NationStates Jolt Archive

http://pcgames.gwn.com/news/story.php/id/10794/

Huzzah! Abandon-ware is now free and clear on the legal front! Take that you game hoarding publisher bastards!
*does a happy dance*

Well, that's refreshing.

So what will this mean exactly?

Um wat exactly is abandon-wear?

Abandonware is old games that aren't supported by their publisher anymore.

This is excellent news. Those of us who download ancient games (X-Com, Transport Tycoon, etc.) are now within bounds of the law. As we should be, because the publishers and copyright holders have absolutely no remaining interest in them.

However, does this now mean that all of those old console games are free, too? I mean, Nintendo is still supporting its old games via the Wii's virtual console, but Sega and others aren't.

So what will this mean exactly?

Basically if the company that made it is dead and nobody says they support it, then it can be copied.

Problem with it is the company not supporting it. If a company didn't want games copied, they simply declare it supported and move any support requests to the bottom of the basket.

It will not do much to change things.

I thought this was already legal, oh well.