[Coco] Hundreds of old CoCo Disks - Followup

[Joel Ewy]

Andrew wrote:
> All,
> ...
> I managed to convert over 95% of the floppies I received into virtual
> .DSK format images. I created a CD image of these, with an HTML
> linkage page for them. The remaining floppies I couldn't copy, I sent
> to Tim to become a part of his images.
>
> I don't know the status of his portion of the project, but I consider
> my end to be complete, with one caveat:
>
> I haven't been able to distribute the images to the community.
>
> Carey wanted this to occur - this was why he sent them to me and Tim,
> not to preserve them for himself (though he did get a copy of the
> images), but to preserve them for the community. I sincerely want to
> honor his wishes, but I don't know what to do, so I am asking for any
> and all advice and help.
>
> Basically, what it boils down to is that:
>
> a) I have created complete images of most of the disks I received
> b) Some of these images contain software that I have reason to believe
> are still being actively pursued by copyright holders for violations
> c) I don't want to break up the archive
> d) I don't have time or desire to attempt to weed out these possible
> violations (some I know of, but there could be others lurking which I
> have no idea about)
> e) I have no desire to spend more time on this project beyond getting
> the images distributed
>

Do you have a sense for how many of these files were originally
non-distributable?  Are there, for example, a bunch of Delphi downloads
mixed in with commercial games?  Granted, you don't want to break up the
archive, but if there are things among that collection that can be
ascertained to have been distributable back in the day (freeware,
shareware, etc) certainly those things won't be controversial to make
available now.  I would be surprised if you couldn't find volunteers who
would be willing to scan the archive for things that are known to be
distributable and make them available on ftp.rtsi.com and/or the
maltedmedia FTP site.  I agree, it would only be a partial solution. 
But it would otherwise be uncontroversial, and at least would succeed in
preserving some of what might otherwise be lost.

Now, this is not an announcement, because I wouldn't want to be accused
of starting something I didn't finish.  But I have been working on a
list of OS-9 files that were once hosted on Delphi.  (Sadly, I didn't
preserve lists of the CoCo RS-DOS files.  If anyone has such a list,
please let me know.)  I have already posted the file lists on the CoCo
wiki at coco25.com.  What I've been doing is checking these lists
against the present contents of ftp.rtsi.com and files from the the OS-9
Community Network, preserved by Bob D.  I've got a simple HTML page with
links to the FTP site at the moment.  My plan is to integrate this with
the Wiki, so that you can go find a file that was once hosted on Delphi,
click on it, and download it from RTSI.  And since it is a Wiki, the
community can update it and fill it in, eventually perhaps recreating
most of the contents of the long lost Delphi archives.

So if this archive contains files that were downloaded from Delphi which
aren't yet hosted online, they can be uploaded and cataloged on the
Wiki.  Then maybe somebody will accidentally leave a copy of the ISO in
a folder that's shared on some P2P network...

Also, check back over this list.  On the morning of the 15th there was a
post that sounded like an extranational offer to host...

JCE
> I was attempting to find an individual or someone outside the USA who
> could host the CD ISO for me on an FTP server in another country, and
> my name would not be on the release. But that doesn't look likely to
> occur. I don't want to host it myself, but I don't know what to do or
> where to turn, except to the community, to figure out what to do with it.
>
> I am not even sure whether I should "name names" as to who the most
> likely copyright holder who would pursue legal action even is (did
> that even make sense?)...
>
> I humbly ask for your help and advice - I will reply/respond as I have
> time. Thank you...
>
> -- Andrew L Ayers, Glendale, Arizona
>
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