Why are some romsets protected by the ISDA?

[2PacMan]

I'm just wondering why some romsets are protected by the ISDA?

[AlanS17]

Well you really shouldn't be downloading anything you don't have the rights to. That being said...

As far as I know, one ROM is just as illegal as the next if you don't have rights to it. Some copyright owners probably just make a bigger fuss than others about the whole thing.

[2PacMan]

Don't worry, i do own the arcade roms for everything that i'm downloading 

That being said, the certain website that i go to said that these certain games are protected by the ISDA, while others i can freely download.  I'm just trying to understand why that is...is it the website itself, or will i not be able to download them anywhere i go.

The game in question is Super Mario Brothers, and i do own the arcade game    I just want it in my MAME cab too.

[UndeadMeat]

Here is a good FAQ about Abandonware and the moral grey area that many people, like myself, inhabit in order to relive parts of their childhood. I hope this will help you out.

http://www.abware.net/faq.php#11

-UndeadMeat

[paigeoliver]

Nintendo causes big stinks, they actually think that the game they gave away free with the Nes (and that today sells for an average price of 8 cents) has some value left in it. It doesn't. Neither does Donkey Kong, they are dinosaurs and refuse to believe it.

Also, you really aren't looking hard enough. It took me  all of 3 seconds to put the filename into a search engine to get multiple working download locations.

[Baker535]

That's because Nintendo wants you to buy it for $10 a download when the Revolution comes out... 

No wonder all these years they have been poor sports about their Roms...

Although downloading some of the N64 games to run on the console does sound appealing... especially if the Revolution renders them a bit clearer like the PS2 did for the PS1 games! Yum.

-baker

I love Nintendo a lot, but man they run a REALLY tight ship.

[RayB]

Yes it is true. Emulation has reached full maturity. The next Nintendo console will feature a free online service that will include downloadable content consisting (among other stuff) of huge library of NES, SNES and N64 games. (Note: I said the online service will be free, not the downloads).

So, because of this, Nintendo is very intolerant of any distribution of their property. As well, thanks to great sales of retro game collections and retro TV game devices, many other games too are now considered just as valuable as they used to be.

I expect the trend to be that more and more companies will clamp down as they find they now have new avenues to sell their old games.

[Zero_Hour]

Nintendo causes big stinks, they actually think that the game they gave away free with the Nes (and that today sells for an average price of 8 cents) has some value left in it. It doesn't. Neither does Donkey Kong, they are dinosaurs and refuse to believe it.

Also, you really aren't looking hard enough. It took me  all of 3 seconds to put the filename into a search engine to get multiple working download locations.

Well, if people are still looking for these games, for whatever reason, I'd have to agree with the folks at big N, that there is indeed some value left in them.

And if the revolution will have the nintendo back catalog available for play, I would expect them to cause even more big stinks in the very near future.

[Avery]

Well, if people are still looking for these games, for whatever reason, I'd have to agree with the folks at big N, that there is indeed some value left in them.

I'd like to see them at least try to capitalize on that value with their marketing department rather than their legal department.

Or if that wouldn't be profitable enough, tell me I can download and use them if I make a donation to a charity of their choice, then do whatever tax voodoo that allows them to do to their bottom line.

Something....