sciencefictionobserver.blogspot.com — U.S. Copyright Office has issued new rules, effective November 26, enabling public access to commercially unavailable software, AKA abandonware. Meaning, your use of classic science fiction games for DOS, such as Dune and Elite, from sites such as Abandonia is officially decriminalized!
Dec 4, 2006 View in Crawl 4
mrsunshineDec 4, 2006
Game companies could easily "protect" themselves by putting all their old games online for download, but you would have to pay for them using PayPal or similar. Suddenly, the supposed abandonware becomes illegal to distribute again.Edit: by the time I used to write this, others already said the same above.
bdwongDec 4, 2006
I'm Rick James, bitch!!!
andydumiDec 4, 2006
The no longer commercially available part has been interpreted as no longer available through normal channels of distribution for that type of product, so in the case of video games, normal electronics stores.
asianwasteDec 4, 2006
Here on Earth, getting over yourself is a good character trait. Try going to a bar every now and then little man.
matt2kDec 4, 2006
People on Digg have the reading comprehension of a grade school child. This exemption allows you to bypass copy protection mechanisms. It doesn't allow you to distribute. It doesn't affect the underlying copyright at all! RTFA!The Internet never ceases to surprise me with the overwhelming power of stupid people. Marked article as inaccurate
hindu_wardrobeDec 5, 2006
Okay, I'm an OSS fanatic, but _forced_ to release the code? That's a bit harsh, don't you think?Maybe if the company is out of business, then the code can be released. Or something.
zhulienDec 5, 2006
"New rules officially permit the use and distribution of so-called Abandonware, or software that is no longer generally available to the public (in the form it was originally released)"I have lots of movies on LD - does that mean they are now freely distributable as they are no longer available in the form they were originally released?
mrimerDec 5, 2006
Thirded. Nice that they're sharing part of a new law, but the spin on it is atrocious.Buried for inaccuracy.
littlejohn2Feb 15, 2007
Finally the government owes us one for taking away our freedoms year by year. It is about time this insane copyright law undergoes some reform. The current laws as they stand now are too inflexible. Yeah finally a victory for the people of country.
avizeJul 22, 2008
What it does do is put in place a important exception to the copyright laws that allows library and arhive to break copy protection on certain limited types of old software for the sole purpose of storing the software These are hard facts, and you're creating a dangerous situation by spreading that ware is now legal.Thanks a lot,<a class="user" href="http://www.onlineflashgames.org">http://www.onlineflashgames.org</a><a class="user" href="http://www.bid-directory.net">http://www.bid-directory.net</a>