downloading Sidekick software

[membrother]

This is a great forum for all of us die-hard Sidekick users. I have used Sidekick 2.0 + patch for many years (on my desktop with Win98 first edition) and on my laptop (XP Home edition.) I've recently acquired a new desktop with XP Home and have discovered that Sidekick 2.0 won't retain card file data on this particular computer. Upon reopening Sidekick, the card files are blank. I've been perusing this forum today, and it seems the advice regarding this problem is to download Sidekick 98 + patch.

My concern is simply this: Is this downloading in any way an infringement of any copyrights? I know this probably isn't a popular question, but as a long-time (and legitimate) user of Sidekick 2.0, I would like to be aware of any legal issues before downloading an updated, albeit discontinued, version of Sidekick.

 

[james33]

Dear Membrother,

The advice that Starfish gave all of us registered users back from 2000->2002 was to download a free version of Sidekick99.

Shortly after that (January 2003), Sidekick Stopped ANY support and since that time the only support has been from here and on my websites one of which is at Siderealb0x @250Free.com (Which is not free if you provide downloads and you have to pay for any increase of your Bandwidth allowance).

I set up the Forum here in 2001 (to get answers for myself) and since that time I have ended up learning a lot from other users and adding a little to the pool of knowledge myself.

Now I did not wish to do anything untoward, so I attempted to contact Starfish and nothing was forthcoming so I set up the website and sent them an email telling them what I was doing and offering to buy the program for very little money!
Still no reaction, and so I carried on.

As far as I know Sidekick is technically abandonware and Starfish themselves (as I said before) suggested that we registered users download an update as far back as 2000 so all I am doing on my website is carrying out their job, and as we have been very open in our dealings (check out the following thread thread807-1089796 ) they surely must be aware of us here!

It is in the end, your own decision; I can only state what I know.


Regards Jim
Check the FAQ area of this Forum for answers (If there are any FAQs!) , it could save you a lot of time and effort!

 

[OldTechGuy]

I am not a lawyer (Thank God), bit I seem to remember several months ago I read an article about the DMCA. The article said that the Librarian of the Library of Congress could issue wavers to the DMCA under certain circumstances. It also said something that really caught my eye. It said ABANDONWARE was not subject to the DMCA and anybody could reverse engineer it and redistribute it without penalty.

If you are really concerned, you may want to check into this to verify my faulty memory and to satisfy you conscience.

 

[james33]

Dear OldTechGuy,

I consider myself an honest person and would not have done any of the above (see my previous post in this thread) if there had been any other option.

Starfish felt free to completely shutdown the support for ALL of us registered users without warning (AFAIK), In fact, even Microsoft gives a warning to users when it closes down its support for a program.
If this forum had not been available I am sure there would have been an awful lot of flack directed back to and at Starfish, I don't know about anyone else but I did not go back and harass them (Starfish) and I would be very interested to hear from anyone who did contact them after the January 2003 cessation and a description of the treatment that they received.

Regards
Jim

 

[SoundAdvice]

It's true...hindsight is 20-20. I have detailed Sidekick 98 files which I created for close to 2300 churches and no software to view them.

Rip-off sites want $200 to $500 per copy. I'm not corporate - just a strong supporter of a wonderful piece of software (I had 98 fields per church - wonderful details - nothing else worked as well...until the "crash") Heartbreak is more than the name of a hotel.

Any suggestions where I could find a copy of '98 at a price that is respectful of one human being to another???

Thanks for your input.

SoundAdvice

 

[Frank10]

Soundadvice, re: "Any suggestions where I could find a copy of '98 at a price that is respectful of one human being to another???"

Click to go to the FAQ's (link is at the bottom right of every post), there you will find several easily seen postings by James33 who has helped us all by making this great program available for download. As James33 has expressed many times on the forum here, it is abandonware and all support has been dead for years, he is due a big thank you for stepping in for no financial interest and providing so much help!

Frank H.