The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) filed petitions regarding the Digital Millenium Copyright Act or DMCA, seeking to allow players to keep playing online games that are no longer supported by developers and publishers.

A problem arises when game that requires back end services comes to the end of its profitable lifecycle and developers and publishers move on from that game, and shut down those services. Fans and players who want to continue playing that game must therefore run their own servers or make an end-run around the code requiring the services. This practice may violate the terms of the DMCA, leaving these games either unplayable or in murky legal territory.

The EFF and law student Kendra Albert have submitted comments to the Copyright Office asking for an exemption to Section 1201 of the Digital Millenium Copyright Act. The petitions were submitted as part of the complex, triennial rule-making process that determines exemptions from Section 1201 of the DMCA.

According to the filing, changing a game so it doesn’t need to connect to a server that no longer exists could violate Section 1201 of the act, which prohibits circumventing “technical protection measures.”

The petition says game developers and distributors don’t run servers forever, and often shut them off when player numbers dwindle. Having player communities step in to preserve their games is a win for everyone. However, Section 1201 creates chilling effects that keep this from happening. And for games without dedicated programmers who are willing to take legal risks, communities disperse, moving on to new games or just disappearing entirely.

Recognizing that the law could impede lawful and important uses of copyrighted works, the EFF’s proposed plan covers games where “single-player or multiplayer play is no longer possible.”

The rulemaking process allows users who want to preserve or archive games, both those who are affiliated with formal institutions and those who are just enthusiasts. Stanford University, the Museum of Art and Digital Entertainment, the Internet Archive, Digital Entertainment and MIT filed statements in support of the exemption.

“Repositories and researchers [are forced] into the uncomfortable situation of considering unauthorized circumvention of copyright law in order to preserve or provide access to game and virtual world environments, data, and software,” EFF said. “Archiving and preserving playable copies is essential to future researchers, especially ones who wish to study the multiplayer components and the design of modern games.”

For example, popular games such as Civilization 5, Mario Kart Wii, Madden ’09, Games for Microsoft’s Windows  Live service, the Japanese version of Resident Evil Outbreak, FEAR: Combat, Metal Gear Online, Halo, Technika 2 + 3, 100 Classic Books, Age of Booty, Battlefield 2, EA Sports 06, Madden NFL 08, Plants vs. Zombies Adventures, Star Wars Republic Commando, Ultima Forever and a number of older game have their servers either shut down or are in process of shutting down in near future.

If approved, the abandoned game exemption would allow users to reverse engineer and modify old games that have lost support. For example, games could be modified to no longer attempt to connect to an authentication server.

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