Finally, it’s time for us to talk about the topic of this very blog – digital preservation! And boy oh boy, do I have a lot to talk about with you, so just strap yourself down and, in the words of a great videogame character, stay a while and listen. Let me ask you a question: What do you think is the biggest hurdle behind the digital preservation of online casinos? Maybe you think that it’s a pointless endeavour, because why should we preserve an online casino that’s out of business when there’s already so many of them that are kicking around? And yeah, I suppose that’s kind of a fair point, even if I disagree with it (I should probably make a post explaining why later). Or maybe you think that it would take too much work to preserve every single casino of note, including a ton of money for stuff like serves and webspace. That’s also a very valid point. But, believe it or not, the biggest issue isn’t related to the lack of resources or motivation. It’s entirely legal.
Enter the DMCA – the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, implemented in 1996. Today, whenever we argue that something is “under copyright”, we usually mean that it’s protected by the DMCA, and that protection means that it can’t be replicated, sold, distributed or altered in any way without the explicit permission of the copyright holder. That’s why, if you make a YouTube video featuring Johnny Cash’s song “Hurt”, that video might be taken down and you could receive a DMCA notice, since you used the song without permission. However, since 20th Century Fox reached an agreement with the people holding the rights to the song, they’re free to use it in their trailer for “Logan”. The DMCA isn’t a bad idea in theory, since it protects copyright holders from having their work stolen and profited off of (without it, I could literally just download copies of movies, burn them on discs and sell them on the street, and no one would be able to stop me). In theory, DMCA is supposed to wear off after a certain period of time, allowing a work to enter the public domain and be accessible to everyone. Works that are in the public domain (such as, say, the novel “Dracula”) are exempt from copyright, and technically, to echo the example above, I can print out copies of “Dracula” and sell them on the street, and nobody could stop me. The problem is that copyright takes a veeeery long time to wear off, and it’s all because of a very particular mouse.
You see, Mickey Mouse debuted in 1928, and under the copyright law at the time, he had copyright protection for 56 years before entering the public domain, which was set to happen in 1984. Problem is, Disney refused to have their mascot character leave copyright and be free to everyone, so in the 70s, they pushed to have the copyright protection period extended. And then they did it again. And again. Every single time Mickey Mouse’s copyright protection was on the verge of expiration, the copyright laws magically became stricter. Today, with corporations having major control over the American congress, it’s pretty much safe to assume that copyrighted works will never be allowed to enter the public domain. I mean, at this point Mickey Mouse’s copyright is set to expire in only seven years – do you really believe Disney will allow that, now that they’re at their most powerful yet thanks to “Star Wars” and their Marvel movies?
Of course, this all just applies to American copyright law, so in theory, British copyright law should be different… Right? Well, not exactly, no. While the DMCA is purely an American law, it exists under other names in many other countries, including the UK. In Britain, it’s known as the UKCS, and it states that any work may enter public domain after 50 years. But, surprise surprise, when amazingly popular British TV show “Doctor Who” hit its 50th anniversary in 2013, the law was changed so that now movies and TV shows can enter public domain 70 years after the death of the last person involved in them, and since the director of the first episodes of “Doctor Who” is still alive at the age of 78, we’re not getting those episodes until at least 2087. And let me assure you, if “Doctor Who” is even still relevant at this point, the BBC will surely find a way to extend their copyright even further. Online casinos, such as the ones listed at http://www.bestonlinecasinos.org.uk/, are also subject to the same rule – no distribution or alteration until at least 50 years have passed, and who knows what will happen in the mid-2050s to prevent that from happening. Obviously, in order to be preserved, online casinos need to be altered to work outside of the servers to which they were originally linked, and even then they need to be duplicated for use on a different domain, so either way copying them – even simply with the interest of preservation – is a major copyright violation.
There might be a little bit of light at the end of the tunnel, but it’s a dim one. Classic, abandoned videogames are pretty much in the same boat as online casinos, meaning that they couldn’t be preserved legally before their copyright expired. However, thanks to a few recent alterations to the DMCA, copyright law now does not apply to altering videogames and distributing them as long as that work is done to benefit a videogame archival institution. So basically, I can take an old game from a long-closed developer, crack it open to remove its copyright protection and to ensure that it’s playable, and then upload it to a videogame archive database for players to enjoy without facing any consequences whatsoever. It’s a wonderful system, and one that I hope gets implemented in the UK as well – it would, at the very least, ensure that online casinos that are no longer active will not be forgotten.
As I have already told you in my introductory post, I’ve been watching the development of online casinos from the very start. I’ve seen it in its dark ages, when things didn’t run so smoothly, or didn’t run at all. Remember the time when your dial-up would keep on disconnecting? Or when your beloved OS would freeze or stop responding? Well, I’m not going to name names but they’re all doing a much better job these days.
And as hardware and software get an upgrade, so do casino games. Just a week ago, Playtech launched their HTML5 roulette and it became an instant success. The player response to the new technology was phenomenal, as Playtech declared, and the demand for the new product in the 48 hours after the launch – huge.
There’s, actually, another reason for casino games to become better and better every day. I’m talking about the massive competition on the European market. There’re virtually hundreds of casino operators, with new ones appearing almost daily. Some are good, some are bad, but they’re all fighting for the attention of players. And though the players of casino games are a force to be reckoned with – judging by their number and by their competence in knowing what they want – there are only so many players to justify the existence of the great number of casinos.
So, what can a good site do in this sea of casinos? They can increase the quality of the product offered. And they do so constantly. With the helping hand of the software companies who work diligently towards the improvement of their services and products, they keep on offering more and more exciting game variants with bigger and more interesting side bets.
Case in point: online roulette. Though I’ve always loved playing roulette in casinos in the city, I would pick the exclusive experience of playing online any time. There’s nothing like the thrill of watching that ball go round and round before it stops on the lucky number? Well, at online casinos, you can watch that in HD, in slow motion, with an instant replay, while the sexiest dealer is smiling at you or touching her hair seductively. Don’t believe me? Try the award-winning game from Evolution Gaming Immersive Roulette!
You like novelty and surprise? Well, you could go to a different casino every time but these could never match the excitement of playing the novel roulette variations only available online. There’s Marvel Roulette. There’s Mini Roulette. There’s Speed Roulette. There’s Pinball Roulette. Now, does your local dealer speak other languages? Many live casino suppliers offer table and card games in other languages, such as Italian, German and Swedish.
And if you’re more interested in the financial side of gaming, at online casinos you’ll have a better chance to make some cash as well. As I’ve learned from this neat site www.realmoneyonlineroulette.co.uk online roulette is the perfect casino game for playing with real money. You can bet wisely or you can follow your gut. You can use a system or stake according to your bankroll. Whichever you choose, online roulette is much more fun and much more profitable than the old-fashioned roulette at land-based casinos.
Welcome to my website! In this first introductory post, I would like to talk a bit about who I am and why I decided to create this blog. My name is Ryan Mason, and I have been an online gambler ever since my twenties. My biggest passion was, and I guess always will be, online casinos. I was there for their conception, and I can safely say that I was one of the first players to completely devote myself to playing online, in contrast to other people who continued visiting land-based operators for some time. I guess I was one of the few people who realised the many advantages online operators have over traditional brick-and-mortar casinos.
I have seen the concept of online casino gaming develop over the past decades, and I continue to be interested in what the future holds for the industry. Hence the name of my website – Digital Preservation of Online Casinos. Online casinos established themselves as the preferable method of gambling for players worldwide, and they continue to amaze with innovations and contemporary developments. I am excited to be a part of all this, and I am making an attempt to be somewhat of a scholar on the subject.
This website will focus on the history of the online casinos – from the humble beginnings in 1994, through the unveiling of the first live dealer games, to the first mobile casino apps and beyond. My articles will focus not only on the historical side of it all, but on a variety of topics. Being an eye witness to it all, I believe I know how things really happened – and I am very excited to share it all with you.
I will try my best to post regularly, and keep my articles both informative and entertaining. If you would like me to cover a specific subject, you can get in touch with me via the provided contact form. I hope you find the information in my website useful. Enjoy!
