On 15 Aug 99, at 22:24, Martin Wilson wrote: > > The last time this one was mentioned someone went on to say that > > they shouldn't be uploaded because of various copyright reasons. > > > > I'm not so sure I'm comfortable with commercial games but disk magazines > tend to be more topical and therefore I think devalued by time. I must > admit in all fairness I'd be motivated enough to download mags from the > internet but not enough to buy them at £2-3.
Why can't we do what the Speccy world did - stick the things up there and ask anybody who objects to them being there to ask for their removal? Does anybody know what kind of copyright _actually_ exists on teh SAMCo / Revelation titles? There were loads of stories from various sources saying they were entitled to sell them, but did the copyright to such games actually ever leave the hands of the receivers? It certainly didnt regarding production of the machine... And if Speccy Defenders Of The Earth / Pipemania / Famous Five etc. are up on the ftp site, what is the problem with the SAM versions going up there? They have no commercial value anymore - I doubt very much they would take away sales from new SAM games because they would only be accessible to PC / Mac owners who would, I imagine, sooner spend a fiver on a Sold Out rereleased game such as Unreal than spend upwards of 15 quid on a game for their SAM's. The real SAM users, the ones who still use their computers as their main machines, will not be able to get hold of the games and so will still be reliant on the new products of companies like Quazar etc. And if the files were up there in .dsk format they'd run rather nicely on SIMCoupe. > > I say this in all honesty that I think many Sam mags are very impressive > and it would be nice to show ST and Amiga users how good the sam scene was > at its best. For a minority machine we seem to have more than our fair > share of talented programmers and writers. > Back on to the topic you mention - yes, the SAM Magazine scene was its crowning glory and there should be a full representation of it up on an ftp somewhere - including copies of FRED and, dare I say it, even OCR'd copies of FORMAT. The SAM Coupe is somethign that was special to all of us and we should try as hard as we can to pool all our resources and give ourselves the best chance of preserving it, and all the related paraphenalia that goes with it, somewhere in cyberspace for the rest of the future generations of 8bit geeks to look at fondly. Alternatively, we could whine on about copyright restrictions and the like and see most of the people who might stick with the SAM move on to something else somewhere else and forget all about the whole shebang. And in reality - who in teh SAM world is going to have the funds to bring a breach of copyright lawsuit against anyone other individual? Especially for teh sake of about sixty pence. The worst that could happen if we all just revolted would be a few idle threats from those desperate to cling on to their fading empire. I'm not encouraging piracy - it has always existed on teh SAM scene and is probably now at it lowest level ever because of the few numbers still involved in the machines ongoings. However, trying to erect some kind of memorial to our favourite blue (or black) footed friend would make sense. I'm ready to step into my asbestos suit as I speak. Peace, Love and Kisses, JohnnaPig Teare http://www.theunstoppablesexmachine.freeserve.co.uk "It won't get better but it might never get worse..."
