HD-Installers no longer legal in certain areas????

MethodGit · 13 June 2004, 03:49

In case no-one's visited Aminet as of late, yours truly noticed this alarming piece (labelled the "Message of the Day") over at the German Aminet joint:

Quote:

HD INSTALLERS REMOVED. Due to changes in copyright, harddisk installers of commercial programs no longer seem to be legal in several countries. They have been removed.

Although I've checked the game/patch section, and bizarrely there still seem to be many HD-installers available for download and everything. They also exist over at www.aminet.net, although I couldn't seem to find the above message over at that particular mirror (or maybe I'm just not looking hard enough, heh).

The GAGE has also been modified slightly very recently because of this supposed change of copyright somewhere. Are there any more details regarding this copyright/sudden-change-of-law, whether the JST and/or WHDLoad sites will be affected in any way by this, and exactly which HD-Installers were wiped off Aminet, if any? This just seems damn fishy.

Amiga1992 · 13 June 2004, 04:16

I think this has been discussed before when fiath spoke about these changes.... It really sucks!

13 June 2004, 07:09

Germany had a change in its copyright laws last summer, making ist illegal to produce or spread tools to circumvent digital copy protections. It was mainly aimed at the DVD CSS but it is so widely und unpecisely formulated, that it is unclear what might be affected.

The resulting uncertainness might be the reason for such steps.

Peanutuk · 13 June 2004, 11:43

If it's just Germany then it is unlikely to effect the distribution of such installs. Afterall Germany doesn't control the internet. What really matters is if it is likely to become EU law.

synchro · 13 June 2004, 15:41

Tell ya what......You buy a machine and a game.....its yours !!!!
Years go by...amigas die......games become useless.....and unavailable..

Along comes Winuae and a community to support it!!! All of a sudden games can now be used again the amiga is reborn by the public....no money is made.....HDinstallers are made to make life easier for our little community

THEN ALONG COMES SOME ASSHOLES TO SCREW IT UP !!!!

Well they can GET STUFFED !!! I for one WILL use any tool available to run my old games that i bought and they deserted so......

FECKUM ALL!!!!!!!

Just my thoughts

Joe Maroni · 13 June 2004, 16:07

i think it makes more problems that the fantastic whdload program is developed by bert jahn...he is a german guy and i hope he didn´t get enough trouble with the law here in germany with this prog...

but i think the old amiga games are not so interesting than other stuff from the pc world...

derSammler · 13 June 2004, 16:33

Quote:

Afterall Germany doesn't control the internet. What really matters is if it is likely to become EU law.

The law in Germany was changed this way because of a draft from the EU. So other countries will follow...

fiath · 13 June 2004, 21:20

This was a while ago, but I read up on these laws made in Germany, and it was basically to stop CD/DVD copying. There is a good FAQ somewhere that explains it all, I may have even linked that somewhere on this board.

Anyway, it did not apply to software, and that was explicitly stated, that much I do remember. I think the illegality of HD installers is a myth. I guess Aminet wanted to play it safe, or mis-interpreted the law.

IIRC it was an implementation of an EU proposal called the EUCD, the European equivelent of the DMCA. However, the DMCA now has (temporary) exemptions on obsolute software, so if the EUCD has not already, I am sure it will follow.

I wouldn't worry to much about it.

Bamiga2002 · 15 June 2004, 21:06

I wouldn't worry either. You can always download the installers from WHDLoad-homepage if they are removed from Aminet.

Amiga1992 · 16 June 2004, 00:28

Yeah but bandwidth usage of the WHDLoad page is limited and it was nice that they were all hoisted at the many Aminet.

KombatSanta · 16 June 2004, 10:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by synchro

Tell ya what......You buy a machine and a game.....its yours !!!!
Years go by...amigas die......games become useless.....and unavailable..

Along comes Winuae and a community to support it!!! All of a sudden games can now be used again the amiga is reborn by the public....no money is made.....HDinstallers are made to make life easier for our little community

THEN ALONG COMES SOME ASSHOLES TO SCREW IT UP !!!!

Well they can GET STUFFED !!! I for one WILL use any tool available to run my old games that i bought and they deserted so......

FECKUM ALL!!!!!!!

Just my thoughts

Well put! Although I might have chosen different words

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13 June 2004, 04:16	#2
Amiga1992 Registered User Join Date: May 2001 Location: ? Posts: 19,645	I think this has been discussed before when fiath spoke about these changes.... It really sucks!

13 June 2004, 07:09	#3
bluebox Posts: n/a	Germany had a change in its copyright laws last summer, making ist illegal to produce or spread tools to circumvent digital copy protections. It was mainly aimed at the DVD CSS but it is so widely und unpecisely formulated, that it is unclear what might be affected. The resulting uncertainness might be the reason for such steps.

13 June 2004, 11:43	#4
Peanutuk Registered User Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: The North, UK Age: 44 Posts: 1,082	If it's just Germany then it is unlikely to effect the distribution of such installs. Afterall Germany doesn't control the internet. What really matters is if it is likely to become EU law.

13 June 2004, 15:41	#5
synchro Sending You Back In Time Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: UK Age: 61 Posts: 986	Tell ya what......You buy a machine and a game.....its yours !!!! Years go by...amigas die......games become useless.....and unavailable.. Along comes Winuae and a community to support it!!! All of a sudden games can now be used again the amiga is reborn by the public....no money is made.....HDinstallers are made to make life easier for our little community THEN ALONG COMES SOME ASSHOLES TO SCREW IT UP !!!! Well they can GET STUFFED !!! I for one WILL use any tool available to run my old games that i bought and they deserted so...... FECKUM ALL!!!!!!! Just my thoughts

13 June 2004, 16:07	#6
Joe Maroni Moderator Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Germany Age: 44 Posts: 1,303	i think it makes more problems that the fantastic whdload program is developed by bert jahn...he is a german guy and i hope he didn´t get enough trouble with the law here in germany with this prog... but i think the old amiga games are not so interesting than other stuff from the pc world...

13 June 2004, 21:20	#8
fiath Moderator Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: South East / UK Age: 46 Posts: 1,930	This was a while ago, but I read up on these laws made in Germany, and it was basically to stop CD/DVD copying. There is a good FAQ somewhere that explains it all, I may have even linked that somewhere on this board. Anyway, it did not apply to software, and that was explicitly stated, that much I do remember. I think the illegality of HD installers is a myth. I guess Aminet wanted to play it safe, or mis-interpreted the law. IIRC it was an implementation of an EU proposal called the EUCD, the European equivelent of the DMCA. However, the DMCA now has (temporary) exemptions on obsolute software, so if the EUCD has not already, I am sure it will follow. I wouldn't worry to much about it.

15 June 2004, 21:06	#9
Bamiga2002 BlizzardPPC'less Join Date: May 2004 Location: Finland Age: 46 Posts: 3,210	I wouldn't worry either. You can always download the installers from WHDLoad-homepage if they are removed from Aminet.

16 June 2004, 00:28	#10
Amiga1992 Registered User Join Date: May 2001 Location: ? Posts: 19,645	Yeah but bandwidth usage of the WHDLoad page is limited and it was nice that they were all hoisted at the many Aminet.

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