Coverdisks Archive?

[stefcep2]

Here :

and A LOT more besides But it is probably illegal, judge for yourself.

[stefcep2]

McVenco wrote:

stefcep2 wrote:
Here: http://warezlink

and A LOT more besides But it is probably illegal, judge for yourself.

That's not 'probably' illegal, it IS illegal. Remove that link and read the Posting Guidelines please:

Do not post links or requests for warez.
Warez in our definition is illegal software up to and including "abandonware". The exception is if the person is KNOWN to have the legal right to distribute said software. This is not debatable.

There's a reason why those guidelines are here. Keep your illegal software to yourself or use PM.

I apologize if the post was contrary to Amiga.org's posting guidelines. I respect Amiga.org's right to have whatever posting guidelines it wants.  TBH I've never read the guidelines.  The link has been removed, and I have no problem with this nor do I wish to debate Amiga.org policy.

I do however have some issues with your reply:

1. Amiga.org posting guidelines do not necessarily make something legal or illegal.  In particular what is legal or illegal as it pertains to software copyright is different in different jurisdictions, and that is why I wrote "judge for yourself".

2.  Software copyright doesn't extend to the media that the software is on.  It is not uncommon for legitimate-purchased software that has become unreadable as result of media failure, to be replaced by a copy.  Indeed, many Amiga software companies encouraged back-up copies.  What does it matter if that copy is sitting on another server?  It all comes down to intent and the intent of the original poster was to preserve his legitimate software.

3. I find this offensive:

Keep your illegal software to yourself or use PM.

because:

a)  you are alleging that I am the owner of the site
b)  that the site contains illegal software
c)  that I am trying to disseminate illegal software
d)  that its ok to disseminate illegal software by personal email

a), c) and d) are false, and b) may or may not be true.

FYI the link came up after a yahoo search to a page that provided the link.

Thank you.

[stefcep2]

In your circumstances it appears to be the case.  I respect your concern.  But software copyright is an interesting topic.

The argument that allows software sites such as this to exist is the fact that commercial software is distributed via media (eg floppy, cd,dvd,hard, flash, nand etc) which is not fail-proof and has the potential to make that software unusable.  Consequently legitimate purchasers will always make the claim that they are allowed to "back-up" their software.  That argument by and large will prevail for as long as digital media has the potential to corrupt over time.

It may be argued that its not possible to have an indefinate life for digital storage media.  The counter argument is that the storage media must have a physical life free from corruption that is at least as long as the useful life of the software that it contains.  But how is that determined?  In Australia, for example the Tax Office in effect increased the definition "useful life" of business software in May of this year by two years.  Would this apply to home use?  

In the Amiga example, much of the software is at least a decade old.  Is this long enough to say that the software is beyond its useful life and that the legitimate purchaser has no right to obtain another copy of the software if the original fails.  Many Amiga users still find such software useful. If the original floppies/ CD's fail, is it reasonable to say that the legitimate Amiga user should not resort to a back-up copy? Does it matter if that copy is sourced from a third party other than the original owner/publisher of the software? It might be argued that the purchaser can request- with proof of purchase- a copy from the original publisher, but what if the original publisher/owner doesn't exist?  I am not aware that "permission" of the original developer/supplier as being a legal requirement to make back-up software available free of charge for download to legitimate purchasers being tested in Court.

Its a very muddy area, and ultimately Courts are likely to look at the circumstances of each individual case, especially the intent of the person downloading the software, not just the person who makes the software available.

[stefcep2]

AndreasM wrote:
@stefcep2

the problem are, that pages like this dont makje a diffent between available software and sold out software.

they make no differnt if the company dead or support there actual the amiga.[/quote]

I totally agree with you.

[stefcep2]

McVenco wrote:

Offensive? Hardly. I was just bothered (again) by the fact that warez links pop up on this forum too often lately. I'm not accusing you (or anybody else) of owning or spreading any illegal software. For that matter: I'm no saint either, I've visited that site quite often myself :-)

I'm just trying to say that people should be careful when spreading links to illegal software. In Holland, there's hardly any trouble posting those links on forums since nobody really seems to care, but I've heard of a few cases (non Amiga though) in the US where forum/website owners had to pay ridiculous fines because some member spread illegal software. And I wouldn't like to see Wayne's paycheck going to those greedy {bleep}s in the US government :-)

As to your point d: no, that's not okay either, but at least nobody sees it  :-D

Understood, no worries.

Its an interesting discussion though. Years ago I spilled hot tea over my Workbench floppy, making it unreadable.  I went to a user group and asked if I could copy it off someone else.  No-one blinked.  More recently I had a virus Happy96 on one of the 6 install discs. I couldn't get rid of it with antivirus software, so I downloaded the adf's off this site.  No user group exists near me.  What else could I do: leave my hardware sitting there in an unusable state?
I now understand why Amiga.org cannot allow links to sites that may contain illegal software and I wont post links like that again.

[stefcep2]

weirdami wrote:

What else could I do: leave my hardware sitting there in an unusable state?

I used the same logic when the engine in my car blew up. I'm glad that chop shop was there to help me out.

What's "chop shop"