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]Syntax Error[ Gets Shut Down By Nintendo C&D
JackKieser
Seattle, WARegistered User regular
Seattle, WARegistered User regular
Story Here.
So, here's what happened. A while back, a guy on Smash Boards named Pharrox figured out where on the Brawl disc character textures were located and, being the genius he is, found a way to replace those textures with files he made in Photoshop. The first Brawl texture hack was made. Since then, numerous people have learned his techniques and expanded upon them. Three such people made up the hack team ]Syntax Error[, or ]EE[ for short.
The guys at ]EE[ spent the greater part of a year creating a custom patch for Brawl that would have been the equivalent of a total conversion mod for textures. These three guys, with help from the Stack Smash team (linked above), paved the way for hackers in Brawl, eventually being able to hack everything from textures, to stages, to character selection portraits (think what you click on when selecting one of the Pokemon, for instance)...
On the eve of the release of their patch, Nintendo shut them down.
This has outraged much of the fan community that knew about the project. Other sites are standing up to Nintendo, vowing to release what they can in honor of ]EE[.
The fans of the ]EE[ project want to get the story out there. Nintendo, instead of going after the creators of the Homebrew Channel, the Twilight Hack, or countless ROM distribution sites, chose to shut down a fanart project, one that took countless measures AGAINST piracy, attempting to do everything as by-the-book as a texture patch could have done.
In Nintendo's defense:
-- Hack required a Brawl .ISO, which could promote piracy.
-- Hack required HBC/Twilight hack/other homebrew, something Nintendo takes an active stance against.
-- Hack added textures of copyrighted characters, such as Megaman, Ridley, Fierce Deity Link, and more.
-- Patch could be considered a 'derivative work', which is protected under US copyright law.
Why You Should Be Upset:
-- There are way worse people to be going after than texture hackers.
-- This is in the same vein as the "Chrono Resurrection" C&D.
-- The ]EE[ people stated on their site (and others) their intentions (not to promote piracy, going as far as to actively ban users who talked about it, and to promote Nintendo games and products) and their wishes to be as by-the-book as possible.
-- Nintendo targeted the few people with good intentions instead of going after active (and advertised) pirates.
Let it be known that no one is suggesting that Nintendo was outside their legal authority... but legal authority is hardly a reason to target good people who put their love and hard work into such a project, as opposed to true pirates. Please help get the story out and help us voice our disappointment at Nintendo for targeting loyal and loving fans, as opposed to true pirates.
So, here's what happened. A while back, a guy on Smash Boards named Pharrox figured out where on the Brawl disc character textures were located and, being the genius he is, found a way to replace those textures with files he made in Photoshop. The first Brawl texture hack was made. Since then, numerous people have learned his techniques and expanded upon them. Three such people made up the hack team ]Syntax Error[, or ]EE[ for short.
The guys at ]EE[ spent the greater part of a year creating a custom patch for Brawl that would have been the equivalent of a total conversion mod for textures. These three guys, with help from the Stack Smash team (linked above), paved the way for hackers in Brawl, eventually being able to hack everything from textures, to stages, to character selection portraits (think what you click on when selecting one of the Pokemon, for instance)...
On the eve of the release of their patch, Nintendo shut them down.
This has outraged much of the fan community that knew about the project. Other sites are standing up to Nintendo, vowing to release what they can in honor of ]EE[.
The fans of the ]EE[ project want to get the story out there. Nintendo, instead of going after the creators of the Homebrew Channel, the Twilight Hack, or countless ROM distribution sites, chose to shut down a fanart project, one that took countless measures AGAINST piracy, attempting to do everything as by-the-book as a texture patch could have done.
In Nintendo's defense:
-- Hack required a Brawl .ISO, which could promote piracy.
-- Hack required HBC/Twilight hack/other homebrew, something Nintendo takes an active stance against.
-- Hack added textures of copyrighted characters, such as Megaman, Ridley, Fierce Deity Link, and more.
-- Patch could be considered a 'derivative work', which is protected under US copyright law.
Why You Should Be Upset:
-- There are way worse people to be going after than texture hackers.
-- This is in the same vein as the "Chrono Resurrection" C&D.
-- The ]EE[ people stated on their site (and others) their intentions (not to promote piracy, going as far as to actively ban users who talked about it, and to promote Nintendo games and products) and their wishes to be as by-the-book as possible.
-- Nintendo targeted the few people with good intentions instead of going after active (and advertised) pirates.
Let it be known that no one is suggesting that Nintendo was outside their legal authority... but legal authority is hardly a reason to target good people who put their love and hard work into such a project, as opposed to true pirates. Please help get the story out and help us voice our disappointment at Nintendo for targeting loyal and loving fans, as opposed to true pirates.
JackKieser on
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Also, I somewhat doubt that the entirety of Nintendo's legal team was working on this one C&D
It's silly for fans to be angry that a company wants to protect their properties.
Nintendo Network ID - Brainiac_8
PSN - Brainiac_8
Steam - http://steamcommunity.com/id/BRAINIAC8/
Add me!
What's the issue here?
Priceless.
I dunno. Either way it sucks (3 guys doing all that themselves?!) but in the end that's what happens.
Is everyone still beating this horse?
Anyway, these days everyone is guilty of infringing on IP in some way. Really, the only crime at this point is getting caught.
Or that Nintendo tries constantly to fight piracy but it's a much tougher fight as they don't listen to C&D's as much.
Pretty much. IP law is an outdated concept.
At that moment I stopped going online with Brawl.
No, really. Seriously.
Not really. Its application has been aggressively revised to favour creators over the public, but that doesn't mean that IP law didn't originate from an equitable concept.
People who are standing with Nintendo on this one sicken me.
Neo Geo Big Red owners club.
2009 PAX Puzzle Quest Champion
I have beat Rygar on the NES and many of you have not.
You are correct. I mean more in its current form, as you say. Copyright itself is obviously a useful institution.
Please tell me where I can find mods for console games. I'm really curious.
Yes, seriously.
Actually, yes. Especially when you break encryption.
Not at all, because content isn't crypted. Bypassing or circumventing encryptions is illegal in US and majority of EU countries.
[Edit] Top of the page!
Yes it is...and it's just up to the company if they want to fight it or not...Nintendo chooses to fight it, and that is their right.
If you mess with the property of another company, then the company has the right to make moves to protect said property.
Nintendo Network ID - Brainiac_8
PSN - Brainiac_8
Steam - http://steamcommunity.com/id/BRAINIAC8/
Add me!
I can see the headlines now.
"Nintendo Source Code used for evil says Government investigators"
And yes, mods are technically illegal, which is why IP law is a joke.
I mean dang, you'd think they would have shut down the mother 3 thing if they were going to do something like this.
I thought that everyone who supported the DMCA was either paid off or paying someone off. Wasn't it a horribly unpopular law?
Who says they're just going after these guys? Nintendo goes after all sorts of people, all the time. In fact, the only reason we know about this particular instance is that the team is apparently made up of nice guys who actually listened to the cease and desist rather than laughing and deleting it like every other modder/pirate/etc.
Edit: What's an ISO? I own Brawl and I don't remember getting one a' those.
Technically not, because you're not altering the work, per say. That is, you're not altering the text or layout of the original volume. An argument could be made that you're adapting the work to a different medium, if the pictures were derivative works, but that doesn't seem to be what you're talking about. 'Sides, you're not communicating your drawings/book, which means that any alterations could fall under fair dealings/use exceptions.
Everyone (everyone) on the internet commits at least a dozen copyright infringements a day.
Nice avatar. Where'd you get that from? What? Where'd I get my avatar and sig from?
OH SHI-
Some people might even argue that it's a good thing.
That it is only "technically not" has me worried, to be honest.