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Kill Kast 13: Jailbreaking is Legal, What That Means for Gaming
After a bit of a technical issue Spawn Kill’s Kill Kast is back with episode 13! In this episode we talk about recent news, what we’ve been playing (Critter Crunch!), we laugh about a study that says kids who play games can turn into drug addicts later in life, and we discuss our topic of the podcast which is the recent copyright ruling that essentially said jailbreaking an iPhone to create homebrew apps is legal and what that means for gaming.
Don’t forget you can subscribe to us on iTunes and also remember to enter our Halo: Reach Special Edition Xbox 360 bundle giveaway! Thanks for listening.
One problem with digital distribution I heard brought up recently is that licenses might expire, making it difficult to download a title and back it up from a server if it is no longer available. There are some films I had on Instant Watch on Netflix that are no longer listed. Also, there was a controversy in which Amazon removed a couple of Orwell books from users Kindles, and credited them to the customers accounts. You can read about that here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/18/technology/co…
It might be me being overly paranoid, but it could potentially happen to games as well, since there are many download services that may not allow you to have backups. I recall reading somewhere that the games you “buy” on OnLive you do not own.
Anyway, on to the homebrew and piracy, I agree that it is widespread and punishing consumers isn't going to help sales. I won't comment on the legal aspects on it, since I'm not exactly a legal expert, but I do recall some of the Joystiq staff talking about how they had the Homebrew Channel installed for emulators, and Kotaku recently had a giant article about how to backup DS games via a flashcart.
Yes, I remember reading about the kindle scandal. Basically, as a general rule, you do not own any of your digital content. When you “buy” a digital game (some exceptions) you are merely purchasing a license for that game, which, theoretically, they can revoke at any time, and they don't have to honor down the road. That's one reason I really don't like digital games, especially ones I pay more than about $10 for.
Durrrrrr herrrrrrrr I sound like I never went to college but I just love talking about vidya games. Let's talk about DRM.
DRM is bad.
(long pause)
Yeah, DRM is really bad. I think. I dunno. Do you think DRM is bad? Rebecca?
Yea DRM is bad.
Dana?
Yeah DRM is bad. Durrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
(drools)
What's everyone thoughts on energy drinks?
RED BULL! I like drinking it.
Me too.
Dana?
I drink cum and red bull actually. Good combination. I feel like I really identify with the taste.
THE THIRST QUENCHER. Also, DRM sucks.