is this illegal?

[gaelan]

not yet i don't think...

http://www.psphacks.net/content/view/193/2/

so what exactly can you do w/ the iso files? from the article, it sounds like before any games can be illegally duplicated, they have to figure out how to get the iso onto media that the psp will read...currently useless but interesting nonetheless.

[PsyClerk]

They have to figure out a way to get the PSP to read those files first. Look at the size of the games though! That would fit on a memory stick. I would not be surprised to see them get this working either through a hacked system update to allow for running games off the memory stick, or running data off a CD-R (drive hooked up to the PSP via USB). The second option kills portability, but still...

Interesting stuff.

[javeryh]

It's illegal to do anything with a copyrighted work that the original owner doesn't give you permission to do. This probably qualifies.

[Scorch]

"is this illegal"? Of course it is.

I thought PSP games were cracked a long time ago.. I guarentee that the way people will play games is some emulator on the PC and using the PSP to PC cable or something..

[Quackzilla]

The only people who will benefit from this knowledge is Chinese 'business men' who have the resources to make bootlegs a massive quantities.

The psphacks website is only supporting slave and child labor.

[firenze]

It's illegal to do anything with a copyrighted work that the original owner doesn't give you permission to do. This probably qualifies.

That's completely untrue. I shudder to think that the RIAA and MPAA's intimidation marketing campaign may be working on some people. There are plenty of things you can do with a copyrighted work that the original owner doesn't give permission to use. Just look at the huge body of law about "fair use". Some things you can just do because the law allows you to. We do NOT live in a permission culture where we require consent of the author to do anything with their work.

That being said, making copies of PSP games that you don't own so you can play them is likely illegal under any interpretation.

I think everyone should read Lawrence Lessig's book Free Culture. It's available at NO COST under a Creative Commons license at the website, http://free-culture.org/ Lessig is a Stanford law professor who is one of the leading copyright law scholars. Really smart guy, and the book will make you think. It's written in a way that's quite entertaining and interesting to anyone, but it has some really intelligent ideas that you may not have considered. At least another perspective besides the one the music and movie companies want to force on you. Then make your own decision.

[epobirs]

That's completely untrue. I shudder to think that the RIAA and MPAA's intimidation marketing campaign may be working on some people. There are plenty of things you can do with a copyrighted work that the original owner doesn't give permission to use. Just look at the huge body of law about "fair use". Some things you can just do because the law allows you to. We do NOT live in a permission culture where we require consent of the author to do anything with their work.

That being said, making copies of PSP games that you don't own so you can play them is likely illegal under any interpretation.

I think everyone should read Lawrence Lessig's book Free Culture. It's available at NO COST under a Creative Commons license at the website, http://free-culture.org/ Lessig is a Stanford law professor who is one of the leading copyright law scholars. Really smart guy, and the book will make you think. It's written in a way that's quite entertaining and interesting to anyone, but it has some really intelligent ideas that you may not have considered. At least another perspective besides the one the music and movie companies want to force on you. Then make your own decision.

Lessig's work has made me think. It's made me think that you get what you pay when it comes to that book. It's made me think Stanford could find far better uses for his salary. It's made me think Lessig is utterly full of crap.

Seriously, if you move away from the Internet and into the real world, Lessig isn't held in as nearly as high regard as the Slashdot and WIRED crowd would like to believe. He scores high with certain groups with large online contingents because he tells them what they want to hear and makes it sound like something other than spoiled brats demanding frree candy. This is the guy who tried to suggest that the original Napster and its ilk should be given immunity free any legal consequences because they represented such an innovative new distribution system. Giving away other people's IP is innovative? Bullshit. It's been around for centuries under the guise of the Thieve's Market. Napster did not invent online distribution, just a variation on an old scam. Even worse, some idiot VCs gave them millions of dollars in capitalization without the slightest trace of how this would produce net revenues.

[javeryh]

That's completely untrue. I shudder to think that the RIAA and MPAA's intimidation marketing campaign may be working on some people. There are plenty of things you can do with a copyrighted work that the original owner doesn't give permission to use. Just look at the huge body of law about "fair use". Some things you can just do because the law allows you to. We do NOT live in a permission culture where we require consent of the author to do anything with their work.

That being said, making copies of PSP games that you don't own so you can play them is likely illegal under any interpretation.

I think everyone should read Lawrence Lessig's book Free Culture. It's available at NO COST under a Creative Commons license at the website, http://free-culture.org/ Lessig is a Stanford law professor who is one of the leading copyright law scholars. Really smart guy, and the book will make you think. It's written in a way that's quite entertaining and interesting to anyone, but it has some really intelligent ideas that you may not have considered. At least another perspective besides the one the music and movie companies want to force on you. Then make your own decision.

Look, subject to certain limited Fair Use exceptions (education, social commentary, newsreporting, parody, etc.), a copyright gives the owner 5 basic rights - the right to copy the work, the right to prepare derivative works, the right to distribute copies of the work, the right to publicly perform the work and the right to publicly display the work. Sure there are plenty of things you can do with a copyrighted work but creating a copy of it is not one of them. Also, one of the main components of a Fair Use determination is the effect it would have on the original copyright holder if the type of use in question was widespread. I'm pretty sure the activity in question would have a negative effect here. No matter how you look at this, it's illegal.

[blackcracker]

Bring on the 80's 90's console emulation to the psp!

[darkje]

I agree with you!

I can't wait for SNES, NES and even a MAME emulator.

I'm just drooling over the possibilities!

Homebrew is what made the xbox huge in my eyes, I love playing classic games without having to hook up all my old crappy hardware (my atari 2600 is RIP) against my friends.

Dr mario marathons rule :P

[Alpha2]

Before this thread gets locked... and I feel it will soon if it hasnt already before I it the post button, the copying of the games isnt illegal, it's the use and distribution that are no-nos.

Basiccally all it sounds like is that they pulled the UMDs out of their shell and stuck them in a drive and used ISO buster or something. The next step this takes is either figuring out how to make fake UMDs that the taiwanese would happily do if it means ca$h, or cracking PSPs open anf hooking up a different drive which would likely destroy the systems portability in a huge way.