Reply #185: That's one of the reasons I'm so firm about this unpopular opinion [View All]

even when the copyright is not being actively exercised, as in the case of abandonware, they'll still come after you with all their dogs- and even when they have no intention of ever selling it again.

If you're not willing to allow your works into the public domain after a certain (LIMITED) time, you shouldn't be complaining when others force it there for all practical purposes. Thankfully, there are companies that release their old software to the public, but they are few and far between.

There's another issue: the advances in computers and operating systems are not only rendering older software obsolete, but actually inoperable. Even in the case of MS WinXP Pro 64-bit edition (what I'm running), there are applications- some of which I paid for- which will not run under this version of the OS. As time passes, this will be the case for everyone reading this thread.

Once that happens, does anyone here actually believe the companies that made that software which will no longer run will release their now-inoperative code to the public? Why, no- because it took a lot of money to develop in the first place. The thing about that argument I don't understand is, if it's already been being sold, made obsolete by newer versions, and eventually abandoned in favor of an entirely new product and/or technology, where is the harm, then?

I don't like seeing old but useful software die of intentional neglect, but that's exactly what happens even to the operating systems that run the machine. Win 3.1 and 3.11 aren't even supported or sold anymore anywhere, yet people will still argue that copying it is "theft" somehow. That, in that case, I simply don't get.