Lando wrote:
I see. and can you tell me the exact timeframe after which a programmer has finished a project that it is ok to begin stealing his work? 1 year? 2 years?
Far be it from me to defend piracy, but I think you're just being anal now.
If people download "Moonstone", I honestly don't see what the big deal is. Where could they have bought it from?
Of course it's not up to us to say "one year (or whatever) has passed, it's OK to start 'stealing' (committing copyright infringements)".
If let's say a decade old game is no longer available for sale, it's dead. Gone. No more people will play it legally. If someone downloads it, it's alive and played.
Sure, the laws and principles of copyright persistence and ownership still apply (at least if the copyright owner is still around, IANAL), and maybe some day in the future that game might be released commercially again in a classic compilation or something.
It's a gray zone. I just don't see a reason to get upset and waste energy on this. If the copyright owner is still around and wishes to defend his copyright, it's up to him to enforce the issue.
I think that chasing this kind of "pirates" is like arresting people with dandruff for littering and environmental pollution.
There's "real" and commercially damaging piracy going on all the time, and the effort is better spent there.
Leave people with dandruff alone, and go after oil-dumping tanker ships and industries dumping hazardous waste, to stretch my comparison further...