There are specific exemptions to the law for the purposes of interoperability... now whether emulation would count is probably up to a lawyer and/or court. :?:Some people had a hobby of breaking copy protection on Mac 68k programs. I don't know what the DMCA law would say about breaking the copy protection on software you own for your own use, for software that predates that law.
My lay reading of 1201(f) would lead me to believe that breaking the copy protection on a copy of Wizardry that you own legally would be allowable for the purposes of running the game inside a modern emulator.There are seven exemptions built into section 1201 of the DMCA, some of which permit the circumvention of access and copy controls for limited purposes, some of which allow for the limited distribution of circumvention tools in particular circumstances. These seven exemptions are for:
* Libraries, archives, and educational institutions for acquisition purposes; [1201(d)]
* Law enforcement and intelligence gathering activities; [1201(e)]
* Reverse engineering in order to develop interoperable programs; [1201(f)]
* Encryption Research; [1201(g)]
* Protecting minors from material on the Internet; [1201(h)]
* Protecting the privacy of personally identifying information; [1201(i)]
* Security Testing [1201(j)]
Emphasis mine:
(f) Reverse Engineering. -
* (1) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a)(1)(A), a person who has lawfully obtained the right to use a copy of a computer program may circumvent a technological measure that effectively controls access to a particular portion of that program for the sole purpose of identifying and analyzing those elements of the program that are necessary to achieve interoperability of an independently created computer program with other programs, and that have not previously been readily available to the person engaging in the circumvention, to the extent any such acts of identification and analysis do not constitute infringement under this title.
* (2) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections (a)(2) and ( B) , a person may develop and employ technological means to circumvent a technological measure, or to circumvent protection afforded by a technological measure, in order to enable the identification and analysis under paragraph (1), or for the purpose of enabling interoperability of an independently created computer program with other programs, if such means are necessary to achieve such interoperability, to the extent that doing so does not constitute infringement under this title.
* (3) The information acquired through the acts permitted under paragraph (1), and the means permitted under paragraph (2), may be made available to others if the person referred to in paragraph (1) or (2), as the case may be, provides such information or means solely for the purpose of enabling interoperability of an independently created computer program with other programs, and to the extent that doing so does not constitute infringement under this title or violate applicable law other than this section.
* (4) For purposes of this subsection, the term ''interoperability'' means the ability of computer programs to exchange information, and of such programs mutually to use the information which has been exchanged.