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Curiosity, is there any movement against their doings?
I mean there are games which are almost impossible to come by, there is definite demand but no supply.
Also, how exactly did they work the trick? Aren't the patents run out after 10 years and publication and distribution therefore should be free for anyone?
10 years? Try 100+.
The ESA is far nicer than the RIAA and MPAA. They have no qualms about sending out cease and desist letters to pirate distributer, but they very rarely sue. The only extreme thing I've heard out of them is the mod chip raids.
What are you talking about, and who could give you toss? A movement against legal actions? Myeah, sounds stupid to me if that's what you're yapping about.
Also, posting in secondary F4A.
Then how come some games are declared abandonware after 10? years, while ESA protected titles are not? Maybe I missed out on something, so please enlighten me. Also are the patents truly lasting 100 years? As far as I know patents last 10 years, at least for pharmaceutical product, whose development are likely to be slightly higher.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jetsetlemming
Dear Evans, I am not yapping; rather curios, about the whole ESA related stuff. Since it recently caught my interest. And please keep in mind just because things are legal they might not be right. There are many things which are legal that do not have to be tolerated. Just look at the monks in Burma or rather the monks in Myanmar.Quote:
Originally Posted by Evans
P.s. what does posting in secondary F4A mean? that you posted as second? (sorry for being a newbie).
Look, the word "abandonware" means fuck all in the eyes of the real world. It's just a term used by internet dwellers to indicate that they are not at high risk of getting unwanted attention. Abandonware simply means that the creators/makers are less likely to look out and see if you can be sued for illegally acquiring their material.Quote:
Originally Posted by joker82
Let's assume it varies from one thing to another, but not forget that downloading games is, and always has been, illegal, irregardless of 'patents'.Quote:
Patent Duration
Utility patents expire 20 years from the date of filing with the U. S. Patent & Trademark Office, if maintenance fees are paid. Plant and design patents do not require maintenance fees. Design patents expire 14 years from grant. A patent cannot be renewed. After a patent expires, anyone may use the invention without the inventor's permission.
Morality and legality are two separate things. I can assure you that laws will take over your sense of right and wrong when it comes down to it.Quote:
And please keep in mind just because things are legal they might not be right.
There are many things which are legal that do not have to be tolerated. Just look at the monks in Burma or rather the monks in Myanmar.
P.s. what does posting in secondary F4A mean? that you posted as second? (sorry for being a newbie).
Two things: you are not required to tolerate legality, but are obligated to abide by it, lest you suffer the consequences; you shouldn't try to justify yourself by using the extreme of manifesters getting shot down by the army.
I can't see how you could liken shooting a crowd to people getting sued for illegally acquiring material.
Though, you have yet to specify what about the ESA you don't like/are interested in, so I might be assuming a bit, here.
It means I can't fathom the use of this sub-forum when we have F4A (Free for All, a section dedicated to anything about everything).
The ESA will issue cease and desist letters and threaten anyone who hosts games made by ESA members. Abandonware sites steer clear of ESA company games to avoid attacting the Eye of Sauron.Quote:
Originally Posted by joker82
As Evans said, abandonware is hardly a legal term; it's something used by pirates to designate games that are essentially undefended. Very rarely, a game company will release an old commercial game as freeware, such as EA has recently done with Command and Conquer 1, and is an entirely different situation.
Patents aren't what's applying here; copyright law is. Patents, trademarks, copyrights, these are all seperate things.
When a copyright expires (Generally about 70 to 120 years after creation, plus the extent of the original author's life, depending on type of media and year is was created), it becomes "Public domain"; THEN you can download it and share it and even sell it at will legally.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_domain
Also, there's no 10 year rule when it comes to abandonware. What matters is if the game is still being sold, and if those people with the rights to it cares. Clearly, in this case, they do.
Totally unrelated but isn't Myanmar the name used by the evil government? The "rather" part confused me, in the given context.
Finally, I think the main point of Member's Paradise is so the new posters can get into the freebie section. FFA-type of topics don't go there. :P
thanks everyone :).
I was always under the impression abandonware was some sort of legal term and the so games were legal in some way. Well i guess i was greatly mislead. From what I gathered *by not deep reading* was that the abandonware seemed legal due unknown reason and ESA doing not nice things, well... glad I know better now.
Also Evan is right, the comparison was too extreme.
Ps: is this not the FFA section of the forum? I don't understand the "FFA-type of topics don't go there". Should i have posted elsewhere?
Also thanks again for giving me some header on the whole ESA / Abadon topic.
"Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance." George Bernard Shaw. I guess it is true :)
http://www.epforums.org/
Check it, you'll see Free For All and Members Paradise. Free For All is meant to discuss anything that's not gaming or emulation related, whereas Members Paradise is meant for freebies. It was used as a F4A way back when, though. Nothing important, mind you, since a mod moved your thread. ;)
darn guess i posted in the wrong section, well sh** happens and life cruelly full of it sometimes :P
*start singing the monthy phyton song*
I hate the ESA. They're the sole reason why so many good rom sites have had to take down their best stuff.
Seconded.Quote:
Originally Posted by weemanextreeme
:macgyver: