This is circumventing an effective copy protection measure, a federal crime under 17 U.S.C. section 1201. I see the developer is from Boston, so falls under U.S. jurisdiction and thus has committed a felony under U.S. federal law.
No. As of 2003 there is a DMCA exemption for "computer programs protected by dongles that prevent access due to malfunction or damage and which are obsolete". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_game_preservation#Legal_...>