I also find it quite amazing that you all here, are defending your position that mame roms are legal. I know that they are not. So do you.... so what are you trying to convince of here? That you are all completely crazy? I THINK you guys just like trolling ME, and I think that is very boring.
Sorry, but please quote any thread where a member here was arguing that ROMs are legal. I've never noticed anyone actually saying that...
That's probably because nobody argues that roms are legal, only that nobody cares that they are being pirated. That's the whole point of this thread that you missed.
Nobody cares that this guy is suing to get his pirated rom playing machines back.
The owners of the intellectual property are not suing.
They are not trying to get sites that host these files shut down.
They are not suing some old lady because her 12 year old downloaded a file.
There is no campaign to protect the rights of 80's video game programmers.
If you download a rom, your chances of getting in trouble for it are ZERO.
Downloading roms is akin to smoking pot or jaywalking. Yes, there are laws against it but nobody enforces them unless you take it to extreme excess or do something really blatantly stupid while doing it.
In my eyes, the fact that you strongly believe that nobody should download roms is not the problem. I could respect you for that. But for you it doesn't stop there, you have clearly shown that you take PLEASURE in pointing out how righteous you are, particularly when people are adversely affected by your actions. That isn't moral superiority, and your moral compass definitely doesn't point true north. That's sitting on a high horse, being self righteous. And that is why I responded in the last two threads.
I apologize if the link I posted was offensive. The fact that your behavior here represents a majority of the symptoms of OCD doesn't mean I think you have that disorder. I have plenty of personality quirks that could be classified under a variety of mental disorders. At BYAOC, it is OK to point out the quirks, but not to point out the disorder they may apply to. That would be wrong, and I was wrong. Sorry.
If memory serves, you can play certain popular arcade games via outlets such as xarcade, as they sell a game disc, there are free legal mame games, and if you have the game board and it is dead, sure get the rom and play it. Its the roms from nintendo,atari,etc that are still in business that i have a problem with, but i can only be a voice of reason. I cannot force anyone to comply. The original post said that nobody cares. Well they do, but maybe it is not financially viable to sue individuals who download and distribute games.
The argument that nobody cares, is hard to understand, where a certain game might appeal to a younger generation, in the form of a reboot. One comes to mind was yars revenge 2 but it was a flop. But somebody had to code,market it and distribute the game (and if it was any good) make some money off the IP. Granted the offshoot for the popularity could have come from an emulator or game system. Who knows, but yars revenge is a popular game regardless, and from atari no less. Would we see a reboot of The Legend of Hero Tonma? Probably not, and after a brief search, no mention of Irem could be found. Is the game still protected under copyright law?
I am commenting on a view that too many games, music, and films have been exploited or considered "free" to the public, due to the ease of copying and accessibility of films still in the cinema. To those of us that was exploited by the film and music industies of the 70 and 80s, the napster revolution seemed fair at the time, and created a paradigm that exists today. What it also teaches the youth, that the napster behaivor of the past is now acceptable and free form of theft.
It doesn't affect you to grab a free game,song, or movie from a torrent or download site. It affects a huge industry that employs tens of thousands. When it happens to people who you love and respect, it hits hard. Sure you have 40 plus thousand games in your mame cabinet, but why promote it? Why keep on making the point that IP is a free for all at others expense?
Why attack a voice of reason?
Anyway this is falling on deaf ears. In relation to your apology, there is nothing to apologise about. I think some of us are cursed by some form of OCD, like making or restoring old arcade cabinets, making sure the doors are locked several times (I do this) before leaving, or have somthing unfortunate like compulsive house cleaning. Call me names by all means, but reflect on the above. I dont need you to tell me, but we all know the difference between right and wrong on this subject.
Now lets see what jeffo cooks up for a retorte.
I disabled auto correct so apologies in advance.