putting Geocities sites online by default isn't a privacy concern.
The publishers of these games might not be terribly into making trouble.
Copyrighted music and video however (stuff that MPAA is interested in) is not available online, and you actually have to go to the physical Archive in SF to access them. In that sense it works kind of like a library.
I mean we are talking about Sony and Nintendo here. You can download the full PS1 and PS2 catalog. Or N64 and Gamecube. I just don't understand how is that possible when Nintendo goes after every single ROM site
I don't know :) But I do have one of their "GAME NOT OVER" shirts from when they launched emulation of old games in the browser. Played Prince of Persia in Firefox with Brewster Kahle :)
