[PLUG] Abandonware problem and ScummVM...

[Larry W]

Michael Robinson wrote:
> Copyrighting something beyond the 
> lifetime of it's author and/or the owning company is also 
> ludicrous.  The trouble is, the current copyright regime in
> the U.S. and around the world creates permanent monopolies.
>   
If memory serves, Walt Disney Productions was a major player in 
extending copyrights because they still had lots of potential revenue in 
their animated movies, and letting them into the public domain would be, 
to their minds, akin to throwing money away.

If memory serves, of course.

Now we see those same copyright concepts being applied to software, and 
it may be that the same law applies or people like Gates stepped in as 
did Eisner and had the software laws changed in their favor.  Thinking 
like a Gates, in order to get the masses to pay me I have to make them 
purchase a new OS, which means I have to take older versions off the 
market forever.  I don't want to spend money supporting old software 
because I've realized my ROI for those versions and need a good ROI for 
the current one.
> Saying that people who are interested in old software that is
> not freeware are pirates is harsh.
The letter of the law as written today makes it illegal for one to 
obtain a copy of that software without permission of the copyright 
holder.  The Zero-Tolerance kooks would have us put away for talking 
about piracy.  The spirit of the law, I believe, isn't nearly as harsh 
because to have an interest is not breaking any laws.  To obtain 
software in a manner that doesn't take from a company's bottom line 
shouldn't break the law.  MS might argue that "pirating" a copy of 98 
means you aren't buying a copy of Vista, but then Vista isn't our first 
choice so there's no real loss anyway.

Larry