pds41: Firstly, I'd say that the key thing here is that the links shouldn't be shared. Having a discussion about it is fine (even "Oh, I found that there are abandonware sites that host it"; people can search themselves at their own risk), but providing a link to a site where the game can be downloaded is over the line.
I draw a distinction between IP that is genuinely abandoned (i.e. it's gone to companies that just aren't doing anything with it) and IP that is active, owned by someone and that company or entity has said that it doesn't want the game released. I don't like either situation, but I do respect the IP holder's wish when he clearly expresses it.
As for Archive.org, I'd characterise it as grey. While they call themselves a library, allowing free downloads of property with no restrictions feels like it's a little bit abusive. Real libraries require you to go to a reading room to access information in situ or have borrowing limits (e.g. return in x days)
If I were to use the same logic I'd say that if a 30 year old Toyota Camry is left in a shack in the woods it's not only the car that's been abandoned, but also the brand name Camry? Or something like a Braun toothbrush (now I wouldn't recommend touching it but you never know, many people are hoarders...)
I on the other hand don't respect people's/companies wish when product is already released to the public and then abandon it. We have yard or garage sales and sometimes we just give away things for free. And by law we can resell and take apart digital goods. Should we seriously care what the previous owners or what the original creator think about that? If someone or a company don't want people to use things they've created the way
they want - they shouldn't have release it in the first place.
Though, I do agree about the links themselves, but that was not what I refereed to.
(In last line I think we ultimately can't put physical and digital warez side by side. Digital is abstract so doing a literal comparison falls a little thin.)
