Abandonware Gets Headlines in PC Gamer North America

[snowowl090]

Just read the August issue of PC Gamer, had a 1 page article on the merits of abandonware. Was surprised at how positively the author viewed abandonware. The article stated that a law passed in 1997 named the No Electronic Theft (NET) act made distributing copyrighted works "a felony regardless of whether you profited from it." However later in the article it goes on to pretty much say go to the Underdogs or other such sights which plainly shows respect for the original publishers/developers.


And now, an interesting none-gaming quote:
"The law forbits the performance of a copyrighted song 'at a place open to the public, or at any place where a substantial number of persons outside of a normal circle of family and its social acquaintances is gathered' without permission from a copyright owner. And 'Happy Birthday' just happens ot be the sole property of AOL Time Warner, which rakes in $2 millio in royalties every year from the song and will be entitled to do so throughthe year 2028"

[old_gamer]

Yeah, laws , strange and funny things sometimes.
I always have found it weird those copyrights, who is making money on a 10 year old game ? or a 40 year old song ?
Why not adept the medical restrains on patents? Restricted in time.
Let say about 10 year max for PC stuff ( and Mac , and Mac....).
And even 10 years is a eternity regarding pc stuff....
Do you buy a 10 year old OS ? Would you consider to buy , let's say W95?
FYI: I don't.
Other opinions or ideas are always welcome.


as long as you agree with me, that is.......

[smackdat]

Yeah, laws , strange and funny things sometimes.
I always have found it weird those copyrights, who is making money on a 10 year old game ? or a 40 year old song ?
Why not adept the medical restrains on patents? Restricted in time.
Let say about 10 year max for PC stuff ( and Mac , and Mac....).
And even 10 years is a eternity regarding pc stuff....
Do you buy a 10 year old OS ? Would you consider to buy , let's say W95?
FYI: I don't.
Other opinions or ideas are always welcome.


as long as you agree with me, that is.......

i whole-heartedly agree, but what i hate most is when a system is abandoned, and you can't find games for it anywhere (ie. dreamcast) but you are still penalized (*peter griffin laugh*) for copying games. I also dislike system developers being uptight about homebrew

[KnuxTheFox]

i whole-heartedly agree, but what i hate most is when a system is abandoned, and you can't find games for it anywhere (ie. dreamcast) but you are still penalized (*peter griffin laugh*) for copying games. I also dislike system developers being uptight about homebrew

Don't tell the feds about my spool and a half of Dreamcast games.... In all honesty, if a good Dreamcast game were to come out today, I would buy it. If Sega ever made a new system, at least as good as the Dreamcast, I would probably buy it. I am a pirate within reason. If a game or system is good, I will buy it. If it's udder crap, I'll delete it. The same thing goes for music. If I listen to a new album and I like it, I will buy it. It may sound strange to some people, but there are moral pirates out there.

[dgsige]

Heh, companies will dig up for any cent they can if only so they can release "remake II extra HD turbo remix" and have people buy it because downloading the original is ilegal.

And with this crisis it's in their interest to go trigger-happy with taking people to court.