Abandonware . . . . .
Yes, TECHNICALLY, using/modifying abandonware IS illegal.
HOWEVER . . . .
If the company that produced said software is no longer extant . . . . .
Then then are NO consequences and NO enforcement.
Much, but not all, legality is based on potential for HARM. Kind of difficult to "harm" a company that doesn't exist anymore.
The "law" may be clear, but PRACTICAL considerations sometimes moot it.
Here's another wacko example; In my hometown right to the present day, it is illegal to move any motor vehicle through a road intersection without first shutting it off, walking to the center of the intersection, and firing off a warning shot from a gun. To say that this is absurdly impractical misses another point; that it would violate weapons laws that have been enacted since that time. The "law" isn't everything . . . . .
Unless you're pathologically anal retentive.
Yes, TECHNICALLY, using/modifying abandonware IS illegal.
HOWEVER . . . .
If the company that produced said software is no longer extant . . . . .
Then then are NO consequences and NO enforcement.
Much, but not all, legality is based on potential for HARM. Kind of difficult to "harm" a company that doesn't exist anymore.
The "law" may be clear, but PRACTICAL considerations sometimes moot it.
Here's another wacko example; In my hometown right to the present day, it is illegal to move any motor vehicle through a road intersection without first shutting it off, walking to the center of the intersection, and firing off a warning shot from a gun. To say that this is absurdly impractical misses another point; that it would violate weapons laws that have been enacted since that time. The "law" isn't everything . . . . .
Unless you're pathologically anal retentive.
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