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It's scared people will play games for fun instead of research if such a library exists.
Image credit: The Neverhood, DreamWorks Interactive | The Neverhood
While what we consider old games were born barely 20-30 years ago, it's already hard to access many of them. According to the Video Game History Foundation (VGHF) and the Software Preservation Network (SPN) report, only 13% of classic video games published in the United States are currently in release. The organizations together with other companies have been trying to come up with a plan to save retro games, and last week, a hearing took place between their side and the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) along with the Advanced Access Content System (AACS), held by the United States Library of Congress Copyright Office.
To put it simply, the issue is in the copyright, and the SPN wants to find a way for researchers to be exempt from DMCA and access games in libraries and archives. However, as reported by Game Developer, the ESA's legal representative Steve Englund said there's “[no] combination of limitations [ESA members] would support to provide remote access."
The ESA pushed back against all suggestions, afraid people would lie about their academic credentials and use the libraries as an "online arcade" where anyone can play games for fun. The AACS attorney Mike Ayers supported this view, saying there should be "more substance" in combating the preservation rules.
Their opponents accused the ESA and AACS of refusing to find a compromise. Technology lawyer Kendra Albert believes any changes will "never be enough" for rights holders.
"Harming scholarship and teaching because there might be an interest in recreational play ... doesn't feel fair to them which put a lot of effort into making these works available."
Earlier, the VGHF founder Frank Cifaldi said, "No one is against the idea of video game preservation, but companies and their shareholders are against the idea of not making a profit" (via Rock Paper Shotgun), so it seems we'll be stuck in the old ways for a while.
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