hercufles: That isnt legal to play games.
Harzzach: It is NOT illegal to play these games. May be that the service archive.org provides could be illegal, but playing those games is definitely
NOT! If an old game is
still sold and supported somewhere, it is
not abandonware, and downloading such a game
without legally owning a copy of it is in fact
illegal.
If an old game is not sold and supported anywhere, it is abandonware, and it is LEGAL to DOWNLOAD and OWN it without buying it.
The difference is whether a software
is sold and supported, or
is NOT sold and supported.
http://www.abandonwarering.com/?Page=FAQ#1B The only thing the 2006 decision did was that
it made abandonware legal.
These games Wolfenstein 3D and Quake 2 are still sold and supported, and as such are
not abandonware, ergo downloading them from abandonware sites (or in fact from any other sources
without buying them) is in fact
illegal.
An article about this
with references:
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/what-is-abandonware-and-is-it-legal/
I would like to buy the original Wolf3D, SoD, and Quake II, but I don't care RtCW, ory any sh*tesda games. These packages insanely are overpriced, I hope there will be some kind of sale later, but I would prefer to buy these old games separately, for a few quids.