Episode 163: The Complexities of EULAs

Phil Salvador interviews Amy Thomas, legal expert and author of Copyright, Contract, and Video Games: Terms of Play, about the evolving landscape of digital rights and ownership in gaming. In this episode, Amy discusses her journey from studying Microsoft's Xbox One EULA in 2013; the complexities of EULAs, user rights, and the impact of digital ownership on game preservation; her research on possibly the earliest EULA, found in 1985 for Pitfall II; and the challenges of digital preservation, including implications of Sony's recent decision to discontinue physical PlayStation discs.

Mentioned in the show: 

Tandy Software License: https://colorcomputerarchive.com/repo/Documents/Manuals/Games/Pitfall%20II%20(Tandy).pdf

Moria License: https://free-moria.sourceforge.net/moria-non-free-license.txt

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See more from Amy Thomas:

LinkedIn: /amy-thomas

The Centre for Regulation of the Creative Economy, University of Glasgow: create.ac.uk

Upcoming speaking engagement: Playable Heritage: Creating a Collaborative Framework for Collecting Video Game Culture

Video Game History Foundation:

Email: podcast@gamehistory.org

Website: gamehistory.org

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