Is a BlackBerry Curve Game Emulator Legal?
There are legal ramifications that should be outlined here. In all cases where users do not own the original console or gaming software then it is illegal to download or even keep certain games and their respective ROMs. The reason for this is because all games are compacted into a file called a “ROM” which is simply an image file of the game or program they are wishing to use. The emulator then takes this ROM and correctly runs it as a game or program as if it were being used on the original device. So, basically the emulator is using a full copy of the game; the argument in question is that downloaded ROMs are basically “stolen” copies. Because the user with the ROM did not pay for the file, nor do they own the original game; this is a case of stealing much like the idea of illegal MP3 downloads. This in turn causes game emulation to fall into sort of a grey area when considering “legal” uses. So, before continuing I should mention that the actual emulation programs are not illegal,
