There is this screensaver I really, really like. Several years back I bought it for $14.95. Somewhere along the way I lost the software & the key and forgot all abut it to boot.
Something made me think about it last fall. I found the website & downloaded the screensaver, Huzzah!
But the website is rather dusty, hasn’t been updated in years. So I used the sites feedback form to see if anyone was home. I got no answer, so I tried two email addresses, both emails bounced back saying mail box full.
I looked up the site on whois and sent an email to some guy in Russia listed as Admin. No responds.
So is there any **legitimate **way to unlock this screensaver or am I forever denied this joy?
Wikipedia has a pretty detailed article: Abandonware. My view is that if you were simply downloading it for the first time, the simple answer would be No.
But this is not that case. This case is not only complicated by the murky status of abandonware, but also by the details of the license that you originally paid $14.95 for. In the vast majority of cases, we never really purchase software; we only pay for the right to use the software. I think that a good argument can be made that you’ve already paid for this right, and that you should be entitled to have it work through any means possible. But that might apply only to the original pc. If this is a new machine, and you had originally installed it on a different machine, that license might not apply to this new copy. Can you read any licensing fineprint on this copy?
Going back to the original point of abandonware in general, it is true that the technical laws of copyright still apply, and the software may not be copied. But given the due diligence that you’ve already expended into finding the owner, who is probably never going to enforce the rights the he does have, you might choose to ignore the technical legal aspects, and focus instead on the moral and ethical aspects. But that’s a question for Great Debates.
The answer would depend on the specific software in question. The answer is probably no, but at least some stuff does wind up getting released for free or having someone make a faithful copy.
The way you would probably go about it would be to see if there was some official username/key combination that was released by the publisher. And google ____ clone or ____ remake or similar.
I’d just suggest that ALL ways are legitimate ways for a legitimate owner who has made legitimate attempts to contact the seller. As long as it’s only for your own use, I think it’s entirely legitimate to go ahead and bust off the hinges if the door’s stuck shut.
I don’t know what you mean by this.
It’s the same machine, different hard drive.
The screensaver is named: Rainy
So far searches have lead to other similar screensavers or back to this one, which is hosted on a number of sites. (but to buy it you are sent to the original site)
