Abadonware.

DrunkLeprachaun

I was wondering whether abadonware is acceptable, by the boards.ie rules. I don't agree with warez, but abadonware is often the only feasable way to get an old(at least 4 years) game.

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amp

It's ok by me. Shinji, your thoughts?

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smoke.me.a.kipper

i think it's ok.

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- Ciaran
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S-M-A-K bottom!!™

Stephen

Its OK by me.

Magwitch

Abandon were is good, some classic games out there. More modern ones of course take to long to download (the phone connection costs more than the game is worth).

I usually go to www.theunderdogs.org who have a vast selection and regular updates and links to other legit abandon ware sites

Magwitch

That site underdogs do occassionally take down games that someone says there is copyright on but set up a reseller deal on those same games.

strat

I find this a good place also

Q_Ball

is duke nukem 3d abandonware yet?
Or any of the doom's?

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It's a 106 miles to Chicago. We've got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark and we're wearing sunglasses.

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azezil

cool!!!
i can finally download civ

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"just because ur not paraniod, doesn't mean they're not after u!"

Shinji

Technically no PC games are abandonware - Duke3d, DOOM et al are still sold commercially.

SNES ROMs and so on can be considered to be abandonware because nobody sells 'em any more.

I don't mind discussing genuine abandonware here, but anyone caught trying to stretch the definition to cover games that are just "old" (but still being sold on budget or whatever) will be taken out and shot

El_Presidente

Yeah but doom and quake are open source right?

Shinji

The code for them is open source; the actual content (maps, weapons, graphics, sounds) is not.

Greenbean

Abandonwarez is in no way legal. The images, characters and names within those games and sometimes zealously copyrighted and you will have your ass sued off you if spread them around. For example duke nukem is not Abandonwarez even though its ancient.

Q_Ball

Cool. Thanks for clearing that up

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It's a 106 miles to Chicago. We've got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark and we're wearing sunglasses.

HIT IT!

DrunkLeprachaun

Now, hold on, I've seen Duke Nukem on plenty of abadonware sites. Also doom is.

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If there's one thing I hate, it's people.

Lord Khan

abandon warez are programs with companies no longer market/sell as they consider them no longer to be able to make a profit ... most are yonks old ... but still classics.

afaik there has never been any legal probs with abandon warez

DrunkLeprachaun

Legality isn't the only thing to consider. Like I said, abadonware is often the only way to get Vintage classics.

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If there's one thing I hate, it's people.

Hobbes

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Lord Khan:
afaik there has never been any legal probs with abandon warez</font>

Actually underdogs had a few problems some months back. IDSA gave them a long list of companies that no longer existed but because they signed into some special license or some such thier software can never be classed as Abandonware and they would sue the panties off underdogs if they caught them giving them out.

It's a shame really because as mentioned some of these games really don't exist anymore.

Hobbes

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by DrunkLeprachaun:
Now, hold on, I've seen Duke Nukem on plenty of abadonware sites. Also doom is.

</font>

Not sure about Duke, but Doom is open sourced, so it's free to give around.

ObeyGiant

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Now, hold on, I've seen Duke Nukem on plenty of abadonware sites. Also doom is.</font>

This means nothing.

Abandonware (as people have already pointed out) is simply software that you can't buy any more, and as such, is a very tricky legal situation (like emulators). In many of the cases, the publisher of the game has gone out of business. However, someone somewhere still holds the copyright for the game - it's up to them to decide whether or not they want to produce and sell the game. If they don't.. well, thats where the trickiness comes in.

I remember a couple of years ago, the IDSA started clamping down on abandonware and emulator sites. From their site http://www.idsa.com/

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Isn't it OK to copy games that are no longer distributed in the stores or commercially exploited?

No, the current availability of a game in stores is irrelevant to its copyright status. Unlike trademarks, copyrights are not considered abandoned if they are no longer enforced. Copyrights do not enter the public domain just because they are no longer commercially exploited or widely available. Therefore, the copyrights of games are valid even if the games are not found on store shelves, and copying or distributing those games is a copyright infringement. </font>

Q_Ball

ok, so any idea where i can get it?

I've also been looking in the shops but no-where seems to have it

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It's a 106 miles to Chicago. We've got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark and we're wearing sunglasses.

HIT IT!

amp

The way I see it, if the official license agreeement says that it's now ok to distribute the full game then it's abandonware.

Just because a developer has released source code for a game doesn't mean the game can be ditributed. This is normally done so fans can create mods. CS is one such mod developed from the source code of Half-life but half-life is still copyrighted and illegal to distribute.

So official abandonware only kids

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Lunacy Abounds! GLminesweeper RO><ORS!
art is everything and of course nothing and possibly also a sausage