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Hope this isn't a taboo topic
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MikeQ:

--- Quote from: RayB on January 19, 2006, 02:21:23 am ---
--- Quote from: MikeQ on January 18, 2006, 07:16:38 pm ---Well, I wasn't begging or saying where to find them.  I didn't say what search engine I used to find the site.  I went out of my way not to say where to find them.

--- End quote ---

... in fact you included their name TWICE.


--- End quote ---

Well, I never mentioned the name of the site, just the name of the company.  Typing in XXX XXXXX wouldn't get you anywhere.   :)

Ya, my bad.  I didn't read the part I pasted thouroughly.
MikeQ:

--- Quote from: Tiger-Heli on January 19, 2006, 08:15:32 am ---Another thing to keep in mind is that - even legally - this is all opinion and conjecture.

Modern software comes with a license agreement and is generally (but not universally) accepted that you can make a single copy of the software for archival purposes.

Arcade games were originally sold as a complete item, and you owned the cabinet, the electronics, and the manual, if it included one.  There was no mention of licensing, you owned the game.  There was also no mention of whether you could or could not dump the ROMS and then whether you could or could not distribute them after you dumped them.  (Primarily because, at the time, the machines to dump them cost many times more than the games themselves, so nobody would seriously consider this).

Basically - ownership and distribution of any roms except the three that are released as public domain on MAME.net (Robby-Roto and a couple of others), is a legal gray area (including IMHO StarRoms and the Capcom Roms that ship with the HotRod) and will remain so until the issue is challenged in court and decided by a judge (and even then there is a possibility of the decision being overturned on appeal).

However, everyone (well, most everyone) here, would prefer for it to remain a gray issue so we can deny that we are knowingly breaking any laws, so there is a general policy of "Don't ask, Don't tell", NTTIAWWT.  8)

--- End quote ---

Hmmm, when I was in the Army, we had a "Don't ask, Don't Tell" policy.   I don't recall it being about ROMS though.  :)
RayB:

--- Quote from: Tiger-Heli on January 19, 2006, 08:15:32 am ---Arcade games were originally sold as a complete item, and you owned the cabinet, the electronics, and the manual, if it included one.  There was no mention of licensing, you owned the game.  There was also no mention of whether you could or could not dump the ROMS and then whether you could or could not distribute them after you dumped them.  (Primarily because, at the time, the machines to dump them cost many times more than the games themselves, so nobody would seriously consider this).

--- End quote ---

It was "implied" that you could dump ROMs if you owned the machine. A ROM reader/writer was/is standard equipment for an operator. If an EPROM on a board goes bad, they need to fix that machine as fast as possible. So that meant burning a new EPROM with a copy of the old one. And often, companies would issue upgrades/revisions.

But no, that implied understanding didn't include distribution of the data. As you said, no one would even want to do that considering what they paid for those machines.

More Cowbell:
When a company goes under or is absorbed and makes no attempt to control the rights of the games they created, do the games not become public domain at some point? I mean, it would be great if we could get these roms legally by paying a (small) fee, but many of the companies don't exist or have the ability to make a decision to go this route.
MikeQ:

--- Quote from: More Cowbell on January 19, 2006, 03:03:57 pm ---When a company goes under or is absorbed and makes no attempt to control the rights of the games they created, do the games not become public domain at some point? I mean, it would be great if we could get these roms legally by paying a (small) fee, but many of the companies don't exist or have the ability to make a decision to go this route.

--- End quote ---

It would be interesting to see how few of the arcade companies (or current owners of their assest) even have in their possession the source code for these ROMS.   
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