Abandonware is no more or less illegal than warez. Remember, if the company that makes it doesn't declare it as freeware, then it's still illegal. The only real difference is that abandonware is old software that people think that companies don't care about anymore, and warez is usually more current. But from a legal standpoint, you're still not allowed to download either without permission.

See, the problem here is copyright. Software falls under the same category as books. While it is a good thing that the owner of the copyright gets compensated for their work, the bad part is that there is no law that distinguishes between software, and other works (books, music, etc...) So that means that the copyright on JJ1 is valid for the same length of time as it would be for a book. And that is, if I remember correctly, the life of the author plus 70 years.

So by the time that we're all dead, and any computer that would play JJ1 is behind a locked glass case in a museam, we'll be able to download and play JJ1 for free. :-)

Before then though, JJ1 without purchasing it or owning an actual CD or disk set is illegal without official word from Epic that it is freeware. So this discussion is pretty much a moot point.

But who knows, maybe they'll release it one day. I remember once that the developers for Castle of the Winds gave that away for free. That was on Epic's Mega Message Board. (even before the JMMB) if I digged hard enough I might even be able to find the email that I got from the developer who sent me part 2 as an attachment. So keep your hopes up, maybe one day we'll get it!

Btw, according to the "original" argument that no computers/hardware today will run JJ1, I'd have to say that you're wrong. Buy a computer, put windows 98 on it (yes, microsoft still supports it. In fact they just extended the support date on it.) and underclock your processor. Yes, I know it's a bit extreme, but hey... it can be done. :-) Just because computers today come preinstalled with XP on them, it does NOT mean that it is the only OS out there.