Well this is a shame but in many ways to be expected. Take-Two Interactive Software, the parent company of Rockstar Games, has filed a lawsuit against the developers of the reverse-engineered GTA III and Vice City code.
This is a bit of an ongoing saga, as Take-Two first got the GitHub repositories taken down, which were later restored when the developer of a fork submitted a counter-notice which wasn't argued so they all went back up. The repositories are still live on GitHub right now. The notice mentions this with Take-Two saying the counter notices were "were made in bad faith, and knowingly and deliberately misrepresented to GitHub the contents".
Plenty more is argued as well of course. In the notice it complains how the code now runs on platforms it was never released for where the "Defendants have sought to exploit a potential market that belongs exclusively to Take-Two", it argues against new cheats enabled in the source code which "are strictly prohibited under Take-Two’s terms of service". It goes further, complaining about modding which Take-Two say "encouraging users to further infringe the original Games and to violate their agreements with Take-Two that prohibit such activities".
As a result of the code being public, Take-Two are claiming it the "Defendants have caused and continue to cause irreparable harm".
Take-Two are looking to get damages paid which as of yet "are not currently ascertainable", so they want it to be worked out. On top of that they want the "maximum statutory damages of $150,000 for each work infringed" and they also want their "attorneys’ fees and full costs" paid as well.
The point about cheats is a funny one. Single-player games from the early 2000s have cheats added in? Extra modding too? Oh no, how completely terrible for people to further enjoy them.
Why was this lawsuit coming to be expected? Well, reverse-engineered code tends to be a grey area with it often being against the law, and code from leaks is a big no for all sorts of obvious legal reasons. That said, the source code did require people to actually buy the games for the data, so Take-Two would have still be getting revenue thanks to it.
Sadly though, like most major publishers, they shy away from any sort of open source. In this case, Take-Two and Rockstar are reportedly doing a big GTA Remastered Trilogy so moving to fully protect their code was obvious.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Quoting: areamanplaysgameQuoteIn the notice it complains how the code now runs on platforms it was never released for
Am I missing something? I thought there was an exception in the DMCA for exactly this - making software more useful to end users.
[..]
I don't know about DMCA, but that exception is definitely valid in the EU. That's how it's legal to "circumvent" DVD and Blu-ray encryption on Linux - if a product cannot be used in the advertised manner on your system, you're allowed to make it work.
slaapliedje Sep 19, 2021
Quoting: CybolicBringing up the decryption for DVD reminds me of all the old shenanigans... like when Debian used to have a non-US repository because it wasn't allowed to install encryption software in the USA... anyone else remember that?Quoting: areamanplaysgameQuoteIn the notice it complains how the code now runs on platforms it was never released for
Am I missing something? I thought there was an exception in the DMCA for exactly this - making software more useful to end users.
[..]
I don't know about DMCA, but that exception is definitely valid in the EU. That's how it's legal to "circumvent" DVD and Blu-ray encryption on Linux - if a product cannot be used in the advertised manner on your system, you're allowed to make it work.
Quoting: slaapliedjeYup.Quoting: CybolicBringing up the decryption for DVD reminds me of all the old shenanigans... like when Debian used to have a non-US repository because it wasn't allowed to install encryption software in the USA... anyone else remember that?Quoting: areamanplaysgameQuoteIn the notice it complains how the code now runs on platforms it was never released for
Am I missing something? I thought there was an exception in the DMCA for exactly this - making software more useful to end users.
[..]
I don't know about DMCA, but that exception is definitely valid in the EU. That's how it's legal to "circumvent" DVD and Blu-ray encryption on Linux - if a product cannot be used in the advertised manner on your system, you're allowed to make it work.
Quoting: slaapliedjeBringing up the decryption for DVD reminds me of all the old shenanigans... like when Debian used to have a non-US repository because it wasn't allowed to install encryption software in the USA... anyone else remember that?Ah, the old "munitions export without a license" shenanigans!
GustyGhost Sep 20, 2021
Quoteit complains how the code now runs on platforms it was never released for where the "Defendants have sought to exploit a potential market that belongs exclusively to Take-Two"
I am fluent in tyrant speak. The English translation of this line is: "We want to continue to exclusively deny access to our games to punish users who use platforms that we don't like".
The complaint states something about exploiting markets, but the key thing to note here is that THEY HAVE FAILED TO 'EXPLOIT' THIS MARKET so they have no grounds to be upset when somebody else comes along and does the job instead.
I have saved the repo to my own storage just to be sure any take down requests amount to a game of slashy hydra head.
slaapliedje Sep 20, 2021
Quoting: GustyGhostSo I'm curious what people would start thinking if things like this were Linux (or Mac) exclusive. Basically when an open source engine comes along for a commercial game that was normally available only on Windows, if the engine port didn't run on Windows, if it'd 'hide' better from such dipshittery.Quoteit complains how the code now runs on platforms it was never released for where the "Defendants have sought to exploit a potential market that belongs exclusively to Take-Two"
I am fluent in tyrant speak. The English translation of this line is: "We want to continue to exclusively deny access to our games to punish users who use platforms that we don't like".
The complaint states something about exploiting markets, but the key thing to note here is that THEY HAVE FAILED TO 'EXPLOIT' THIS MARKET so they have no grounds to be upset when somebody else comes along and does the job instead.
I have saved the repo to my own storage just to be sure any take down requests amount to a game of slashy hydra head.
But yeah, 'OMG, those dirty Linux neckbeards are able to play our game now!' sounds like some reactions I've read on Steam discussions...
Quoting: slaapliedjeQuoting: GustyGhostSo I'm curious what people would start thinking if things like this were Linux (or Mac) exclusive. Basically when an open source engine comes along for a commercial game that was normally available only on Windows, if the engine port didn't run on Windows, if it'd 'hide' better from such dipshittery.Quoteit complains how the code now runs on platforms it was never released for where the "Defendants have sought to exploit a potential market that belongs exclusively to Take-Two"
I am fluent in tyrant speak. The English translation of this line is: "We want to continue to exclusively deny access to our games to punish users who use platforms that we don't like".
The complaint states something about exploiting markets, but the key thing to note here is that THEY HAVE FAILED TO 'EXPLOIT' THIS MARKET so they have no grounds to be upset when somebody else comes along and does the job instead.
I have saved the repo to my own storage just to be sure any take down requests amount to a game of slashy hydra head.
But yeah, 'OMG, those dirty Linux neckbeards are able to play our game now!' sounds like some reactions I've read on Steam discussions...
I remember shit storms every time some game which was console-exclusive gets published on Steam. People are really that strange. So people get mad when games work on Linux. And some such people are in establishment and work on high positions in big corporations. But I really hope these people will lose this time.
slaapliedje Sep 20, 2021
Quoting: slapinYou know what's funny? The psychology behind that exclusivity is the same kind of psychology around why Flat-Earthers are a thing.Quoting: slaapliedjeQuoting: GustyGhostSo I'm curious what people would start thinking if things like this were Linux (or Mac) exclusive. Basically when an open source engine comes along for a commercial game that was normally available only on Windows, if the engine port didn't run on Windows, if it'd 'hide' better from such dipshittery.Quoteit complains how the code now runs on platforms it was never released for where the "Defendants have sought to exploit a potential market that belongs exclusively to Take-Two"
I am fluent in tyrant speak. The English translation of this line is: "We want to continue to exclusively deny access to our games to punish users who use platforms that we don't like".
The complaint states something about exploiting markets, but the key thing to note here is that THEY HAVE FAILED TO 'EXPLOIT' THIS MARKET so they have no grounds to be upset when somebody else comes along and does the job instead.
I have saved the repo to my own storage just to be sure any take down requests amount to a game of slashy hydra head.
But yeah, 'OMG, those dirty Linux neckbeards are able to play our game now!' sounds like some reactions I've read on Steam discussions...
I remember shit storms every time some game which was console-exclusive gets published on Steam. People are really that strange. So people get mad when games work on Linux. And some such people are in establishment and work on high positions in big corporations. But I really hope these people will lose this time.
Very much has to do with "I know some secret knowledge that others do not." And there is that same thing of "I can play this game because I bought the 'superior' platform." Exclusivity only happens because $Company pays $Publisher enough to not let others play their game. At least back in the day there was some sort of 'well this platform is more capable and that's why we published it there, as the experience of the game will be crap on other systems...' We no longer have that barrier at all!
DaiKaiser93 Sep 20, 2021
Quoting: slaapliedjeExclusivity only happens because $Company pays $Publisher enough to not let others play their game. At least back in the day there was some sort of 'well this platform is more capable and that's why we published it there, as the experience of the game will be crap on other systems...' We no longer have that barrier at all!Nowadays the only excuse they should have for exclusives is if X company owns the studio, but they'll continue to do it as long as studios accept the deals.
Quoting: DaiKaiser93Quoting: slaapliedjeExclusivity only happens because $Company pays $Publisher enough to not let others play their game. At least back in the day there was some sort of 'well this platform is more capable and that's why we published it there, as the experience of the game will be crap on other systems...' We no longer have that barrier at all!Nowadays the only excuse they should have for exclusives is if X company owns the studio, but they'll continue to do it as long as studios accept the deals.
Exclusivity deals are easy money now, while game itself might or might not be successful. You can't get all the money they say, so lets go a safe route... Zero-risks opportunity...
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