From: L.W. Brown (lwb_at_mac.com)
Date: Sun Jan 22 2006 - 15:54:53 PST
Despite all the judicial opinions, the law really is still in a state
of flux. I believe the stronger argument is that you can use what you
purchase any way you want as long as you are not depriving someone of
an additional sale. But the statutes & decisions are more confusing
that that, and one could legitimately argue that you get only the right
to use per the license attached to the thing you "bought" - you only
rent, not own. Even under that view, however, the licenses are not
always very clear about what rights you get!
The issue of owning a ROM is based on the first theory - if you own
one, you can use one once (meaning you can't make a copy & use the
original plus the copy).
Abandonment does seem to throw some confusion into the argument, but
most times the truth is that the copyrights have not been legally
"abandoned" just because the company stops selling the product. (Think
about real estate: in the US, it does not become "abandoned" just
because I do not care to use it or clear the brush.)
On 22. Jan, 2006, at 16:45, William Pociengel wrote:
> Frank Gruendel wrote:
>>> Unless you can get Apple to release the ROM then
>>> you will need to own a Newton, for legal reasons.
>>> It doesn't need to work (though how you'll get the
>>> image off without it working is anyones
>>> guess) but you do need to own it.
>>
>> Although I'm pretty sure that Apple couldn't care less,
>> I strongly doubt that the mere fact that you have a
>> ROM in your drawer would entitle you to use any Newton
>> OS on any device other than a Newton.
>
> So in short while you may be able to make a case for making and using a
> digital image of the ROM, you may also make a case that you can't. Like
> I said my 'personal' view is that I can.
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