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Is selling MAME (commercially) illegal?

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saint:


--- Quote from: Suits00 on October 11, 2007, 09:07:01 pm ---Is it illegal if someone has a cabinet holding a computer with Mame/games, but makes it clear that he is only selling the cabinet and not the games themselves?

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Yes, 100% completely illegal. Also a load of hooey :)

heffe2001:

But a cab with everything in it to run mame, but no mame/roms/etc installed would be ok?  I've also noticed several sellers doing the same on Craigs, and we've got a multi-game machine at a local pizza place near where I live that I'm fairly certain isn't legal either (it's not mame as far as I can tell, but the game selection is huge on it, probalby one of the multi-boards in it?).


polaris:


--- Quote from: heffe2001 on October 11, 2007, 11:11:32 pm ---But a cab with everything in it to run mame, but no mame/roms/etc installed would be ok?

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yes cos that would just be a computer, however i believe the mame devs would not want mame mentioned particularly in the title of the sale

Zebidee:


--- Quote from: heffe2001 on October 11, 2007, 11:11:32 pm ---
...we've got a multi-game machine at a local pizza place near where I live that I'm fairly certain isn't legal either (it's not mame as far as I can tell, but the game selection is huge on it, probalby one of the multi-boards in it?).


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It might not look like mame, but it is.  An earlier version stripped down, run on a skeleton linux or even dos based system.  You can do the same with mame yourself if you try hard enough.  It might not look like a PC in there, but it really is.

IMHO - ALL those multi-boards, at least anything more than about 48-in-1, are running mame code illegally.

Anyone sense a double-standard ??  :dunno

CheffoJeffo:


--- Quote from: Zebidee on October 12, 2007, 05:03:18 am ---Anyone sense a double-standard ??  :dunno

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Not really -- we have had that discussion eleventy times before as well and saint has asked us not to discuss where to find those boards.


--- Quote from: saint ---Someone attempting to profit by using MAME without the blessing of the MAMEdevs. This can take place by someone selling MAME by itself (no bearing on relationships with BYOAC), or by someone selling a cabinet or set of desktop arcade controls with MAME (MAMEdevs have a policy for handling this, and if followed there is no issue), using MAME in a commercial setting (simply not allowed), or by embedding the MAME software in a hardware product such as the xxx-in-1 Jamma boards (unlicensed, likely illegal, and against MAMEdev wishes).
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