Marketing itself as an online video game rental store, Console Classix offers a paid subscription giving you access to thousands of games from a variety of platforms: ranging from the Atari 2600 to the Nintendo 64, our beloved GameBoy Advance, and many more.

​

Console Classix differs from a standard rental store in that you don't actually receive the physical game at home: you're actually playing ROMs using emulators. So how does that work? Why are they claiming this service as fully legal, and why has it been up and running for so many years? According to the owner, Aaron Ethridge, this is all due to a legal loophole of sorts:
1) For starters, Console Classix owns at least one physical copy of every game it distributes
2) When someone wishes to play a game, the game isn't actually stored on the gamer's computer, it is only available in RAM so there is no (easy) way for the player to retain the game. So this can be considered as lending rather than distributing.
3) Console Classix doesn't lend more ROMs simultaneously than it owns physical copies. If they only own 1x Super Mario Bros 3 (NES) cartridge, then there can only be one person playing that ROM at a given time through their emulation service.

Whether or not this is technically legal, Console Classix has yet to be taken to court. Back when they started their business, they received a cease and desist letter from Nintendo, but this never went any further, and so Mr. Ethridge went on with his business.

What do you think about such services? Have you ever used Console Classix?

Make sure to read Ars Technica's excellent article on the subject

 

[FAST6191]

It just feels stupid to me on so many levels to rent games for money on internet in 2019 no matter how many logical arguments you put in..And i must say you do put many, and know what are you talking about, seemingly.

But hey, if he is making money, than good for him and
people willing to give him their money.
I wish them and him a good fun and profit!

It doesn't make it less stupid to me though. Some aspects look interesting, but overall, in 2019 its so stupid and i cant imagine anyone doing that or paying for that.

P.S. i hope that's NOT where rom's and emulation is going to be in future.

Also if Nintendo does not aproves them as their official rental store or licenced, than..i dont see why would i download from them.

I can't say it is a service that holds much appeal here either, and while I can not see emulation and this ROM bothering business going there as the sole thing in the future I would say I also hope that. However earlier you were variously calling them pirates, rip offs, immoral and other such things and conflating them with the simple downloading of ROMs. Those are very different things from just being a service you don't think is worth it for you, or what is a fundamentally different concept in the case of the simple downloading thing.

Also Nintendo does not have to approve of them doing what they do -- it is mostly the law they have to worry about and it seems it is fine. If you need Nintendo (or the other relevant rights holders) to sign off before you engage with a service then so be it but a) you might be waiting a long time for that and b) that seems like an odd personal requirement to have.

 

[grossaffe]

People do sell air, in many forms.

 

[Metoroid0]

I can't say it is a service that holds much appeal here either, and while I can not see emulation and this ROM bothering business going there as the sole thing in the future I would say I also hope that. However earlier you were variously calling them pirates, rip offs, immoral and other such things and conflating them with the simple downloading of ROMs. Those are very different things from just being a service you don't think is worth it for you, or what is a fundamentally different concept in the case of the simple downloading thing.

Also Nintendo does not have to approve of them doing what they do -- it is mostly the law they have to worry about and it seems it is fine. If you need Nintendo (or the other relevant rights holders) to sign off before you engage with a service then so be it but a) you might be waiting a long time for that and b) that seems like an odd personal requirement to have.

i say licenced and aproved by nintendo because than at least emulation would be aproved and working with emulators made by nintendo that actually works good and easy without glitches and bugs and it would be much different. i'm not talking from legal point (im not a lawyer) but functional and more accessible point.

I wants calling them pirates, i wanted to say that its pirating in sense that they are ripping roms as any other pirate and putting them on a pc, with difference they are doing it in a way that seems legal (for now..we will see..whatever) and asking money for that, unlike roms that are also ripped but free and not rental (but more shady).
And by immoral i meant that by my moral standards, i couldnt be able to ask for money for a thing that you can download in 2 sec. from "google" and play on emulator as well. It would feel like i ripped off my fellow gamers. (thats not from a legal point, as i said im not a lawyer i just speak as user/buyer/gamer..whatever)
So im not saying anyone is immoral or pirate, im just saying what they to is nothing different fndamentally and hat to me what they do is not moral.
I could never do that....but also i would never ripp a game and upload it online also, but i apreciate the people who have guts to do that for us who wants to play here and there, and i am thanking them!

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

Hi quality air with vitamine C, D, E....you dont get that from simply breathing regular, borring air!
All the cool kids buy the air!!!

Be cool!

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

I can't say it is a service that holds much appeal here either, and while I can not see emulation and this ROM bothering business going there as the sole thing in the future I would say I also hope that. However earlier you were variously calling them pirates, rip offs, immoral and other such things and conflating them with the simple downloading of ROMs. Those are very different things from just being a service you don't think is worth it for you, or what is a fundamentally different concept in the case of the simple downloading thing.

Also Nintendo does not have to approve of them doing what they do -- it is mostly the law they have to worry about and it seems it is fine. If you need Nintendo (or the other relevant rights holders) to sign off before you engage with a service then so be it but a) you might be waiting a long time for that and b) that seems like an odd personal requirement to have.

Look, i must say i understand you and in some points i can see what you're thinking..
but i just look all this from a different angle thats all.

 

[FAST6191]

Nintendo emulators "that actually works good and easy without glitches and bugs"... did we play the same virtual console and all the other ported and rerelease titles over the last however many years? Even ignoring Nintendo's lack of cheats, hacks, savestates, graphics filters and all the other jazz which fan made emulators afford most have been shockingly poor and none have done anything not done by emulators written perhaps a decade or more before they came to play (give or take the GC N64 Zelda discs but they were still far from good or the trailblazing).

As for your moral standard then by that logic why would I buy a book/dvd/whatever if I can just as easily download it? Equally I still have to make the distinction between nice and legal and not so legal in most cases. It might not matter to you if you are content to pirate it but in the eyes of the law there is a world of difference. Play it how you will but know your moral philosophy there is quite radically different to most.

 

[JellyPerson]

damn, can't i just, like, NOT pay for roms? kthx

 

[Frederica Bernkastel]

I suspect that everybody is afraid of taking this company to court, as it would set potentially dangerous precedent.

If they win, emulation is legitimized and so companies like Nintendo won't have the option to argue about the ownership of their IP anymore.
If they lose, emulation becomes illegal which potentially scares large swathes of loyal fans away from the product offerings of companies like Nintendo.

So instead Nintendo, Sega, Atari, they stand to gain more in making it most convenient to play their older titles through product channels which they control: e.g. Virtual Console.

 

[FAST6191]

I suspect that everybody is afraid of taking this company to court, as it would set potentially dangerous precedent.

If they win, emulation is legitimized and so companies like Nintendo won't have the option to argue about the ownership of their IP anymore.
If they lose, emulation becomes illegal which potentially scares large swathes of loyal fans away from the product offerings of companies like Nintendo.

So instead Nintendo, Sega, Atari, they stand to gain more in making it most convenient to play their older titles through product channels which they control: e.g. Virtual Console.

I thought emulation was considered out and out legit (between "substantial non infringing uses", "interoperability is good stuff" and "a console is just a collection of chips, no big deal" the obvious attack paths are already done). I would agree fear some kind of precedent about renting and this specific variation of it being legit for games, or proper scrutiny of user agreements combined with them losing basically nothing and not being troubled for inaction in defending their IP is probably a factor at play, a serious one at that, but emulation has long been on solid ground from where I sit.

 

[TeamScriptKiddies]

I actually recently discovered this site due to an article on Arstechnica about all these rom sites being taken out. I signed up for the free account and honestly plan on subscribing to the premium version (lets you play games from almost every retro console under the sun). Free membership, allows you to play NES, Atari and Colecovision games only. Pretty impressed thus far <3

 

[lincruste]

I would applause if the service was free (that's what "to lend" mean).
Nintendo forbids game pak renting without explicit authorization: this service is NOT legal, like every other rom sharing websites.

 

[FAST6191]

Nintendo forbids game pak renting without explicit authorization: this service is NOT legal, like every other rom sharing websites.

Their manuals might say things but they can try to say what they like. Have the courts ever smacked down a game rental service for renting?

 

[smf]

That's actually pretty smart. Follows the copyright to a t

Actually it does not. Copying a rom into a computer is an unlicensed copy, nothing they can do after that can make it right.

They are probably saved because their efforts would limit any damages to the point that it may not be worth nintendo pursuing them.

Nintendo may want to avoid a decision on whether it's a fair use or not, in my opinion it's not fair use but courts often do crazy things

Are you even allowed to rent out cartridges? On DVDs there is a message it is for home use only. Video shops of old had to pay extra (a license?) to be allowed to rent them out. I imagine it is the same for games, so it wouldn't matter if they had a physical cartridge for each person "renting" a particular rom.

The "home use only" means you can't show it in a cinema and charge people to watch, courts recognise the difference between cinemas that pay a lot of money for the rights to show a film & someone who buys a dvd for very little money.

In terms of rental things are much less clear. Video shops paid extra when they had exclusive access to films you couldn't buy for another 6 months. When video game companies tried to stop rental, they lost & the video shops one.

 

[WeedZ]

Actually it does not. Copying a rom into a computer is an unlicensed copy, nothing they can do after that can make it right.

They are probably saved because their efforts would limit any damages to the point that it may not be worth nintendo pursuing them.

Nintendo may want to avoid a decision on whether it's a fair use or not, in my opinion it's not fair use but courts often do crazy things



The "home use only" means you can't show it in a cinema and charge people to watch, courts recognise the difference between cinemas that pay a lot of money for the rights to show a film & someone who buys a dvd for very little money.

In terms of rental things are much less clear. Video shops paid extra when they had exclusive access to films you couldn't buy for another 6 months. When video game companies tried to stop rental, they lost & the video shops one.

US law allows for ROM dumps. You are legally allowed to own 1 backup copy of a physical media. That's why he said in the video "if all copies are being played, you have to wait". He has 1:1 backups.

 

[smf]

US law allows for ROM dumps. You are legally allowed to own 1 backup copy of a physical media. That's why he said in the video "if all copies are being played, you have to wait". He has 1:1 backups.

Under fair use law, which is for personal use. So he's fine as long as he only ever rents them to himself. Nintendo managed to stop blockbuster from photocopying the instructions of the games they were renting out, because that too is a copyright violation. Even though that 1 game was only being rented out to 1 person at a time.

If you can't legally keep the instructions safe by producing a copy to rent out a copy with an original game, then it stands to reason you can't legally rent out a copy of the game either.

People make shit up about copyright law all the time. At one point it was common "knowledge" that you were ok as long as you deleted it after 24 hours, spoiler you're not.

 

[WeedZ]

I would applause if the service was free (that's what "to lend" mean).
Nintendo forbids game pak renting without explicit authorization: this service is NOT legal, like every other rom sharing websites.

Under fair use law, which is for personal use. So he's fine as long as he only ever rents them to himself.

People make shit up about copyright law all the time. At one point it was common "knowledge" that you were ok as long as you deleted it after 24 hours, spoiler you're not.

I don't think either of you watched the video. The service is free. He's lending. You can pay for an additional service that let's you be first in line. Its a legit loophole in copyright law.

 

[smf]

I don't think either of you watched the video. The service is free. He's lending. You can pay for an additional service that let's you be first in line. Its a legit loophole in copyright law.

I don't need to watch the video. As soon as he lends the video to someone then it's no longer personal use and he is no longer protected by fair use.

The lack of money would limit the damages, so nintendo might not bother. However the ability to get to the front of the queue puts it clearly into commercial use. If he makes money posting about it on youtube then that would be considered as well. Even if you break even or lose money then it could be commercial use, because companies often lose money. Companies also give free products to some people, while charging others.

It's not a loophole.

 

[lincruste]

I don't think either of you watched the video. The service is free. He's lending. You can pay for an additional service that let's you be first in line. Its a legit loophole in copyright law.

As smf said, there is no loophole.
If you make someone pay to borrow something you own(yes, even just to be the first one), you're renting it.
Besides, he does not send the game pak to your home, he sends a copy to your browser which is, you know, a copy.
You know these video streaming websites broadcasting copyrighted Marvel movies for free ? There are NOT using a legit loophole in copyright law, there screwing with it, just like him.

 

[WeedZ]

I don't need to watch the video. As soon as he lends the video to someone then it's no longer personal use and he is no longer protected by fair use.

The lack of money would limit the damages, so nintendo might not bother. However the ability to get to the front of the queue puts it clearly into commercial use. If he makes money posting about it on youtube then that would be considered as well. Even if you break even or lose money then it could be commercial use, because companies often lose money. Companies also give free products to some people, while charging others.

It's not a loophole.

There are no laws against letting people use your stuff. Remember the backlash Microsoft got for wanting to make it impossible for people to share games?

As smf said, there is no loophole.
If you make someone pay to borrow something you own(yes, even just to be the first one), you're renting it.
Besides, he does not send the game pak to your home, he sends a copy to your browser which is, you know, a copy.
You know these video streaming websites broadcasting copyrighted Marvel movies for free ? There are NOT using a legit loophole in copyright law, there screwing with it, just like him.

There are laws against streaming and sharing video. This isn't the same thing. The ROM itself isn't being sent to you. Your loading data from the ROM into local ram. You think gbatemp is on your computer when you sign in?

 

[smf]

There are no laws against letting people use your stuff. Remember the backlash Microsoft got for wanting to make it impossible for people to share games?

Copyright law says you can't make copies. Fair use says you can for personal use as long as you don't give that copy to someone else.

He doesn't get fair use protection because he is giving the unlicensed copy to someone else.

There are laws against streaming and sharing video. This isn't the same thing. The ROM itself isn't being sent to you. Your loading data from the ROM into local ram. You think gbatemp is on your computer when you sign in?

The ROM is being sent to you. When you access gtatemp then parts of that are sent to you too. Whether it's stored in RAM or your hard drive is actually irrelevant to him.

It may help the people who accessed his service.

I thought emulation was considered out and out legit (between "substantial non infringing uses", "interoperability is good stuff" and "a console is just a collection of chips, no big deal" the obvious attack paths are already done).

emulation is legal, it's the copyright violations that are illegal. As long as you have a license or rely on fair use protection then you're fine. Downloading games and putting them on a flash cart is just as illegal as downloading them and running them in an emulator.

I would agree fear some kind of precedent about renting and this specific variation of it being legit for games, or proper scrutiny of user agreements combined with them losing basically nothing and not being troubled for inaction in defending their IP is probably a factor at play, a serious one at that, but emulation has long been on solid ground from where I sit.

I'm sure they will keep an eye on him, but if he keeps quiet and doesn't cause any real problems then they will probably leave him alone. The worst thing that could happen for him is that the service get publicity and becomes more popular due to the crackdown. Claiming it's a loophole will probably get them interested in smacking him down.

What they won't want to do is take the risk of a court deciding to interpret fair use law in a way that would allow this. But nintendo may feel compelled if people make a big deal about it.

I would applause if the service was free (that's what "to lend" mean).
Nintendo forbids game pak renting without explicit authorization: this service is NOT legal, like every other rom sharing websites.

Nintendo can say what they like on the game pak. They lost when they sued blockbuster, but they were renting real cartridges. The courts prevented them for copying the instructions to go with the legit cartridge. So a duplicate of the cartridge would seem to be illegal too.

 

[WeedZ]

Copyright law says you can't make copies. Fair use says you can as long as you don't give that copy to someone else.



The ROM is being sent to you. When you access gtatemp then parts of that are sent to you too. Whether it's stored in RAM or your hard drive is actually irrelevant.

Omg, watch the video and come back..
He doesn't give it to anyone, he let's you use it remotely..
Gbatemp is a database and several thousand lines of php across several hundred files. None of it gets sent to you. You access the server index and a series php scripts generates html that your browser can display. That resulting output is sent to your computer.

 

[lincruste]

There are no laws against letting people use your stuff. Remember the backlash Microsoft got for wanting to make it impossible for people to share games?

There are laws against streaming and sharing video. This isn't the same thing. The ROM itself isn't being sent to you. Your loading data from the ROM into local ram. You think gbatemp is on your computer when you sign in?

If only i/o were streamed, you'd have a fucking disqualifying lag. Believe me, copyrighted content IS streamed.