Hi, I know the first titles in the C&C franchise were offered for free in the EA site a while ago. But now when accessing their site, all there is is a link to the new First Decade compilation. Does that mean the first C&C is no longer available for free?

They were removed from the EA site a long time ago. However, the games are still hosted on a bunch of other sites like Shacknews. Here's Red Alert, for example:

::MOD EDIT:: I really have no idea if these are legal or not, but let's err on the side of caution with this kind of thing, please. /MOD EDIT

They haven't told FilePlanet to remove their downloads, so it's still probably freeware, but they have nothing to promote with it anymore.

/edit2: removed the links since I don't know if they count as legally shady or not

Looks like, also I'm the last person to promote this, but buying the First Decade and then applying this unofficial patch:
http://cnp.cncnz.com/tfd/

That is the best way to go, I got TFD for 14$ (free shipping included) online, and it has every C&C game from the first one to the Generals expansion, all on one disc and one install. Also the unofficial patch removes DRM, fixes bugs that the original EA versions didn't, and actually gives higher resolutions for C&C1 and Red Alert 1.

Also, it comes with CnCNet, a program used to play online (Westwood online is obviously long dead), and there's still a decent amount of players on it.

They should release it on GOG or Origin already.

I'm pretty sure they were officially released as freeware. They just don't host the downloads on their own site any more.

That raises the question, can "freeware" be taken back?

I'm pretty sure once something is actually declared "open source" there is no going back.

But freeware simply is your usual game license gotten for free. Therefore the rightsholder remains the right and can revoke it. That also means that sharing the game yourself, or putting it on 3rd party websites is strictly speaking still illegal. In such case free copies shared on other site are becoming something like abandonware. Illegal, but "not bothered with". Same applies for the free GOGs here.

So for all signs and purposes C&C is now akin to abandonware. But you can still by TFD new for reasonable prices directly from retailers, which makes them hardly "abandoned".

First of all, thanks a lot everyone for such a prompt answer! Now:

@spindown & adzeth: thanks for the links, will dl them as soon as I get home.

@crosmando: thanks but for now I am interested only in the first 2 games, C&C and RA. Of course if they release that compilation here on GOG, that would be an entirely different business :)

thanks again to all of you guys, this community rocks!

I wouldn't call them abandonware. After all, EA officially released them for free download so it's not like people are doing it without permission.

I suppose it would depend on the exact details of the release.

That was the general understanding until earlier this year, when the US Supreme Court allowed Congress to remove works from the public domain. The case didn't deal with software, but it sets an eerie precedent.

Link: wired.com

They allowed a free download from their serves. They can end it at their discretion. Similar to what GOG did with Fallout 1. Nobody is saying Fallout 1 is freeware now.

And they didn't go after 3rd parties that did the same.But I don't think that any official statement has been made that approved of 3rd parties hosting the content.

EA is the rights holder to the C&C franchise, and if they can give it away for free and remove it again. I don't recall the official statement of EA, but I don't think it was released open source.

With the current german anti piracy law, downloading C&C from fileplanet would be a crime. And that is probably the case with many other anti piracy laws. Yup, that's how fscked up current piracy laws are. Only because nobody is acting on those, doesn't make it technically legal.

They can and it does happen. But, any copies made during the period where it was freeware are legitimately free, you just can't get a replacement copy later on without paying.

Not quite the same. Fallout was a limited time offer. C&C is more like how Bethesda released Daggerfall and Arena.
I'm pretty sure they were released as freeware. In fact, according to a forum post I found on EAs site, EA themselves put one of the games on fileplanet.

Just checked, if you go to here, there's a list of links to download the official Red Alert discs from EAs sites. Check the EA.com mirror links. So they're still available, EA's just messed up the pages. (That link is a third party news post about the release)

That doesn't matter. They didn't forfeit their property to the game, they just offered the "gaming license" free. For how long you do it isn't an issue. Bethesda, EA or everybody who owns games that are given away for free can simply say "fsck you, from now I'll make you pay for them". But that doesn't render the copies you already have illegal, of course

As long as EA is giving them away, everything is legit. But, eg, you can't host them own your own website. And technically, you are no allowed to copy your copies for others. I'm pretty sure all those releases still contain an EULA and that EULA is, when it comes to the sensible parts, just as valid as the EULA of a bought game.

They did release Tib Sun (C&C2) for free, too. I still have a link for that one.....although not to EA servers, it looks like O_o