Homebrew FAQ: Is freeShop legal?

[Ryccardo]

it allows piracy though and some flashcards are illegal in some countries due to that.

Most DS-mode flashcards for DSi/3DS are actually in the same legal problem as the "Nintendo 3DS" boot logo* - they have unauthorized copyrighted material (in the flashcards' cases, a commercial rom used as the header - and unlike the 3DS logo, they can't be replaced with something original without breaking compatibility)

One man's legal backup is ten other men's unauthorized° copy, so "allows piracy" isn't a logical reasoning no matter how much Nintendo tries to get them banned for reasons that aren't the actual usage of copyrighted material!

* the fact the Nintendo 3DS boot logo is sufficiently original to be copyrighted wasn't actually proven in court, by the way

° I used "unauthorized" instead of "illegal" as downloading for personal use isn't a penal crime in a surprising amount of "first world" countries

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If Nintendo was really against the use of the 3DS logo, they would have taken down makerom too (from which the logo is actually sourced when converting elf to 3ds/cia)

 

[The Catboy]

Most DS-mode flashcards for DSi/3DS are actually in the same legal problem as the "Nintendo 3DS" boot logo* - they have unauthorized copyrighted material (in the flashcards' cases, a commercial rom used as the header - and unlike the 3DS logo, they can't be replaced with something original without breaking compatibility)

One man's legal backup is ten other men's unauthorized° copy, so "allows piracy" isn't a logical reasoning no matter how much Nintendo tries to get them banned for reasons that aren't the actual usage of copyrighted material!

* the fact the Nintendo 3DS boot logo is sufficiently original to be copyrighted wasn't actually proven in court, by the way

° I used "unauthorized" instead of "illegal" as downloading for personal use isn't a penal crime in a surprising amount of "first world" countries

I know it wasn't proven in court, I am just pointing out that if Nintendo were to make a case, they would only be able to make a case on the one thing that wasn't supposed to be used. Basically I am using the court of law as an "If Nintendo wanted to make a case."

Well it downloads stuff from Nintendo's server without their permission only the eshops meant to access it

Not illegal, just unethical at best. Nintendo does not actually secure their servers.
Again, this is covered in the OP, if you actually read it.

 

[SoslanVanWieren]

Yes but as i said they target the program since it would be the only way to stop people from pirating with it since there's to many people doing

 

[V0ltr0n]

Just like emulators. The software itself is legal. It's all about what you do with it.

 

[Ryccardo]

they target the program since it would be the only way to stop people from pirating with it

That obstructed (at best) new users who couldn't google "freeshop cia" - a good thing I would actually say

 

[The Catboy]

Yes but as i said they target the program since it would be the only way to stop people from pirating with it since there's to many people doing

Actually it's like about 1% of the overall customer base who actually pirates their games. And again, you might as well call your web browser illegal because I can still use it for piracy.

 

[SoslanVanWieren]

Actually it's like about 1% of the overall customer base who actually pirates their games. And again, you might as well call your web browser illegal because I can still use it for piracy.

i don't mean the programs illegal but if you had a file sharing site and did not give a shit if people uploaded pirated stuff it could be taken down but then again google doesn't give a crap about that

 

[gamesquest1]

Freeshop is a glorified keyring, if people whose to put a bunch of stolen keys on their keyring that's a different matter, but as we all know what's legal and illegal is mostly defined with how much money someone is willing to pay respective governments to make something illegal or keep something from being deemed illegal, recent EU ruling on kodi boxes as an example, sure you can see exactly why it would be deemed illegal but you can then see how malleable laws can be to big money, as long as something kinda makes logical sense screw the technical pitfalls of making vague things illegal

 

[The Catboy]

If Nintendo was really against the use of the 3DS logo, they would have taken down makerom too (from which the logo is actually sourced when converting elf to 3ds/cia)

I will clear up my post later on, if you have suggestions, post them, PM me, etc.
But to be clear, Nintendo wanted it removed for the possible piracy use, but that's not what got it taken down. They basically got it taken down by saying, "While, you actually did use something from us!" which was the actual copyrighted file. Basically they were grasping for straws and actually grabbed a straw.

i don't mean the programs illegal but if you had a file sharing site and did not give a shit if people uploaded pirated stuff it could be taken down

FreeShop doesn't provide any of the keys nor methods to get illegal keys. Check site, threads, and even source. No where in there does it mention using illegal keys and doesn't provide any links to that key site. If freeShop were to have provided these, that would have been a different story, but it doesn't.
In other words, Nintendo needs to go after that key site, not freeShop.

Freeshop is a glorified keyring, if people whose to put a bunch of stolen keys on their keyring that's a different matter, but as we all know what's legal and illegal is mostly defined with how much money someone is willing to pay respective governments to make something illegal or keep something from being deemed illegal, recent EU ruling on kodi boxes as an example, sure you can see exactly why it would be deemed illegal but you can then see how malleable laws can be to big money, as long as something kinda makes logical sense screw the technical pitfalls of making vague things illegal

I did mention that it depends on your country's copyright laws. I can't speak on behalf of other countries' laws because I simply don't know them and I don't have time to learn every single one of them.

 

[SoslanVanWieren]

I will clear up my post later on, if you have suggestions, post them, PM me, etc.
But to be clear, Nintendo wanted it removed for the possible piracy use, but that's not what got it taken down. They basically got it taken down by saying, "While, you actually did use something from us!" which was the actual copyrighted file. Basically they were grasping for straws and actually grabbed a straw.

FreeShop doesn't provide any of the keys nor methods to get illegal keys. Check site, threads, and even source. No where in there does it mention using illegal keys and doesn't provide any links to that key site. If freeShop were to have provided these, that would have been a different story, but it doesn't.
In other words, Nintendo needs to go after that key site, not freeShop.

Idk why people would use it for legal purposes if its faster to dump a cart or a game you bought

 

[gamesquest1]

Idk why people would use it for legal purposes if its faster to dump a cart or a game you bought

Well some people have had their systems banned from the eshop after making purchases, while this is obviously a very small number it does leave some people of having purchases on their system that they are no longer allowed to re-download, that said the eshop ban is usually for credit card fraud/charge backs so if they actually owned the games is questionable, although it's not impossible for me to buy a bunch of games legit, then buy a stolen game code and still get a eshop ban

Now feel free for someone to correct me, but I'm pretty sure a eshop ban is a total eshop ban and you cannot even access previously purchased content to re-download it

 

[SoslanVanWieren]

Well some people have had their systems banned from the eshop after making purchases, while this is obviously a very small number it does leave some people of having purchases on their system that they are no longer allowed to re-download, that said the eshop ban is usually for credit card fraud/charge backs so if they actually owned the games is questionable, although it's not impossible for me to buy a bunch of games legit, then buy a stolen game code and still get a eshop ban

Now feel free for someone to correct me, but I'm pretty sure a eshop ban is a total eshop ban and you cannot even access previously purchased content to re-download it

The people that got banned pirated sun and moon though

 

[Vieela]

Idk why people would use it for legal purposes if its faster to dump a cart or a game you bought

Not everybody can buy a gamecart/digital game like me. Any games that aren't overly old or indies are 150 BRL here. (if it's that what you're talking about. If not,sorry for the misunderstood.)

 

[The Catboy]

Idk why people would use it for legal purposes if its faster to dump a cart or a game you bought

I use it with my own keys because I hate the eShop ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I have several eShop games and I hate using the eShop to redownload my games.
I also dump my own games as well. I've actually bought more of games than I've pirated in recent years because I have decent paying job, so I can afford my games again.

Well some people have had their systems banned from the eshop after making purchases, while this is obviously a very small number it does leave some people of having purchases on their system that they are no longer allowed to re-download, that said the eshop ban is usually for credit card fraud/charge backs so if they actually owned the games is questionable, although it's not impossible for me to buy a bunch of games legit, then buy a stolen game code and still get a eshop ban

Now feel free for someone to correct me, but I'm pretty sure a eshop ban is a total eshop ban and you cannot even access previously purchased content to re-download it

You can not access the eShop to redownload your games when you are banned. My boyfriend had his system banned in the S/M ban because he went online and can no longer access the eShop with that 3DS.

The people that got banned pirated sun and moon though

Despite my boyfriend's case, people can also be banned for other reasons

 

[Vieela]

The people that got banned pirated sun and moon though

Thy got banned because they went online on a leaked version or changed their save data (as far as i know,correct me if not.)

 

[The Catboy]

Thy got banned because they went online on a leaked version or changed their save data (as far as i know,correct me if not.)

Not everybody can buy a gamecart/digital game like me. Any games that aren't overly old or indies are 150 BRL here. (if it's that what you're talking about. If not,sorry for the misunderstood.)

Actually I am not arguing the ethical nor legal stance of piracy. This thread was made to answer the question, is the homebrew (freeShop,) itself legal? Basically I am explain how freeShop itself does not violate any copyright laws.
I am not endorsing, supporting, nor suggesting piracy. If a user chooses to use it for piracy, that is completely on them for doing so.

Not everyone banned is from the Pokemon S/M ban. That just happens to be the most popular ban wave. There are other reasons people have been banned, but that's a completely different topic on it's own.

 

[Vieela]

Actually I am not arguing the ethical nor legal stance of piracy. This thread was made to answer the question, is the homebrew (freeShop,) itself legal? Basically I am explain how freeShop itself does not violate any copyright laws.
I am not endorsing, supporting, nor suggesting piracy. If a user chooses to use it for piracy, that is completely on them for doing so.

Not everyone banned is from the Pokemon S/M ban. That just happens to be the most popular ban wave. There are other reasons people have been banned, but that's a completely different topic on it's own.

It's ok,i understand. I just wanted to answer the user that posted a comment,not really start any discussions about piracy or anything. Sorry if it caused any misunderstandings.

 

[The Catboy]

It's ok,i understand. I just wanted to answer the user that posted a comment,not really start any discussions about piracy or anything. Sorry if it caused any misunderstandings.

Nah it's cool. It seems too many people aren't reading the OP before replying. So I am basically just trying to break down the OP into sound bites for anyone who appears confused.

 

[SoslanVanWieren]

Was it legal for him to put the free shop back on another site like GitHub when it was DMCA-ed on GitHub

 

[The Catboy]

Was it legal for him to put the free shop back on another site like GitHub when it was DMCA-ed on GitHub

That's a completely debatable one, but it seems Nintendo didn't press the issue once he removed the bootsplash. So legal or not, Nintendo didn't press is once they got what they requested.