are 39 in 1 boards illegal to have on location ?

[Jdurg]

As many have said here before, the chances of you being caught and penalized for using it is pretty slim, but if you do get caught you're completely screwed.  It's like downloading an mp3 file.  Chances are you won't be caught doing it, but if you are singled out by somebody somewhere with power, you're ---fouled up beyond all recognition---.  There's nothing you can do to claim innocence.  If someone wants to make your life a living hell, they will and they'll win.

[Fozzy The Bear]

The people who do care are those of us whose games are being pirated (in the case of the arcade manufacturers) or whose work is being used against the license (in the case of MAME). The fact that these things are sold at a profit and used to make money just pisses me off.

As I said to them Aaron, the use of them in a commercial application IS Illegal... PERIOD.... 

As you pointed out to them... the use of them in a personal application, is really a moral question. At the end of the day, it's the same moral question as: "Do you use ROM's in Mame that you don't own the original hardware for." The answer is that it's a personal moral choice.

The fact that these boards infringe the rights of the Mame developers, is not a good thing and I don't think that the majority of people here would in any way support such commercial infringement. It's just blatant commercial piracy... For me personally, that falls into a completely different category to non commercial copying of ROM's.

In fact I no longer own the board that I did, partly because of this.

There is one thing however, that I will take issue with you on:
You say "please don't pollute this forum -- which was built on the back of the software whose license so many here seem to be eager to ignore -- with discussing it."

Discussing something is NOT ignoring the Mame Licence.....  Nor I hate to point out to you, was this forum built on the back of Mame!!... Mame may be the most popular emulator in use by members here, but it is not and never has been the only one. Nor do you have any right to dictate what may and may not be discussed here.  The ONLY arbiter of rules for this forum is its owner and I'm sure that if Saint wishes to set a rule that these boards may not be discussed, he will undoubtedly do so.

There is already a rule that prohibits links to sales of these boards, and any discussion on where to obtain them is also prohibited here. You cannot however whether you like it or not, dictate that the existence of them and the legality of them cannot be debated here, unless of course Saint decides otherwise.

Best Regards,
Julian (Fozzy The Bear)

 

[AaronGiles]

Discussing something is NOT ignoring the Mame Licence..... 

I did not say discussing something was ignoring the license. I said that people here (meaning in this thread) are demonstrating a keen will to ignore the license. If they observed the license, the discussion would have been over many posts ago. Instead, it carries on with, "Can I get away with it?" questions. If you're asking that question, you clearly don't give two shits about the license.

Nor I hate to point out to you, was this forum built on the back of Mame!!

Debatable, I agree, but it surely played a significant role. Regardless, it's not central to my point.

Nor do you have any right to dictate what may and may not be discussed here.  The ONLY arbiter of rules for this forum is its owner and I'm sure that if Saint wishes to set a rule that these boards may not be discussed, he will undoubtedly do so.

I was dictacting nothing. I simply expressed my opinion that this sort of discussion is bad for this forum, which it most certainly is from my perspective. I am not a moderator here, nor did I represent myself as such.

[shardian]

And I think it is time to put this thread out to pasture...