On Sun, 10 Aug 2003, Chris Peel wrote:
LOL! I've not heard of the phrase "AbandonWare" before but it's interesting. Presumably though, a software company would have to officially declared the product 'abandoned'?
Of course things rarely are this simple. (Yes, there are examples in the gaming world where developers have offically "abandoned" their product and set it to public domain, but that's more an exception than a rule.) Like with recorded music, there's usually the publisher, who owns the rights to the products and even though the product may be sold out years ago, they still refuse to release it to public. Or alternatively, it may be protected by IDSA (the gaming world equivalent of RIAA), which quite effectively prevents the free distribution. More about "abandonware", over this link: http://www.the-underdogs.org/faq.php#a5