The legal ban-hammer has been dropping on emulation and ROM sites over the last couple of months like a giant bag of fetal viscera being dropped into a trash can out behind an abortion clinic. The hard-hitting legal sweep through the emulation community has now reached a long-running site called The ISO Zone, which used to host lots of ISOs and ROMs of games from previous generations.

If you attempt to visit any of the download links on TheISOZone.com, you’ll be met with the following notice on each page that used to contain links to the ISOs.

If the image is unreadable or not displaying properly, it states…

“We are no longer offering download links.

 

“Thanks to everyone who helped make this site, and thus the world, a better place.
We have some fresh ideas of where to go next. We also want to hear yours!

 

“In the meantime… Find what you need at another castle Retro Zone”

This comes shortly after LoveROMS and EmuParadise both shut down their ROM download sections as well. The former did so after being sued by Nintendo, while the later likely did so to avoid being sued by Nintendo.

There’s a chilling effect taking place across the internet, where a lot of the old ways are being struck down and castigated by the unwavering axe of litigious, corporate barons. All those who don’t relent with quailing discretion are subject to the legal cleaving being done by the butchers and executioners in gray suits on the legal teams trotted out by technocrats.

With ROMs and ISOs no longer being offered by some of the old guard of the emulation scene, these websites are quickly becoming tchotchke relics of an old and bygone era of the internet.

Welcome to the future.

[Update 8/17/2018: Some of the ISO collections and archives from The ISO Zone are being moved over to The Retro Zone. According to a post in late June, there’s a new community being built on The Retro Zone.]

(Thanks for the news tip Anon)