There used to be a nifty site that hosted abandonware and freeware called the “Underdogs” which was located at www.theunderdogs.org, but it disappeared. What’s the story behind it?
Wow. At least 4 sites in my bookmark list, all dealing with abandonware, all vanished as well. Something big is up.
(URLs not posted in accordance with SDMB Staff rules)
Ack, didn’t know abandonware violated the TOS here. Feel free for someone to remove the previous link, although it doesn’t exist anymore.
Sad thing was, it was legal.
Ah-ha! I found the Underdogs. They had changed their URL. E-mail me if you wish to get it.
Eep - I wasn’t trying to pick on you, just explaining why I didn’t post which links I couldn’t find anymore. I still can’t find them, nor on Google.
This may be off-topic…but I don’t think that “abandonware” is legal. I’ve read the description posted on the Underdogs website myself once, and I was impressed that they came out and said, essentially, that they were just violating the IP rights in a lot of cases, until someone complained or decided to make an issue out of it (and thus, un-abandoned it).
You’re correct. While it’s not legal, apparently publishers never care enough to pursue it, even if they’re aware. BTW, the new Underdogs site has a hyphen in the name somewhere…
It looks to me like the Underdogs are using the doctrine of “do it until they threaten to sue.” Which works pretty well for abandonware, especially if the company is defunct or doesn’t care. And no one sues nowadays without sending a couple of nasty cease-and-desist letters. So they’re illegal but with virtually zero chance of getting prosecuted, which is a nifty trick.
Further to what Anthracite said, The Underdogs have a strict policy of removing downloads as soon as they learn that a piece of software has become available for sale again, eg through a budget label, at which time they will replace the download link with a link to somewhere you can purchase the game.
The site is a real labour of love, dedicated to preserving software that might otherwise be lost. They are not interested in ripping anyone off.
They also have a policy of removing anything when requested by the owner even if it is not being re-released. They even say on their site somewhere that if anyone does not want their applications on there to contact them and they will remove them.
I also like how they recommend new games, too, that they believe will become or already are Underdogs. It shows that their focus is more on neglected games than offering “free” stuff. It’s kind of like a museum for gamer geeks.
As for the domain change–the webmaster forgot to renew the URL and some sleezy assed bastard hijacked it to their ghetto search engine. Put a hyphen between “the” and “underdogs” in your bookmarks and you’ll be set.
I discovered the Underdogs through this very message board, when someone discovered “Princess Maker 2” and passed on the link. And I’m glad I got it when I did, because the copyright holder asked them to take it down, and they did so. Very honorable.
And I’m on it at this very minute, getting “Sophie’s World,” because I’ve heard good things and I’m curious.