That's kind of a catch 22 there Jafo, what to do.. what to do, and yes, it does make you think

But supposing your $20 is $20,000, is that classed as litter? It is the same event and principle, just a different value.

For an item lost and found in the street the onus would be on the original owner and the finder to prove ownership. Not quite the same as a piece of software distributed on the internet where the origin would be known.

As for breaking the law, and what was said earlier. There is a stretch of open road in the country near me where cars do 50-60 mph. It's actually in a 30 mph speed limit, but because there are no police around that makes driving at 60 mph legal, right?

Some people have some strange ideas of right and wrong.

I know when something's really wrong, you get a gut feeling and a nagging voice in your head that you can't ignore. it depends on what your conscience can live with.. yeah downloading abandonware isn't that big of a deal, we were going a little beyond that, and got carried away with greater moral issues I think

I havn't used win95 and never played any dos game.... at that time I would be 7 or 8 and played mario, contra, sonic etc on 8 bit and 16bit... I have only Undeground2 and Carbon in NFS....and I don't want anymore unless they add weapons into cars...

NFS2 runs on XP...I had played it on XP in 2004...

STATUS a/c wikipedia        http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abandonware

The software which the companies themselves released as freeware can be downloaded and played....else it can be stored for archival purposes but not played.....

A/c Gamespot

It can be downloaded...    http://www.gamespot.com/news/6162308.html

Changes in copyright rules let gamers break copy protection on old games--in some circumstances.

Some gamers have been arguing for years that abandonware--older games that are no longer supported by their original copyright holders--should be exempted from copy-protection laws. These retro gamers believe that since the software is no longer being sold or supported by the copyright holders, they are breaking no law by copying and distributing the games.

That point of view may be validated now, as last week Librarian of Congress James H. Billington approved six exemptions to the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act in the US.

Billington ruled that for games for machines which are no longer available, the copy-protection controls may be bypassed for "archival purposes." He also added that games with copy-protection that require "dongles" that were damaged and could not be replaced were also allowed to circumvent the copy-protection systems. Dongles are hardware devices that users have to physically connect to their machine to authenticate a game and allow them to play it--they first came out in the '80s and have since fallen out of popular use.

 

I'm talking about NFS 1 & 2, not Underground 1 & 2, the originals you know? for Win95

I am talking about NFS2se........Need for speed 2 second edition...

Leave that.. do you know any contra like game for pc with gamepad support?

NFS SE yep, I threw it out because it wouldn't work.

I've played some Contra, Hard Corps I think it was, way way back

But I hav run NFS 2 se on Xp...

hehe XP wasn't invented when I had to throw mine out

Makes me think they're in charge and they're F.O.S.  So? What else is new?

Hope you're feelin' better mate.

About that dropped 20$ it isnt litter as it has a value litter is by definition something lying around without value. And 20$ is money and found "dropped money"(if its just the bill) is better kept bcus its very hard for anyone to claim/prove previous ownership. And "abondonware" or digital software, i think the problem lies with the law as it have not kept up with the evolution of digital media..

Then I'm probably to be seen as dishonest, and proud of it. There are stupid laws, there are good laws. I don't really care what the law says, I can live a life with a clean conscience without having to bother. I suppose that what I feel is right conflicts with that set by the law at times, but it hasn't caused me any trouble and it's not likely to happen in the future either.

Here's an interesting read on moral development. It may be slightly off-topic, but it's a good reference on how people relate to the law in different ways.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kohlberg%27s_stages_of_moral_development

Society makes the Laws, not Police.

Breaking these laws is 'antisocial'.  Successful subsequent prosecution makes it criminal.

If someone wants to be antisocial then one must expect repercussions or ostracism from said society.

How YOU feel about it is immaterial.

How OTHERS feel about it may be more salient...;)

Fuzzy....the $20 value made it 'interesting', however the same legality applies to anything 'dropped' and subsequently/inadvertently 'recovered'.

If it were a scrap paper....or a Million dollars....if you assume the original owner is untracable it's still a question of whose property it currently then is...in Legal terms....and the answer is the Council in charge of the street maintenance/cleaning.

It should belong to the homeless

If I found $20,000 in the street I would certainly 'clean it up' ;p

  then it belongs to Fred....bk13GarbageMan!!!

 

  not a bad idea....using it to build more shelters, supply food banks, medical attention.....etc.

 

 

 

 

GOG.com ftw.

Support companies that do the work to preserve (and make a profit on)games of our past and you will see more of them preserved.

Actually I live MY life, so what I feel about it is the most important thing in the world (to me). I seem to be able to coexist with the rest of the world anyway. There's not a single person around me who'd call me antisocial.

I don't forget that every single person around me have as much right to their own personal liberties as I have to mine... That's where law fail.

I live by a single moral code, and it works.

I try give everyone around me the same space for peace, prosperity and freedom as I require from them...

I don't need laws to be a good citizen. I don't need law to be a good human. I don't need law, law doesn't trouble me over it. You seem to do so though.

I'm not saying laws are unnecessary. Most people can't tell right from wrong good enough to live without law and not cause conflict with other people.

Here's a question for yall, IF Stardock seemed to abandon Object Desktop, cursorFX, WB or one of their others products, would you all download a pirated version to uhh.. preserve it's history? or would you try to get permission?

Up until now we have been talking mainly about games.. now give me an honest answer.. mine is no.. I would try to get permission.

For me it depends on time. If it's positively ancient (such as nes, windows 1.0-3.0, etc) I don't need permission, but more recent ones... well that's harder to decide.

IF Stardock abandoned their products, chances are it's because they came out with better, more flashy products.  I don't think I would have a nostalgic feeling about their products and would probably own the newer, better products they produced which caused them to abandoned the old.  

I think in order for something that is abandoned to hold nostalgic value, (enough so that we, as beings who appreciate newer, better, more bells-and-whistles), we would have had to experience the old, original product during an important time in our lives (like all those abandonware games....only cool in my opinion because I played them with my children when they were little.)  I think one has to have experieced the original in a nostalgic time of their life, in order for a product to have enough desirability to carry it along into a time when there are better/more modern replacements.

So, no...I wouldn't get permission for an old version of Windowblinds, because I wouldn't WANT an old version of Windowblinds. (I'm always one of the first to start panicking that I'm not going to get the latest upgrade on their products in the first place!).

I'm not the type to hang onto old things for sentimental value.  Really, "blasts from the past" give me the creeps.  I don't like to made aware of the fact that I've been alive for half a century.  I'm doing a fairly good job of convincing myself and the general public that I didn't rob the cradle when I married my DH, who is 9 years younger than me.

Hey my 1st husband was 9 years younger than me, and my current, soon to be ex, is 11 years younger :)

 

hehe I meant if Stardock didn't exist anymore, what happens to the products still floating around in cyberspace.. the creators would still be around, even if the Company wasn't :)

Of coz XP wasn't discovered but still it runs on XP..... just as many XP games run on Vista.......

Abandonwares are of following types...

1. The software firm has earned enough profit so it releases the commercial software as freeware....

2. It releases the software as freeware to promte itself....

3. The company gets bankrupt so it released some or all of softwares as freeware......

4. It got bankrupt but hasn't released the software as freeware.....

Downloading above three types is not illegal as dowonloading freewares can't be....

Downloading the last type is not proper, so I won't do it....

 

But let me ask one more thing If you have dumped something into bin and if someone can use it.... Is it not good for society to let him do it ? .....Like if u eat vegetables or anything and throw the wasted matter on road or bin or wherever and if someone can still use it as manure etc..... will u file a case.......

 

 

 

 

herman, one word for you dear--->Copyright