I've screwed up! Can someone help me with the first disk of Escom WB3.1?

[Tomas]

Gav wrote:
Well the reason he aint downloaded the adf is because they are nowhere to be found due to being able to still buy them..I am in the exact same boat apart from my install 3.1 has errors on it and i did have a second set but believe it or not i cant come across the install...

I always found some copies by using google or similar.

[Tomas]

Those dates may seem like a long time ago now, but in legal terms the software is still copyrighted, so it is still technically illegal to copy them.

But he already OWNS the original copy. It is in many countries legal to copy your legally bought software for backup purposes. The WB disks are not even copy protected, so there is no hacking involved either. As long as no one posts any links on this site, i see absolutely no problem.

[Tomas]

I think the attitute of, you wrote over your disk now go buy another one stinks.

Indeed. And one day all of our disks are gonna go bust.. Floppy disks are not meant to last forever... What do we do then? Trash our amigas because it would be morally wrong to download a backup?

[Tomas]

You do NOT own the intellectual material and have NOT bought a liscence to make copies.

Alot of countries have a law called fair usage or something along these words, which let the user make a copy of his legally bought product. This also extends to for example using hack to defy encryption to be able to lets say play a dvd on linux.

If you chuck the original media (i.e. the original discs) I believe you are then throwing away your liscence as well. You cannot legally retain and use copies or keep a backup.

I think the license is basically the roms when it comes to workbench anyways. The kickstart roms are a part of the OS.

[Tomas]

I agree to some extent (ie. IMO if someone has KS3.0 by definition they should have a machine that came with a licence for WB3.0.) However, I don't think it can be that simple, eg. if someone has KS3.1 they don't have an automatic right to download OS3.9.

That is a big difference in my eyes.. I think you have the right to whatever WB that was bundled with your computer or your kickstart chips.