Copyright exemption lets you modify old games to keep them running
You no longer have to dread the day that a game developer shuts off its servers and renders your favorite title unplayable. As part of a series of DMCA copyright exemptions, the US Library of Congress has granted long-sought permission to disable authentication server requirements in games where a server's shutdown will completely break the experience.
Historians can even hack the consoles themselves, if necessary.
This doesn't allow you to tweak games where you'd only lose multiplayer modes, but it does mean that at least some aspects of a classic game will live on.
Source: Engadget/Joystiq
