[ukvac] Selling MAME - Let the flames begin... (was Re: Ebay...)
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I can understand people getting wound up about profiteering from free
software like MAME.
I've had no input to the MAME project, but if I did, I'd be pretty pissed
off if I'd written some free software and someone else was selling it,
_without_making_it_clear_ that the software was free, not written by me and
that the charge was simply for distribution costs. Shareware houses have
been doing it for years.
If you're unhappy about distribution costs being added as well, then you'll
have to feel unhappy that the ISP was making a profit out of the
distribution costs by allowing it to happen, as it's the same arguement.
However, in reality I think it was obvious that it would happen, just as it
happens in lots of industries and I bet that few people here have no pirate
software on their PC. So, how far do your morals stretch?
There's no point in producing great software and then complaining about it
being ripped off if you know it's going to happen. Pirates have called the
MAME teams bluff and broken the usage agreement, so it's up to the MAME team
to take them to court.
Just like Microsoft must've threatened to take eBay to court over selling
OEM Win95 licences. (Mine have been removed twice now...)
From my point of view, if I don't want someone to take advantage of my
freely available software, I'll not write it in the first place, or at least
not allow them to get away with breaking my license. It's called covering
your arse.
Alternatively, why don't the MAME team product the CD's themselves, and sell
them for distribution cost only? I wouldn't mind that and the pirates would
have a fight on their hands. But then of course the copyright owners would
be after you!
> >I know this is wrong but what with mame.dk
> >being shut down he seemed a good choice and for a tenner it was here the
> >next day, not only that, the CD has hundreds of marquee images, cabinets
> >and other arcade images so, be it wrong, he's gone to a lot of effort to
> >sell some discs for a tenner !
The copyright owners obviously don't think it's worth pursuing, otherwise
they would. I reckon there's no way that someone's going to make much cash
doing this sort of stuff for a tenner. Good luck to 'em. If he does, then
everyone's gonna start selling them. Let the market decide!
> May be, but the people selling these disks are making a profit
> from other peoples hard work and effort. It take no effort at
> all to download lot of files from the net and bung them on a
> cd and charge a tenner for them.
If it takes no effort, then no-one will buy one - he's on a hiding to
nothing!
> What I don't think a lot of people appreciate is a number of the games
> that have been dumped / emulated in mame and other emulators have been
> especially purchased at great expense by people inside the emulation
> teams. When you hear on sites like www.vg-network.com that XYZ has
> dumped some roms that you **might** need very soon, chances are they
> have been bought from an auction on ebay or shipped half way across the
> world for 100`s of dollars just so the game can be preserved for everyone
> to play, not for some jokers to make a living leaching of the
> back of other
> peoples work.
Easy solution: Don't bother emulating them then - do something else that's
equally fulfilling. Dig an old folk's garden? Just like if you don't want to
buy Levi's at a premium UK price, don't. They can only be sold at that price
if people will pay.
In general leeches aren't admired, they're shunned, so society will pay them
what they're worth, and jail them as necessary. They get made fun of as
well, just like the guy wasting his time selling small lots of EPROMs. (He's
not even ripping anyone off!)
---------
I'm sorry if I offend anyone writing this as I'm not trying to. My real
intention is to stimulate sensible debate.
We live in a capitalist society, not a software utopia and that's just the
way it is. At least we have a choice though, some people are handed a gun at
15 and told to shoot at others. I'll stick with a bit of software piracy,
thanks.
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
Cheers,
D-Type
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</flame_protection_ON>
I can understand people getting wound up about profiteering from free
software like MAME.
I've had no input to the MAME project, but if I did, I'd be pretty pissed
off if I'd written some free software and someone else was selling it,
_without_making_it_clear_ that the software was free, not written by me and
that the charge was simply for distribution costs. Shareware houses have
been doing it for years.
If you're unhappy about distribution costs being added as well, then you'll
have to feel unhappy that the ISP was making a profit out of the
distribution costs by allowing it to happen, as it's the same arguement.
However, in reality I think it was obvious that it would happen, just as it
happens in lots of industries and I bet that few people here have no pirate
software on their PC. So, how far do your morals stretch?
There's no point in producing great software and then complaining about it
being ripped off if you know it's going to happen. Pirates have called the
MAME teams bluff and broken the usage agreement, so it's up to the MAME team
to take them to court.
Just like Microsoft must've threatened to take eBay to court over selling
OEM Win95 licences. (Mine have been removed twice now...)
From my point of view, if I don't want someone to take advantage of my
freely available software, I'll not write it in the first place, or at least
not allow them to get away with breaking my license. It's called covering
your arse.
Alternatively, why don't the MAME team product the CD's themselves, and sell
them for distribution cost only? I wouldn't mind that and the pirates would
have a fight on their hands. But then of course the copyright owners would
be after you!
> >I know this is wrong but what with mame.dk
> >being shut down he seemed a good choice and for a tenner it was here the
> >next day, not only that, the CD has hundreds of marquee images, cabinets
> >and other arcade images so, be it wrong, he's gone to a lot of effort to
> >sell some discs for a tenner !
The copyright owners obviously don't think it's worth pursuing, otherwise
they would. I reckon there's no way that someone's going to make much cash
doing this sort of stuff for a tenner. Good luck to 'em. If he does, then
everyone's gonna start selling them. Let the market decide!
> May be, but the people selling these disks are making a profit
> from other peoples hard work and effort. It take no effort at
> all to download lot of files from the net and bung them on a
> cd and charge a tenner for them.
If it takes no effort, then no-one will buy one - he's on a hiding to
nothing!
> What I don't think a lot of people appreciate is a number of the games
> that have been dumped / emulated in mame and other emulators have been
> especially purchased at great expense by people inside the emulation
> teams. When you hear on sites like www.vg-network.com that XYZ has
> dumped some roms that you **might** need very soon, chances are they
> have been bought from an auction on ebay or shipped half way across the
> world for 100`s of dollars just so the game can be preserved for everyone
> to play, not for some jokers to make a living leaching of the
> back of other
> peoples work.
Easy solution: Don't bother emulating them then - do something else that's
equally fulfilling. Dig an old folk's garden? Just like if you don't want to
buy Levi's at a premium UK price, don't. They can only be sold at that price
if people will pay.
In general leeches aren't admired, they're shunned, so society will pay them
what they're worth, and jail them as necessary. They get made fun of as
well, just like the guy wasting his time selling small lots of EPROMs. (He's
not even ripping anyone off!)
---------
I'm sorry if I offend anyone writing this as I'm not trying to. My real
intention is to stimulate sensible debate.
We live in a capitalist society, not a software utopia and that's just the
way it is. At least we have a choice though, some people are handed a gun at
15 and told to shoot at others. I'll stick with a bit of software piracy,
thanks.
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
Cheers,
D-Type
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