Stop Killing Games Canadian Petition - Now Open For Signature
Petition E-4965 is the one that is posted to stopkillinggames.com, Ross Scott (Accursed Farms)'s campaign to end the practice of bricking games people have purchased, whenever the publisher doesn’t want to support it anymore.
It is open for signing by Canadian Citizens and Permanent Residents, until September 5th 2024.
Please spread the word to your Canadian friends and family who take interest in games, and please add your name to it to support this campaign to help preserve games in some form in perpetuity.
they need to open the code enough for fans to keep the game functional
That makes sense. Another commenter pointed out that even for defunct MMORPGs people were able to spin up their own servers to keep the game alive. If companies are forced to provide something to help that, it’s already a win.
I’m not hopeful Canada would be able to pass legislation forcing companies to open source things, though. Maybe if this was the EU lol our track record of fighting tech companies hasn’t been pretty.
It would probably just result in games not being for sale in Canada.
Maybe a progressive tax, not a ban, eg if your game grosses say $1M sales in Canada you pay a higher tax rate if you don’t attest that you’ve set aside enough cash to do this when you sunset the game. Then if you said you’d do it but don’t, the CRA can come after you. Revenue from this tax could be earmarked for computer education or indie studio grants or something.
That sounds like a nightmare! I don’t think game developers (or any other artist) would want the CRA breathing down their neck, telling them what they can or can’t do with their work. I certainly wouldn’t program under those conditions.
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That makes sense. Another commenter pointed out that even for defunct MMORPGs people were able to spin up their own servers to keep the game alive. If companies are forced to provide something to help that, it’s already a win.
I’m not hopeful Canada would be able to pass legislation forcing companies to open source things, though. Maybe if this was the EU lol our track record of fighting tech companies hasn’t been pretty.
It would probably just result in games not being for sale in Canada.
Maybe a progressive tax, not a ban, eg if your game grosses say $1M sales in Canada you pay a higher tax rate if you don’t attest that you’ve set aside enough cash to do this when you sunset the game. Then if you said you’d do it but don’t, the CRA can come after you. Revenue from this tax could be earmarked for computer education or indie studio grants or something.
That sounds like a nightmare! I don’t think game developers (or any other artist) would want the CRA breathing down their neck, telling them what they can or can’t do with their work. I certainly wouldn’t program under those conditions.
… then just pay the higher tax rate? You already grossed a million dollars in sales.