Legal issue of Kickstart ROMs

[Darrin]

If you're talking 100% legally worldwide for commercial use then no, they aren't the same.
 
You'd need to get a license from the rights holder, unless another licensee has the rights to ship unencrypted kickstart roms & you can do a deal with them.
 
Doing a deal with Amiga Forever and getting minimig to work off encrypted images would probably be your best bet. Whether you'd still be able to bundle the file on the SD card, I don't know.

I wonder if the Amiga Forever ROMs are encrypted as part of the agreement to use them or to stop people using them with free UAE.

I figured that if you "own" the soft Kickstart then you should be able to use it on whatever machine you want to (PC, Minimig, etc) and decrypt it if you wish.

If that's the case then supplying it decrypted on an SD Card along with the Amiga Forever package shouldn't break the rules as long as it is exactly the same version of the Kickstart, should it?

[Darrin]

Odds are they're old stock that were licensed back in the day.

I'd have thought those 3.1 ROMs would have run out years ago.  

[psxphill]

I'd have thought those 3.1 ROMs would have run out years ago.

Mask roms have a minimum order qty, especially if you want good pricing. Sales since then are unlikely to have been that high.
 
Especially as alot of people either softkick it or burn their own rom, if you need to fix a real amiga then it's probably cheaper to buy an old one second hand and strip it for parts or buy parts second hand.

[Golem!dk]

Mask roms have a minimum order qty, especially if you want good pricing. Sales since then are unlikely to have been that high.

At least some dealers have been selling (E)PROMs.

[psxphill]

At least some dealers have been selling (E)PROMs.

That is pretty weird. I can't see that it's even worth peoples time even thinking about burning roms.

[tone007]

That is pretty weird. I can't see that it's even worth peoples time even thinking about burning roms.

I dunno, buying some spare EPROMs for a couple of dollars and sticking 3.1 onto them and selling them for $20-$30 a set seems like a decent little diversion..

[Darrin]

To be honest, I'm surprised nobody is eBaying "3.2" ROMs with the OS3.9 ROM updates included.

[kolla]

I wonder if the Amiga Forever ROMs are encrypted as part of the agreement to use them or to stop people using them with free UAE.

But you can use them with free UAE, and even the original Minimig firmware. It was later removed to give room for more usefull features

[haywirepc]

I think with Amiga Inc. and silly billy now dissapeared, its about time they get declared free. If anyone has a complete set of roms I would be happy to host them. If someone threatens to sue me, I'll let everyone know.
 
Legally...
I mean any legal protection for those has to be expired by now, since they are so old. They, along with the source code to all amiga os, especially os3.1+ should just be left to the remaining amiga community.
 
While I appreciate what cloanto and others do, its kind of ridiculous that someone is still trying to make money off of 15 and 20 year old rom images
or 15 and 20 year old operating systems.
 
Just my humble opinion....
 
Steven

[CSixx]

If someone threatens to sue me, I'll let everyone know.

I agree with you and think that anyone claiming to own the roms would have a very hard time proving it in court.

However, Cloanto says they would do just that:
" because we are licensees of multiple components from different parties, we are part of a chain of responsibilities, both contractual and determined by local jurisdictions, when it comes to information about unlicensed ROM and operating system files, or copies of Amiga Forever. When we receive reports about web sites which are claimed to provide such files, we are obliged by law and by contract to take some action. This could be a friendly informative email to the webmaster, which usually concludes the matter in an amicable and constructive way for all parties, or, more regrettably, it could escalate all the way to the ISP and to local computer crime authorities. When this happens, we consider this a failure, and we feel very badly about this."

[Franko]

I think with Amiga Inc. and silly billy now dissapeared, its about time they get declared free. If anyone has a complete set of roms I would be happy to host them. If someone threatens to sue me, I'll let everyone know.
 
Legally...
I mean any legal protection for those has to be expired by now, since they are so old. They, along with the source code to all amiga os, especially os3.1+ should just be left to the remaining amiga community.
 
While I appreciate what cloanto and others do, its kind of ridiculous that someone is still trying to make money off of 15 and 20 year old rom images
or 15 and 20 year old operating systems.
 
Just my humble opinion....
 
Steven

I agree wholeheartedly and applaud your stance on this issue. :cool:

For those of us not interested in the overblown requirements for OS4 or for running an emulator, then any company still trying to make a quick buck from KS rom images and holding the Amiga community to ransom should not be supported or encouraged.

[Darrin]

But you can use them with free UAE, and even the original Minimig firmware. It was later removed to give room for more usefull features

Ah, I thought Jakub had allowed the use of AF encrypted ROMs.  I always used straight ripped ROMs so I never paid much attention, however I was wondering how he had managed to cram in support for hard files without the ARM board.  

[haywirepc]

Well cloanto may have some claim to the roms they provide with their package, due to changes they may have made. If anyone has a copy of roms they pulled from their actual amiga computers, I would be happy to host them for free download.
 
Just started a new job or I'd find some time to pull the rom files from my amiga 1200 with 3.1 rom, amiga 500 with 1.3 rom, and other amiga 500 with 2.1 rom. Surely someone must have already done this? if so pm me if you can provide copies for hosting.
 
Steven

[Gulliver]

[biggun]

I think the best that could ever happen for the AMIGA community would be freeing the AMIGA Kickstart.

If believe if Kickstart would be free this will give AMIGA a new momentum.

[ElPolloDiabl]

I think the best that could ever happen for the AMIGA community would be freeing the AMIGA Kickstart.

If believe if Kickstart would be free this will give AMIGA a new momentum.

Why do you need it free? Just be abdle to purchase it for say $20 would fine, but you can't do even that.