newmodelarmy wrote: Let me start by saying that when I was a kid I copied hundreds of games. However, no matter what you say to justify it, it's illegal. Just because you buy a crappy $40 game doesn't make it "ok" to steal or pirate a game. Like I said I did it as well but I had no illusions of what I was doing or tried to justify it. I never felt entitled to a game because I bought a crappy one.
I wasn't talking illegal, I was talking the range of feelings involved. No one said it was OK, just we did it anyway with no less guilt than typing in code from a magazine a buddy shared with us. It was sharing.
This was face to face sharing, friend to friend. My friends shared all sorts of things, including the programs we typed in, wrote ourselves, or copied a commercial product if we could, or just loaned it if we couldn't. Thats how it was for me, at least.
Its still illegal to make those copies 30 years later, so should we let all of those games fade away? I will make a case its in society's interest to preserve and disseminate as playable games all these games from the 80s, no matter what the rights holder say - but the law is on their side, and they can argue their case themselves.
People fight all the time to change laws based on how they feel. Possibly events in your own life.have illustrated a tension between whats legal, and how you feel about something.
To stay in video games, take Activision. Activision was born from creative Atari programmers who felt they were getting what they were entitled to. It was work for hire, so the law was against them getting more compensation for their work at Atari, so they left. Atari then fought against Activision making money with new Activision games on their Atari hardware, but the law went against Atari. Lawyers made arguments and laws were made, but whatever is underneath the laws should not change.
So make a case on moral grounds - make a case its cheating people we respect, or hurting companies we appreciate, or how would you feel if someone made copies of your work, etc. Those are good arguments about feelings and morality, but don't toss around illegal as your only argument. You are in good company if you feel ROM sharing is morally not okay. Make that your argument instead.