Okay… I was searching for an MP3 and I ran across a message informing me that I had to delete all MP3s within 24 hours of downloading them if I didn’t own the original. I’ve seen the same thing downloading ROM images from arcade games. To my knowledge, you download something you don’t own, and you’re breaking the law from click one. Is there some new law I missed giving that leeway, or is this just wishful thinking on the part of the pirates?
wishful thinking. the same sites probably also say something like, for demo use only, if you like it, buy the cd.
it won’t deter the RIAA from shutting them down, or pressing charges
That depends on whether the site has permission from the artists or whoever owns the rights to the songs. Some artists use mp3 distribution to encourage people to buy their albums. The mp3.com site is like this, but it doesn’t appear to set a time limit for most of the material on it’s site. I’ve seen others with time limits, but the artist has still given permission for the distribution of the mp3s, as long as the user agrees to trash the file. Some sites only stream the mp3 so it may be difficult for the listener to download a copy. Almost all of these legitimate sites will have a restriction on the user making unauthorized copies… can’t have people running off making compilation CDs and selling them…
There’s a Macintosh emulation product called Basilisk that allows you to download a softcopy of the Macintosh ROM, but you can’t legally run the software unless you have a physical Macintosh ROM in your posession. There’s another company that is buying up used Macs, stripping the ROMs out of them, and selling them to users of this emulator. It’s all supposedly above board…
Here’s a link to one of the Basilisk pages that I know of:
http://www.uni-mainz.de/~bauec002/B2Main.html
Also, the MAME FAQ talks about the legality of owning soft ROMs of arcade games. This may be what you were referring to. I would assume that you could take the same approach as the Basilisk project and obtain the physical ROMs for the arcade games you wish to emulate. The big problem here is that there are a lot fewer “Ms. PacMan” ROMs out there than Macintosh ROMs, and they’re harder to find and probably more expensive.
It’s wishful thinking by the pirates <font size=1>(more like confusing people of the copyright violations laws)</font>
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Cite : http://www.siia.net/piracy/programs/legends.htm
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