Does a program become freeware if...

  • Thread starter Thread starter Clive Savage
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C

Clive Savage

The company no longer exists?

I`m thinking of DataBecker here....


Bye for now.

Clive.
 
Rudy said:
Yes and no, I call this abandonware
Rudy
Click to expand...

in some cases the assets are sold off. for instance, Palm bought BeOS.
this probably makes BeOS professional edition non-freeware (personal
is freeware though). but practically that version of BeOS is abandoned.
does using it detract from payware like YellowTab, Palm, or others?
not really.

michael
 
Clive said:
The company no longer exists?
Click to expand...

Nope. People try to justify it by calling it "AbandonWare" but it's
still a copyrighted product, and "taking" it is still plain theft.
 
xmp said:
in some cases the assets are sold off. for instance, Palm bought BeOS.
this probably makes BeOS professional edition non-freeware (personal
is freeware though). but practically that version of BeOS is abandoned.
does using it detract from payware like YellowTab, Palm, or others?
not really.

michael
Click to expand...

You got right, Michael, but in case of DataBecker I cannot think someone
will take over their "software". I think it's all rubbish. If I am wrong
you may correct me, but I tested many stuff from them (most graphics
editing stuff) and I do understand very well why they stopped their
activities ;)

Rudy
 
Clive said:
The company no longer exists?
I`m thinking of DataBecker here....
Bye for now. Clive.
Click to expand...

Sorry, it does not.....
It is abandonware, and distributing abandonware is *technically* a crime...

I am an criminal myself (have a few abandonware games on my sites).

Quote from HOTO:
Home of the Underdogs, while not an abandonware site per se (since our aim is to pay tribute to all underdogs, both new and old), supports the abandonware idea. We believe that providing games that have been abandoned by their publishers, while technically illegal, is a valuable service to the gaming community because these games are in danger of disappearing into obscurity, and their copyright holders no longer derive any revenues from them. For more information on our stance on abandonware, please read this section of our FAQ.
Click to expand...

http://www.the-underdogs.org/faq.php#a4


Regards from vegard
 
Jock said:
Nope. People try to justify it by calling it "AbandonWare" but it's
still a copyrighted product, and "taking" it is still plain theft.
Click to expand...

Abandoware IS the right word, but too many people thinks that
abandonware is freeware, and it doesn't!
As you mention it, it is still a copyrighted product!
(there even exists people that think that warez is freeware! So try to
explain them what abandonware is! ;))

Rudy
 
Rudy said:
Abandoware IS the right word
Click to expand...

Not really. To "abandon" something means to give up all rights to it.
A company that no longer exists might not have done that -- they simply
don't exist at that point, but may re-appear later (eg. Atari).
 
Jock said:
Not really. To "abandon" something means to give up all rights to it.
A company that no longer exists might not have done that -- they simply
don't exist at that point, but may re-appear later (eg. Atari).
Click to expand...

Indeed, but what is the right definition of abandonware? Everybody has
his own definition. It's the same as on freeware. What is freeware? Some
freeware sites presumes that adware is freeware too. In fact they got
right: you get the adware for free ;)
What I am trying to tell is, that "abondonware" doesn't exists! When
"old" software becomes free, is it freeware. When not, they called it
"abondonware", but in fact it is still software. Indeed it is safer to
use "abandoware" than warez, but it is still forbidden to publish or
download it for free.
I agree with you for 100%, but many people don't know what abandoware
(or even freeware) exact means. :(

Rudy
 
Clive said:
The company no longer exists?

I`m thinking of DataBecker here....
Click to expand...

Hi Clive,

I suggest you check the Ware Glossary when you have this kind of
question. IMO we have good clear definitions of Abandonware and Orphanware.

http://www.pricelesswarehome.org/acf/WareGlossary.php

<q>*Abandonware*: software that the original owner no longer offers to
the public. Abandonware refers to a product that is no longer marketed
or distributed by the author/company that published it. *Orphanware* is
used when the author cannot be located or the company is no longer in
existence. Copyright laws apply to Orphanware and Abandonware. The
programs are freeware only if they were released as freeware (or given
freeware status by the owner at a later date). </q>

Susan
 
xmp wrote:
Click to expand...
You got right, Michael, but in case of DataBecker I cannot think someone
will take over their "software". I think it's all rubbish. If I am wrong
you may correct me, but I tested many stuff from them (most graphics
editing stuff) and I do understand very well why they stopped their
activities ;)
Click to expand...

DataBecker had a program for making a TrueType font out of your own
handwriting that I thought was decent.
 
Janice said:
DataBecker had a program for making a TrueType font out of your own
handwriting that I thought was decent.
Click to expand...

Maybe. DataBecker was very good in writing references and
"easy-to-write" programs, but when it came to controlling a graphic card
or so, they were completely incompetent. Their software was as good as
my english is ... 2 pence ;)
 
Susan said:
Hi Clive,

I suggest you check the Ware Glossary when you have this kind of
question. IMO we have good clear definitions of Abandonware and Orphanware.

http://www.pricelesswarehome.org/acf/WareGlossary.php

<q>*Abandonware*: software that the original owner no longer offers to
the public. Abandonware refers to a product that is no longer marketed
or distributed by the author/company that published it. *Orphanware* is
used when the author cannot be located or the company is no longer in
existence. Copyright laws apply to Orphanware and Abandonware. The
programs are freeware only if they were released as freeware (or given
freeware status by the owner at a later date). </q>

Susan
Click to expand...

Apart from the legal reasons, I think it has to be re-released as
freeware, with a generic registration key or the registration
funcionality disabled. Otherwise: who is going to give you the
registration key if the company doesn't exsit?

Jsp
 
The company no longer exists?
[/QUOTE]
No.
The original copyright owner still retains ownership. In the event of a
company being bought out, usually all rights are transferred to the
purchaser.

Some companies, such as Microplanet, do release their copyright on it
when they close but unless there is a specific notice stating that then
treat it as copyrighted.

People in the oild 8bit computer emulation scene have found themselves
in trouble distributing imagefiles of early 1980's computer games.
 
The company no longer exists?

I`m thinking of DataBecker here....


Bye for now.

Clive.
Click to expand...
There won't be many companies that simply cease to exist. Most owners
would want to recoup something, so they will sell on what they can of
their company to someone else, usually another company.

Thae new company might choose to ignore programs developed by the
original company but it still owns the copyright. You'll probably get
away with treating those programs as free, but it ain't legal.
 
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