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Most of the abandonware sites that I've seen are aware that it is illegal, will only post software that has not been sold or supported for a certain time frame
by II2II 6y ago
Most of the abandonware sites that I've seen are aware that it is illegal, will only post software that has not been sold or supported for a certain time frame (usually a decade), and deliberately avoid companies that are known to be hostile to the concept. If a product comes up for sale again, some sites will remove the software at their own initiative.
While those self imposed criteria may be regarded as acts of self-preservation, I get the impression that some of the people who run these sites are more interested in software preservation. (In earlier times, many sites actively sought out permission to post software but it sounds like that became all but impossible for various reasons.)
- Bjartr 6y agoHonestly, the term "abandonware" applies to software that has been "abandoned" by companies or had the companies that own the IP go under without someone buying the assets. If a company is sending out cease & desists, it's not abandonware by definition.
- II2II 6y ago> If a company is sending out cease & desists, it's not abandonware by definition. True, but you cannot assume that it is abandonware if a cease & desist letter is not sent out. The rights holder may be unaware of the unauthorized distribution or the site maintainer may be unaware that the rights holder is still selling or supporting the product. While I have seen examples of games being pulled by abandonware sites at their own initiative, that is typically because these releases are higher profile. In the case of application and operating software it would be much more difficult to figure out since anything that is still being supported is probably going to be through obscure channels for legacy systems.