RIP NESbox

It appears copyright maximalists the ESA have shut down NESbox and forced them to remove all the game

Here's the notice from the website FAQ:

Nesbox got 'Notice of Infringement' from Entertainment Software Association (ESA). They want to remove from the Website all links to unauthorized copies of ESA-member content.

There goes our only source to play NES games online. Goes to show how copyright maximalists does this to shut users out who want to play for free.


And to make matters worse the VNES project and Playr is shut down as well.

The last item on their list is force Deviantart to remove the fan art category and ban people from uploading fan art.

Here's the infringment notice:

We are writing on behalf of the Entertainment Software Association (“ESA”), a U.S. trade association that represents the interests of the leading publishers of interactive games for video game consoles, personal computers, handheld devices and the Internet. ESA member companies include, but are not limited to: 505 Games, Activision Publishing, Inc., Blizzard Entertainment, Capcom USA, Inc., Electronic Arts (EA), Epic Games, Inc., Konami Digital Entertainment, Microsoft Corporation, Namco Bandai Games America Inc., Nintendo of America Inc., SEGA of America, Inc., Sony Computer Entertainment America, Square Enix, Inc., Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc., and Ubisoft Entertainment, Inc. We are authorized to act on behalf of the ESA members identified above to protect their intellectual property rights in published works when such works are subject to copyright infringement. We are writing to notify you of the extensive infringement of ESA-member copyrights that we believe in good faith to be occurring by virtue of the operation of the website, nesbox.com (“Website”).

During a recent review of the Website, we identified a large volume of links to unauthorized copies of video games, many of which are published by ESA members.

We request that you take immediate steps to remove from the Website all links to unauthorized copies of ESA-member content. Please confirm for us when the removal of infringing content is complete.

We are providing this notice based on our good faith belief that the use of video game software owned by ESA member companies in the manner occurring on the Website is not authorized by the copyright owners, their agents, or the law. The information in this notification is accurate, and under penalty of perjury, we are authorized to act on behalf of ESA’s member companies, which own or control exclusive rights under copyright that are being infringed in the manner described herein. By providing this notice, neither ESA nor its members waive any claims, rights or remedies. All such claims, rights and remedies are expressly reserved.

Update: There was  server issues with VNES and Playr. But I will still monitor both sites as the ESA is likely targeting them as part of their "Notice and Stay down" procedure. VNES requires Java folks so play at your own risk as Oracle has been slow at patching the security holes. Today they patched 22.

For SNES games, it's still ruins on flash at the Letsplaysnes website, but it won't last that long as that site is targeted by the ESA. 1980games is playable but like I said again and I'll say it this for the last time, "PLAY AT YOUR OWN RISK".

Update 2: 404 error on the VNES site. So looks like the games are taken down..