Using old software you don't (always) own

As I was moving these retro-computing and gaming related notes to a new platform, I noticed that many of the notes I’ve written over the several years talk about emulation. In those articles I have some links to sites, where you can download games, operating system ROMs and game manuals. Cleary, emulation as a subject is “overrpresented” as I play 99% of my retro gaming on a real hardware using software I actually own. There are probably two reason why I have talked so much about emulation:

1. It is fun to set up emulation on various hardware.
2. It is entertaining to try a game on an emulated system you might not own.
3. It is interesting to compare the game port you own to the other system.

…but most of all…

4. It is sometimes hard to get (emulation) things working (to my liking) and if I did not write these notes down, I would not ever remember how I set anything up later on.

When I started (or rather came back to my old) hobby, the most practical way to access old software was to download ROMs or tape/disk-images from sites that usually cataloged specific systems. For example, World of Spectrum was an excellent resource for “anything Spectrum” and you could download any Spectrum game without a fuss. As a hobbyist, I probably did not ever feel anything illicit was happening as the hardware was anyways “dead”, and no one would really benefit (or got hurt) over it. Over the last decade or so retrocomputing and especially retrogaming have increased popularity and suddenly these old assets have started to entail some (financial) value again. Companies like Nintendo started to aggressively attack any sites that would give download access to their copyrighted assets. As of 2021, not even World of Spectrum let you download everything in their catalog.

Every serious or less serious hobbyist (including myself) should be aware that downloading software (or cover images, manuals etc.) is sometimes potentially illegitimate. This of course depends on your local juridistcation and what you are downloading. I honestly don’t know what Finnish laws would say about me downloading a 40 years old Spectrum game. If nothing else, there are moral aspects to consider. I don’t want to hurt anyone or steal anyone’s work. I wish we had more hobbyist-friendly options to support original software authors or the current rightsholders.

I have bought many (used) games that did not bundle a game manual or storage media was not working. In these cases, I have very little moral issues to print that missing manual (for my personal use, of course) or to fix the disk #6 of Secret Monkey that was corrupted.

My personal stanse on these matters is:

• If I own the hardware or a physical copy of the software, I find no issue using “downloaded” operating system ROMs, software, manuals or anything.
• If you are well established archivist of a specific system, working non-profit, I have no issues sending the copy of my scanned or ripped assets to you.
• If there is a legal (and accessible) way to obtain an asset I don’t own, but I am interested in, I shall use that option.
• I very much prefer running stuff on Retropie or other emulators, and it is currenly not possible to buy game images in a standard and reusable format. Tell me if there is!
• In practice this is not a real issue as own almost every game I actually commit to play. Emulators are fun to set-up, great for research and short bursts of fun in terms of actual gaming.
• If something is genuinely abandonware, I feel utilising (some) archive sites mostly fine.
• I do not usually download “full collections” as I prefer having just a small set of games I want to play or highlight (on the emulator launch menu). The execption to the rule could e.g. MAME, because compatible ROMs are hard to obtain otherwise.
• When I was 12, I copied Amstrad games with a cassette deck. Sometimes the copy worked and sometimes it did not. In the year 2021, possessing some ancient software I don’t “own” feels a bit less “criminal” than it was in 1986 (I do believe software piracy sadly killed some awesome personal computer lineups in Europe).
• I feel there is absolutely no reason to download anything, if the system is modern enough (let’s say original XBOX), I own the hardware and the market for used games is good enough (as a side note, Microsoft is doing a wonderful job with backwards compatibility and still selling some of the older games in their catalog).
• I have a twofold feeling about “mini-consoles” like NES Mini. For the most part they are just quickly consumed novelties, and more plastic we don’t need… but for some that actually play their games, they provide an easy legit way to get curated collections of the best games of these old systems.
• I always try to backup all the retro computing media I own (no matter whether there is a copy protection or what “format” the software was distributed with). The storage media will eventually fail and with the backup I am less likely to need to use any downloads at all.

If I ever decide to download something retro-related, I always consider these matters:

• Internet Archive is a good place to start (they are part of International Internet Preservation Consortium and seemingly have some financial power to protect their legitimacy).
• Well established hobbyist-driven archives such as World of Spectrum or Atari Mania are more or less safe resources to use. They probably work responsibly if they are being asked to remove stuff by the legit authors.
• Using multi-system and/or ad-supported “ROM-sites” is not adviceable. These people are not usually “just hobbyist” and might try to make living with the sites they run. There is (an increasing) risk to get viruses, spyware, randsomware etc. from these sites as their financial status is now compromised (due to the legal actions againts them by Nintendo and friends).
• Just “Googling around” is the most risky business (see previous bullet point and multiply the risks by 10).
• Using Torrents is possibly slighlty safer that Google-hunting of downloads in terms of viruses/spyware (but I don’t have much experience here).