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this post was submitted on 14 Feb 2026
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Emulation doesn't just apply to games. The entire legality is based off of the fact that reverse engineering is also legal, which is how companies can replicate ideas or concepts from competitor products, or how 3rd party vendors make products compatible with other platforms.
It would be stupid to have to wait for a patent to expire before you can utilize the concept in your own product. Patent cockfighting would be a completly new level of hell, and no one would get anywhere.
Imagine having to wait 10 years before you can use 3rd party controllers for your switch because Nintendo uses a proprietary bluetooth driver. 3rd party Wiimotes wouldn't even exist.
The only ethical conundrum is the aide in piracy, but we've already seen how little that has to do with emulation due to homebrew and flashcarts.
If anything, Nintendo has a higher moral ground on ROM libraries which they can argue aides in piracy due to "bypassing" copyright protection.