Illegal Amiga software, what are the rules (US)

[Darrin]

Piru wrote:

Is Amiga software still under copyright?

Wikipedia: Copyright - How long copyright lasts

Still, so is that music you admitted to downloading on another thread and that apparently doesn't stop you.  Oh, the irony...   :-D

[Darrin]

@ Piru:  I was joking about the hard time you gave me on a thread about a certain USB stack and another thread you recently posted in about students getting nailed for downloading MP3s.   ;-)

@ All:  Back to the subject of Amiga games, it is a problem worth mentioning as we need software to keep the system alive.  Little or no software is currently being developed for purchasing and anyone who buys a second hand Amiga will have a hard time finding software sold at retail.  Even Amiga Forever owners without a real Amiga need access to ADF files because an original Amiga floppy game is not going to work in their PC's floppy drive.

My personal opionion is that someone who wants a particular piece of software should first check the few Amiga stores still operating (Softhut, Amigakit, etc) and then check sites such as eBay.  I should think that if you actually own an original Amiga disk of a game then you cannot be prosecuted for downloading an ADF image of the same program.  Heaven knows how many of my original Amiga disks still work, and downloading ADF files would be my only solution to replace a corrupted game.

[Darrin]

Piru wrote:
@Darrin
Even if I was, the Finnish law says

Anyone is allowed to copy music, movies, and television and radio broadcasts for their own private use. This is based on the Finnish Copyright Act, which allows published works to be copied without the author's permission. This type of copying is called "private copying."

Note that this does not mean that copyright would not apply. Of course it does. Also, this does not mean you would somehow be allowed to pirate computer programs.

Oh, I am sure the above does not apply to United States.

Ah, so you're proud of the fact that you're countrymen are a bunch of music-copying pirates.  It's just Americans copying software that's disgusting.  I see...   ;-)

[Darrin]

Piru wrote:

Even Amiga Forever owners without a real Amiga need access to ADF files because an original Amiga floppy game is not going to work in their PC's floppy drive.

Reading Amiga Floppy Disks on PC

OK, good point, but it's not exactly as simple as "inserting the disk", is it?  Your casual Amiga Forever purchaser will probably feel a bit confused, but at least he'll be able to play Ports of Call.

[Darrin]

Piru wrote:
Yeah. We're bunch of liberals and commies and we're coming for you...

And that's why so many Americans own 5 guns and no passport.  :-D

Well, DMCA is quite stupid, but fear not: EU's new equivalent is almost as bad.

I'm not familiar with the new one.  What could they possibly have done to make it worse?   :-o

[Darrin]

jkirk wrote:

technically this is not a crime and is not illegal. it instead unlawful(not supported by the law) and copyright infringement. a crime puts you in jail. copyright infringement siphons your pocketbook.

IIRC here in the UK it is a criminal offence punishable by imprisonment.  Wikipedia seems to back this up, however that doesn't necessarily mean anything. :-)[/quote]

Yep, being a crime is one thing, but being acrime that's enforced is something else.  If memory serves me right, the UK still has a few strange laws on it's books dating back many years.  A few choice ones are:

London Hackney cabs should always carry a bale of hay as feed for the horse (regardless of the fact that Hackney cabs now run on petrol).
It is illegal to beat your wife after 9pm in London (as it disturbs the neighbours)
It is illegal to walk a pig the wrong way down a one-way street (I assume goats and sheep are OK).

[Darrin]

Piru wrote:

A lot

Damn!  Well, I'd be breaking the law right now.  I routinely copy DVDs from home onto my laptop so that I can watch them when I'm away on business (I'm away for a month at a time, and I don't want to carry the original DVDs with me).  I'm currently working my way through Season 2 of Babylon 5.

I also use it to watch out of region disks on my laptop.  My Laptop's drive is set for Region 2 and I can't find any files to reflash it as region free.  As a result, I used DVD Decrypter to copy the disk to the hard drive, strip the region code and then play it back.

So all of this would be illegal?!   :-(