cogadh: I am well aware of what some sites like Abandonia do, and while that may be slightly more ethical than others, it doesn't change the fact that no software is ever actually "abandoned". Someone somewhere still owns the rights to it (copyright lasts over 50 years now, no video game is that old) and regardless of whether or not it is currently being sold, it is still illegal to make that software publicly available without that rights holder's permission. That is textbook software piracy with a sprinkling of copyright infringement on the side, plain and simple. They just call it "abandonware" to make it sound like what they are doing is not illegal in any way.
tejozaszaszas: Sorry, but i don´t care for those right holders, these are companies like EA that, after a huge number of fusions holds rights of a great number of small companies. I assure you that every creator want their game to be played their song to be heared or their book to be read; do you really think Peter Molineaux feel bad because of the people that play Populous or Syndicae on emulators?, on the contrary, anyone would feel happy because of their games being played twenty years after. In my opinion, products that have been more than ten years non available should not be forbidden to be distributed. It´s my opinion, and i would not feel bad for doing it; and EA have allways the option of selling them.
PS: i´ve bought 48 GOG games, and only downloaded, believe it or not, 4 games from abandonia just because there was no other option.
That is your opinion and you are of course entitled to it, but your opinion does not change the facts. There is no such thing as "abandonware" and any site that claims it is offering abandonware is just promoting software piracy in disguise. You don't have to like that or agree with it, but it is what it is.
